PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

Dear Parents and Carers,

I hope you enjoy reading this edition of the SCSC newsletter. 

Positive Start to Term 3

I’d like to thank all of our students for the extremely positive start to Term 3. It was great to be able to walk through our classrooms and hallways in the first couple of days of the term and see our teachers and students engaged in high quality teaching and learning. Our classrooms are almost always calm and orderly learning environments where expectations are high and achievement levels are consistently going from good to great!

Further to this, I have enjoyed getting out into the yard during recess and lunchtimes to chat with students and observe how they interact with each other. I’m happy to share with parents and carers that our young people are active, sociable and make the most of their break times with their friends. There is something for everyone at SCSC and our students have access to high quality playing fields, basketball courts, outdoor exercise equipment, quiet garden spaces, tables and benches and a busy library for reading, games and other activities. 

I am grateful that everyday our staff and students make SCSC such an awesome place to be!

Focus on Teaching & Learning Practices

Over the coming weeks our teaching staff will be participating in our termly ‘classroom observations’. This is an opportunity for teachers to spend some time in other classrooms, observing teaching and learning practices and providing feedback to their colleagues. This is a strategy we use to ensure that best teaching practices are consistently in place in all classrooms across the school. Ongoing classroom observations are an important part of our strategic plan to guarantee that only the most effective, high impact teaching strategies are being used when educating our young people.

The result of this focus on high quality teaching practice is the ongoing growth and improvement we are seeing in student learning outcomes. From teacher judgements, to NAPLAN results and our recent recognition by The Age as a ‘school that excels’ for our increases in VCE results (more on that exciting news next month!), Surf Coast Secondary College students are rising to new heights in learning with the support and guidance of an exceptional team of teachers, education support staff, and school leaders.

Safety When Traveling to School

As we commence the new term, I’d just like to remind us all to be safe when traveling to and from school. This is important for all students regardless of their modes of transport.

You will see around Torquay the current roadworks happening to develop safe cycling routes around our town. It is no accident that these new cycling lanes run down Fischer Street toward SCSC. The Surf Coast Shire included the college Principal team in their consultation process on this project as they are very aware of the large number of students who travel through the town twice a day on bikes and scooters.

I encourage all students to make use of these new cycling facilities as it will be the safest way to travel to school. Also, I remind all of the need for students on bikes and scooters to know and respect the laws around bike and scooter use.

We have an active community of young people in Torquay and live in an environment where bikes, scooters and skateboards are an excellent way to commute to and from school. We want to ensure that the health and safety of all our young people is the highest priority and that all arrive at school and home again safely every day.

Parent Pick-up and Drop Off

Like all schools, the roads and car parks around our school can become very congested during school morning drop-off and particularly at afternoon pick-up. Recently we have had neighbours raise concerns about cars in our streets during these times.

Can I respectfully remind all parents and learner drivers of the need to ensure that no car is blocking any driveway (school or residential) or making access for other vehicles challenging. I also remind us of the need to keep roadways clear at all times: no ‘double parking’ for quick pick-ups or blocking parked cars in. This includes the drive-through car park at the front of the college.

Thank you for your understanding on this matter. We know it can be a difficult space to navigate at busy times and we thank you for your patience.

I hope you enjoy reading the rest of this newsletter. As always, there is lots happening across the College and there so much to celebrate!

Take care.

Shane Elevato

Acting Principal