Principal's Report

Welcome New Staff

With the start of the new term, we had 3 new staff members join the team!

Pip Rose has taken on the long unfilled position of Mental Health Practitioner (MHP). This role is designed to assist the school with strategically planning for, and the implementation of, Department initiatives relating mostly to mental health. Pip’s time fraction has increased for this term, to 2 days a week; hopefully we will be able to continue to support the position at this level into the future.

Ex-student, Tyrone Raw, is the second support person who will be working in the wellbeing space. Tyrone finished Year 12 in 2018 and went on to complete a Bachelor of Applied Science - Psychology at RMIT. Tyrone is returning to our school under the Department’s National School’s Wellbeing Program funding, securing him until 2026 as the Student Support Mentor. Again, we have been able to increase Tyrone’s position for the remainder of the year, so he will be at school for 3 days per week.

Last, but not least, Abramo Peghini has stepped in to run music lessons for the remainder of this year. Abramo will be spending the first few weeks of this term organising instruments and potential lesson times, with lessons hopefully beginning in Week 3 of this term.

...and a Goodbye

Lisa Bowring has seized the opportunity to put her studies in accounting to good use, accepting a position as a Finance Assistant. While we congratulate Lisa on her new position, it is also a loss to our school. Lisa has been an asset, mostly in the Maths Learning Area over the last 3 years, with her solid understanding of areas of difficulty for students in numeracy, having been a primary teacher for many years. This year, Lisa ably stepped into the role of the Senior School Coordinator and quickly learnt about the role and the systems and processes that govern the VCE and VCE Vocational Major. Lisa’s new role starts mid-November, so she will be able to see her Year 11 and 12 class through to the end of their studies, before moving on. I am sure you will all join me in wishing Lisa all the best.

Planning for 2025

Initial planning is well underway, and at this stage, is looking good for 2025, without us needing to seek many extra teachers to cover classes. We are also not planning to reduce the number of classes or variety much, in spite of the smaller numbers of students within the school. Maintaining as broad a range of senior subjects is always my priority, to ensure that students have the best choice possible, so that their future pathways are not limited. Where students are unable to complete a subject at school, we seek alternate ways of providing the subject, such as through external providers, like Virtual School Victoria.