Principal's Message-

Laura Spence

Dear students, parents, and carers,

Konnichiwa! I am writing my COG entry from Japan this week, as I have been lucky enough to join our school tour for their first week whilst in Kariya, Nagoya, meeting our sister school, Kariya Kita High School. Next week our students will continue on with Suzuki Sensei, Hickey Sensei, and Andrews Sensei to Tokyo, Hiroshima, Kyoto, and Osaka for all the tourist spots. This week however is immersion in Japanese student life  - and wow, it couldn’t be any different!

Our students are having an experience of a lifetime, living with a host family, riding bikes to school with a 7:45am school day start, through to a hot and long 5:30pm finish, and on some days as late as 7pm. This is the school day Monday to Friday, with additional sports on the weekend, and at this time of year, it’s 30+ degrees, with minimal air conditioning. All of the differences and cultural discoveries aside, what I have found most enjoyable is observing that teenagers have more similarities than differences wherever you go. Our students and Kariya Kita High students have all been amazingly friendly, interested in each other, adaptable, ready for a laugh, prepared to try anything new, and overall, extremely respectful and appreciative of their opportunities. Our students, as always, are a credit to our college and families. Both schools have a very high quality language program, with McClelland students communicating impressively in Japanese, and Kariya Kita students likewise in English. See below for an initial entry from Makayla Doyle, one of our Year 10s in Japan this week, and look out for the Term 4 COG where the staff and students will provide a full report of the tour.  

McClelland is one of very few Victorian schools who continue to offer a LOTE (Language other than English) program, and even more exciting, is our ability to offer so many camps including this international tour. Many schools struggle with staffing and resourcing costs of LOTE and camps post-pandemic, however McClelland is fortunate to continue our long established programs. I want to extend my appreciation to all of our staff who are regularly taking students on excursions and camps, all around Australia and this week Japan, and our School Council who are always willing to approve the events, ensuring our students have the best possible extra-curricular opportunities.

End of Term 3! How did we get here so fast? Our Year 12s will be excited and nervous as they approach the end of their secondary school life, getting ready for university, TAFE, apprenticeships, and travel, with our VCE students approaching their exams next. Congratulations to many of the Year 12s who will be finishing this term, and for those who are preparing for November exams, we wish you all the best, you don’t need ‘good luck’ as we know that your hard work and the support of your amazing teachers means your preparation is perfectly on track for success. McClelland’s VCE teachers have a demonstrated track record of outstanding VCE outcomes, so just continue to follow their trusted plan until your last exam.

This term was a usual jam packed calendar of events, which you will see more about in this edition of COG. In the recent weeks we have celebrated Book Week, NAIDOC week, many sporting achievements, RUOK? Day, inaugural VM Corner Shop Carnival, and so much more. We have so many subject based opportunities that our teachers ensure our students have access to, for example, Tuesday’s exclusive Immersion Day with Amazon, in collaboration with CSIRO and CS In Schools. 24 students from Year 7 to 11 accessed design cycle thinking, problem-solving, teamwork, literacy, and future career education. Look out on socials for the photos and outcomes.

Taryn Richardson who organised the day provided heartwarming feedback I wanted to share with families about the day:

It was truly exciting to see the concepts we teach in our curriculum come to life during the sessions. We left with numerous valuable ideas that we plan to implement in our upcoming classes.

And feedback from the Amazon organiser to Taryn:

Hi Taryn,

It was a pleasure meeting you and your students yesterday. We often get good groups in, but I was particularly fond of the McC team.

Feedback was also positive: Twenty-four students provided feedback and delivered an average Satisfaction Score of 4.5/5. Before the Immersion Day (based on before vs. after framing), 21% of students felt that they couldn’t belong in a career in STEM, 29% were unsure, and 50% felt that they could belong in a career in STEM. After the Immersion Day, no students reported feeling that they couldn’t belong in a career in STEM, 12% were unsure, and 88% felt that they could belong in a career in STEM. 75% of students reported their interest in actively pursuing a career in technology increasing following the Immersion Day.

Lachlan McAllister

I have been principal at the college 6 months now, and have loved every moment. A stand out observation over this time has been our students give everything a go, they get involved in any activity offered, they attempt all of their learning tasks and ask for help if needed, they work with each other and our staff. Our students and staff truly live Community, Opportunity, Growth, and it’s a privilege to be part of it. I am looking forward to Term 4 to wrap up the 2024 school year and then with Headstart in November, jump into the 2025 school year. Our new Year 7s become grown up Year 8s, through to our Year 11s taking on the top of the school to become our Year 12s.

From Makayla:

Minasankonnichiwa - Hello everyone! My name is Makayla Doyle, and I am a year 10 student on the study tour trip. It is only the 4th day but even, so it has been so fun, and overall, such an amazing, insightful experience.  To start off with I’ll explain a little about what we have done so far. On Sunday we arrived in Tokyo and caught a coach to a nearby hotel. On Monday we took a coach to the airport again and ended up arriving in Nagoya (our sister school’s prefecture). We then took a bus to our sister school. However, on an interesting turn of events we were accidently dropped off at the wrong school, but it ended up being okay as our host families picked us up and drove us down the road to our sister school(Kariya Kita). Arriving at Kariya Kita high school we were greeted by our host students and led into the school where we had our welcoming ceremony. The day went on with us being taken home with our host families.

All the families and people are so kind and are very welcoming. On Tuesday we had our first full day of school. It was absolutely spectacular! Their school is beautiful and although adjusting to wearing slippers inside was different the facilities are so grand and cool; I’m jealous of it. The school is so big, it has a pool, tennis court, 4 floors and more!

In Japan they have 6 periods per day, plus after school clubs called bukatsu. The days can be a little long, mainly considering there is only one break time being lunch. However students here are amazed at us speaking Japanese, and overall, the opportunity to practise with them has been extremely helpful. We participated in English class where we got to practise speaking with the students, we then participated in our buddy’s class. My buddy had maths at the time, it was very difficult but the students spoke to me and so it was quite interesting. Following that we had English again, it was very good practice, then we had music. In music the students sung beautiful songs, and we ended up joining in. I was lucky as I sat next to a Japanese girl who taught me the songs. We then had lunch with our buddies, and I had lunch in my buddy’s classroom, I met lots of new people.

We had art in period 5. It was so relaxing, and we painted fans with a Japanese class. Last period we had sport. In Japan they can choose whether they do gymnastics, swimming or track and field. But due to us not having shoes or bathers, we did track and field. Personally, I really enjoyed it as I raced 3 times. The last time myself and another student raced two Japanese boys it was so fun, and I came second!! We then went home, Lia (another year 10 student), my buddy and her buddy and I went to a convenience store.(It is so cheap in Japan especially for snacks!). My buddy and I accidently missed our train, so we had to wait at the station, where I met another Australian student, from Queensland also on a school trip to Japan. After catching the train, I rode home by bike. The countryside in Japan is so clean and pretty, however it is very hot and humid right now, so we must drink lots of water to not dehydrate.

Today (Tuesday) was our second full day at school. I completed English, Japanese, Japanese history, Geography and Yukata dressing where we tried on traditional Yukata’s. It was so much fun, and at lunch I gave my buddies’ class Australian snacks, which they liked. It has been an overwhelmingly unique and perfect experience I wish we were able to stay longer. I am so grateful to have gone on this trip and cannot wait for the next days to come!

Enjoy the first round of photos of Japan. Everyone please have a restful and safe holiday break, return to Term 4 ready for more learning, fun, and of course the big wind up to Headstart and our 2025 academic start, or graduation for our 12s. Then we will ease our way into Summer holidays.