Head of Secondary Years' Report 

Welcome to our brand new Secondary Years Newsletter! In response to your feedback, we have decided to produce a fortnightly update to improve and streamline communications with our families. Our newsletters are designed to be a brief and regular update of what is happening in the Secondary Years at HGC. 

Our Secondary Years students have adapted quickly to our new learning routines, that staff have been developing and refining over the past 12 months. We have already noticed a change in our classes and are embracing the sense of calm that these routines have supported.

Term One has provided us with many opportunities to celebrate our HGC community outside of the classroom. We hosted our inaugural Year 12 breakfast on the 6th of February. It was a lovely morning for our Year 12 students and their parents and a wonderful way for them to start their final year of school.   

This was followed by the exciting arrival of the Year 12 Jumpers that were presented on the 19th of February.  

Our Year 9 students had their retreat on the 15th of February at Clifford Park campsite in Wonga Park and our Year 6 students headed to camp on the Mornington Peninsula on the 26th of February. These are such important events where students build on existing relationships and develop new connections with their classmates, setting them up for a positive year.

On the 20th of February we hosted our Honours Awards evening, where we celebrated the achievements of the class of 2023 and formally presented our 2024 College Captains and Vice Captains. One highlight from the evening was the speech from the 2023 College Dux Micah Yelland who achieved some fantastic results and is now studying Pharmacy at university. 

Our Swimming Carnival was held at the Aquarena in Doncaster on the 7th of March where we were spoilt with beautiful weather and a lovely day outside of the classroom. Our Year 12 students enjoyed dressing up and we all enjoyed the sausage sizzle, face painting and waterslide. We are keeping the community in suspense until our Secondary Years assembly in week 9, where we will announce the winning house!

We commenced our annual NAPLAN testing on the 13th of March for our students in Year 7 and Year 9. We have celebrated International Women's Day and Random Acts of Kindness day and have had many classes out on excursions.

It has been a wonderful start to the 2024 school year and an action packed term.  I have thoroughly enjoyed my first term in the role of Head of Secondary Years and I look forward to providing you regular updates across the year.

Sonia Goodacre

 Head of Secondary Years