Principal's Report

Exams: 

Last week the end of year exams were completed by our students in Year 10-12. The Year 12 exam period concluded on the 20th of November, which means that the secondary school journey has now come to an end for our 2024 Year 12 cohort. These students are now eagerly awaiting their results that are set to be released during Week 10 of this term.  

Our Year 11 students also had the opportunity to experience a full exam timetable from Monday to Thursday last week. This is an extremely valuable experience that supports them in working towards their readiness for Year 12 exams at the end of 2025. Year 11 students are now encouraged to reflect on their study habits, time management and overall preparation and use this insight to support them with their Year 12 studies and exam preparations next year.  

The 2024 Year 10 cohort also had the opportunity to have their first exam experience. Year 10 students sat their English/EAL and Maths exams on Thursday the 21st of November.  

I would like to congratulate all students for conducting themselves in a diligent and respectful manner. We were proud in the way in which they approached their exams with a growth mindset and worked towards achieving the best results that they could.   

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of the staff who were involved in facilitating the exams and acknowledge the level of work that went into preparing our students, marking papers and providing an abundance of feedback to our students. 

Thank you! 

Headstart Program: 

We have just concluded the 2024 academic year and have now commenced the 2025 academic year with our Headstart program. As part of this program, students are provided with the opportunity to meet their 2025 teachers and get to know their classmates for the 2025 school year. While there is a focus on the academic content within each subject, there is also a significant emphasis on the relationships within each classroom. The most productive learning and wellbeing outcomes occur when students have a positive relationship with their teacher and their peers. Therefore, all teachers are currently facilitating a range of activities that foster the development of positive relationships in the classroom. One of our aims is for students to feel safe, happy and comfortable with all of their classes prior to the Summer break. 

Whole School Classroom Routines and Expectations: 

As you may have seen in a Compass post from Mr Ballagh last week, there is currently a whole school focus on providing consistent classroom routines and practices. 

This is occurring following a range of professional development and is also aiming to respond to some of the student feedback that we have received in our regular student forums. The overarching purpose of this work is for students to be able to use lesson cognitive load (brain power) on adapting to varied routines and expectations throughout their day and week. 

This will hopefully work towards supporting students with their overall readiness to learn. We thank all students and families in advance for your support in working towards the most consistent and predictable learning environments possible. 

Overseas Camps: 

We currently have 20 students and three staff members on our ‘Discover Germany Trip’. The group will be visiting Berlin, Munich and stay with host families from our sister school the Erasmus Gymnasium in Denzlingen (near Freiburg). The group departed on Saturday the 23rd of November and will return on Tuesday the 17th of December. From all reports, it has been a positive start to the tour.  

This Thursday 11 students and two staff (along with another 15 students from South Oakleigh and Highvale Secondary Colleges) will be heading over to the USA for a two-week ‘Careers and Pathways in Sport Tour’. The tour will include visiting Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Students will be visiting high schools, colleges, various sporting matches including high school basketball, NBA games, an NFL game, an NHL game as well as touring elite training facilities and meeting experts in high performance and sports administration. 

These are two immersive experiences that we are proud to be offering to our students. 

We look forward to hearing the reports from both groups when they return.  

Aaron Palmer 

Assistant Principal – Director of Wellbeing