Start to the school year

We would like to acknowledge and thank staff, students and their families for the smooth start to the year. Our hard working education support staff have laid some great foundations for us to begin the year with high expectations for success; we recognise that students have made a positive start in their classes and extracurricular activities. The swimming carnival proved to be a great success and the Year 7 students returned from an action packed Year 7 camp ready to catch up on some sleep. Thank you to Nick Matricardi, Brett Martin and Mel Casha for their leadership and running of these respective events. Our Middle and Senior school students have also been involved in many events that have enabled them to get to know their new classes, teachers and set themselves up for success in 2024 and beyond. A big thank you to Sarah Heath for organising the Year 12 Big Day Out at RMIT. Our Year 12’s are ready to take on their final year of school and make the most of every opportunity that comes their way.

A real focus for Sunbury College is teachers preparing for students to learn at their point of need whilst implementing our research based instructional model. This is coupled with students adopting and consistently demonstrating our values of Respect, Responsibility, Resilience and Endeavour. Students should arrive at class on time, with all of their equipment and ready to learn. It should be only on rare occasions that students are required to leave the classroom. When students at Year 7 - 10 do leave the classroom, they are required to have a note in their diary, signed by their teacher. Year 11 - 12 students are required to have a pass or a note. This approach enables students, Year Level Coordinators and families to track out of class time and enables the student to be identified as having permission to be out of the classroom.

Reporting and Parent Student Teacher interviews

Keep an eye on Compass with our first round of Work Habit Reports due for release on Friday 1st March. These reports are very important feedback for students and provide an opportunity to reflect on areas of strength and areas where improvement can be made. Note that our Parent Student Teacher interviews are scheduled to take place on Tuesday 26th March with bookings made via Compass in due course. We saw great attendance in 2023 and we thank parents and carers for their ongoing support in student learning and engagement.

School facilities

The summer break saw a number of improvements made to school facilities that add to the aesthetics and functionality of our school environment. These projects include:

Installation of additional student toilets
Installation of additional staff toilets
New synthetic grass in a passive space for students
The completion of the playground
New carpet in a number of classrooms
Investment in maintenance of the school’s irrigation system (let's keep those ovals looking good!)

In the coming months, the front oval will be top dressed and we are also investigating a new electronic sign and some bleacher seating on the front oval.

TLI (Tutor Learning Initiative) 2024

We are very fortunate to have a number of teacher tutors working in our TLI (Tutor Learning Initiative) in 2024. This term our teacher tutors (in English and Maths) have been working predominantly with Year 9 and some Year 8 classes. We also have offered tutoring for Year 11 students in English in the Hub and period 5 on a Wednesday when SACs are not scheduled. Approximately 5 students per class covered are offered small group tutoring within and outside of the classroom. These students can be at any level of attainment and are selected by their classroom teacher and tutor based on standardised assessment (NAPLAN, PAT), formative assessments, work habit ratings and teacher judgements. Teacher tutors also assist with the Independent Reading program in the Hub for Years 7-9.

There are obviously not enough teacher tutors to be spread across every English and Maths class and year level. So each term teacher tutors will be placed in different classes, so that other year levels and classes have the same opportunity.

By engaging additional teachers to support students with intensive learning, classroom teachers will have a greater capacity to ensure that all other students’ achievement, engagement and wellbeing needs are met, so that all students receive the support they need in 2024.

Uniform Policy 👔

Wearing a full and correct uniform is important to our school community. School uniform plays a key role in promoting pride, self-confidence, and a feeling of belonging within the student body. Throughout the term, we have reminded all students about the expectations of wearing full school uniform and the clear consequences if they choose not to. Thank you for your ongoing support in following this school policy.

Windcheaters and coloured long-sleeve tops are not permitted to be worn at school.

The college jacket and jumper are available for purchase from the uniform shop. We remind families that plain white socks are to be worn (no markings) and black leather-laced school shoes are the only footwear permitted to be worn to school.

Sunbury College Student Dress Code

School uniform can be purchased from PSW Sunbury. Their opening hours are:

Monday: Closed
Tuesday: Closed
Wednesday: 10 am - 5 pm
Thursday: 10 am - 5 pm
Friday: 10 am - 5 pm

Sunbury College Mobile Phone Policy

In accordance with DET and the Statewide Mobile phone ban, students are reminded to keep their mobile phones locked securely in their locker from 8:55 am until 3:10 pm. Students can only use a credit / debit card or cash for purchasing items at the school canteen.

In the event that a student is found to have a mobile phone, this process will be followed:

Sub School Structure

The structure and key people across each of the Sub Schools has changed slightly for 2024. The placemat below shows the Year Level Coordinators and Leading Teachers working across each of the teams supporting the Learning and Wellbeing of all students.

We are very fortunate to have Team Assistants support each Sub School in 2024.

If you have an inquiry or question related to your child, a great place to start is with Rachel Toal the Year 7-10 Team Assistant or Sharee Ainsworth the Year 11-12 Team Assistant, their phone extension can be selected from the main phone line menu.

Road and Pedestrian safety

The streets around our school are very busy, particularly at drop off and pick up time.

We ask that parents please:

1. Consider dropping students a couple of streets away and allow them to walk the last couple of hundred metres to school.

2. Encourage their child/children to use the dedicated crossings and the underpass on Riddell Rd. Some students are taking a significant risk in navigating Riddell Rd.

3. Speak to their child/children about the dangers of navigating Riddell Rd instead of using the underpass and pedestrian crossing.

4. Do not use the front bus lanes or staff car park for drop off or pick up between 8 am and 9 am, or from 2.40 pm -3.40 pm, unless you need to access the disabled parking spaces.

5. Communicate with their child/children about being patient when waiting for access to the pedestrian crossing on Riddell Rd near the Riddell Rd and Horne St roundabout. Staff will continue to provide support in controlling the flow of students across this space.

NAPLAN 2024 - Year 7 and 9

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) testing will be conducted from Wednesday 13 until Friday 22 March. Students in Year 7 and 9 will complete online tests in Writing, Reading, Language Conventions and Numeracy.

Next term, each student’s personal NAPLN report will be provided to parents and will describe their skills in writing, reading, language conventions and numeracy. It will also provide information about performance in relation to national minimum standards.

For more information about the test, please visit the NAPLAN website.

Sunbury College Newsletter

Respect. Responsibility. Resilience. Endeavour

Term 1 2024 Issue 1 · 04 Mar 2024

In this issue