Dear parents, carers, students, staff and community members,

What an outstanding first term it has been at the college! We welcomed 2143 students through the gates, which is our highest ever enrolment, and yet the school keeps going from strength to strength. There are so many fantastic highlights across the term. The construction of our new double story building and the extension of our science wing are progressing well. The cross country and colour run day this week saw all students participating in some fitness and fun. Our staff took on the senior students in a range of sports which were all played in a fun spirited and enjoyable manner. It is so great to see the students and teachers interacting and having fun outside the classroom. (I believe the teachers may have come out on top in terms of wins). The annual production rehearsals are up and running and we look forward to seeing them perform later in the year. All our Year 7 to 9 students gave it their best shot in the NAPLAN tests. Our 450+ Year 7 students made a great transition to secondary school. Every day there is a buzz at the school, and it fills us with pride to see so many students working together with staff to make this the best college it can be.

Over the last few weeks, I have been working on finalising our college’s 2023 annual report, which requires a summary of key achievements and performance data. We again achieved solid academic results which were published late last year, but I wanted to share again with you some cultural insights so you can get an understanding of the great work our students, parents and staff have continued to develop and work on over the last few years. As normal, there are always things that can be improved as our job is never done, but it is still worth celebrating.

Again, our student attitudes and experiences of school data has been maintained or improved dramatically. We again have increased the average percentile of all measures in the Students Attitudes to School survey. What this means is that if you bundled all the data together and created an average, we know currently sit in the top 20% of the state with our average moving from 74.3 to 80.61 in 2023. I have attached the graph and table below which shows our growth from 2017 which every member of the Kambrya community has played a role in.

Term two is also shaping up to be another fantastic term. We will see our 2024 Schools Attitude to School Survey conducted, our Year 9s will participate in their Morrisby Careers Profiling and our annual college athletics carnival will occur on Wednesday 19th June which is always a fantastic event for both our students and staff.

School Council and Student Leadership

I recently met with the newly elected School Council. Kambrya college has a long tradition of working with school council openly and transparently to ensure good governance. I have no doubt that this tradition will continue. I warmly welcome newly elected parents: Stephen Carle and David Wright and Vivek Singh who was formerly a community member. We again warmly welcomed student representatives Lachlan Shephard and Neyli Withanage, and the new staff representative Jordan Dubrulle-Sarkissian and Katie Johnstone, and Lorraine Tomlinson who was nominated as a community member. Thanks also to parents Catherine English, Bharat Bahl, Jaskaran Singh Dhanota and Abdul Kareem who are continuing as members. I also extend a sincere thanks to outgoing councillors, Marjolein Brady and Jenny Walden, who both served as councillors for many years and made outstanding contributions to our college.

Following the first meeting, I am also pleased to advise that Catherine English was reappointed by the Council members as President, and Vivek Singh has been appointed as Vice President. I thank them both for their ongoing support of the college in these roles. I recently had the pleasure of meeting with our Principal’s Advisory Group, which consists of approximately 20 students who lead various committees around the college. It’s always great to meet with this group and hear their feedback and suggestions for further school improvement.

Toilet Cleaning Information

As per my letter of the recent concerns raised by our student leaders and our school council regarding the vandalism and cleanliness of our toilet facilities, we have taken proactive steps to address these. In addition to our existing cleaning contract with the department, the college has employed its own additional cleaner who started last week. This aims to ensure that our toilets are maintained to the highest possible standards of hygiene throughout the day. This decision was made by the college to align with the department in providing safe and sanitary facilities for our students.

To complete this task safely, two of our largest toilet blocks - our Year 10 senior toilet block and the Gwonawa junior toilet block - will be temporarily closed at the end of recess for cleaning. As soon as cleaning is complete, they will be reopened and available for students to access. During this period, students have access to five alternative toilet blocks located throughout the school. These facilities remain open all day for students to access. These would only be temporarily closed if any damage occurs that needs to be immediately addressed.

In relation to further questions I have received, students do not receive a "Compass strike" if they attend the toilet during class time. The college uses Compass to record any reason a student may be leaving the classroom. This may be to visit IT, sickbay, front office, prayer room, toilet or for some other reason. This is to ensure that we are aware of where all our students are always for welfare and safety purposes. This is not a strike system.

Kambrya College Facebook Page

Just a message to all our community members regarding our college’s Facebook page. As a college, its crucial to emphasise that any information provided on another Facebook accounts other than our account is not affiliated with our college. While social media platforms allow for diverse voices and perspectives, it’s essential to clarify that content shared on other individual accounts doesn’t represent official college statements or policies unless explicitly stated otherwise.

Our college maintains its official communication channel as Compass or our own verified Facebook Page or website, where accurate and authorised information is provided. Therefore, it is important for our community to exercise discretion and rely on official sources for updates, announcements, and communications pertaining to our college.

Our official college Facebook account can be found using the below link:

https://www.facebook.com/KambryaCollege?mibextid=eQY6cl

School Crossing Supervisors

Please see information below and located in the Safety Around School page in our newsletter, that I have received from the City of Casey in relation to the removal of some of the school crossing supervisors that currently support our students to safely cross two major roads on their way to and from school.

After completing pedestrian counts at pedestrian operated signal located on Clyde Road, Princess Highway and O’Shea Road, these locations apparently no longer qualify for a school crossing supervisor. As of the beginning of term two school crossing supervisors will no longer operate at these locations.

I have had lengthy discussions with the City of Casey and they advised me that the decision for this removal is made by Vic Roads. It infuriates me that the safety and wellbeing of your children and our students is based on a criteria that does not include secondary school students using these crossings.

We are currently conducting our own counts of students using these crossings, and at the same time drafting a letter to go to our local and state government representatives to have this decision reversed. We will keep you updated as much as I can as well as work with the City of Casey in a bid to at least try and get the speed zones reduced to allow more time for pedestrians to cross.

I wish all our families and community members a fantastic holiday break and look forward to a great term two ahead.

Kind regards,

Martin McDonald

Acting Principal

Kambrya College

Important Dates

To be read in conjunction with the Compass calendar