PRINCIPAL REPORT 

August has been a hive of activity at our college, with students and staff engaging in academic, extracurricular, and community-building events.

International Baccalaureate Evaluation

Part of being an International Baccalaureate (IB) school is a commitment to principles and practices that are underpinned by worldwide educational research. This is the first time our college has been evaluated since our accreditation in 2019, through a process of virtual meetings, classroom visits and focus group sessions with our two IB evaluators from the USA and Indonesia. Whilst there were many things to celebrate across the 3 days, the following are several strengths highlighted by our evaluators:

• The sense of community, diversity, inclusion and compassion shown by our staff and students, including a strong sense of respect for First Nations peoples and culture.
• Leaders implement the program with fidelity and following IB rules.
• Our Compass platform helping to ensure effective communication with families and students.
• Both financial and human resources distributed responsibly.
• Support for students was demonstrated through programs such as Respectful Relationships, Real Schools, and through staffing such as a Wellbeing Learning Specialists and ES staff.
• Teacher support was demonstrated through the prioritising of teaching and learning, the development of a coaching model and empowering Domain Leaders to energise the program.
• Curriculum promotes International Mindedness and the Learner Profile, embraces and appreciates other cultures.
• Students are lifelong learners who are engaged in the local community through Service Action. The Community Project was a highlight, mentioned often and well developed.
• Camps supported students to develop their international mindedness.
• Approaches to teaching and learning both inside and outside the classroom were contextual, conceptual and had consistent teaching approaches.
• Teachers removed barriers for students to achieve goals and student led conferences support this process.
• Assessment is consistent, fair and transparent and the development of the Assessment Handbook and MYP Assessments on Compass supported feedback, visible to families.

We are still awaiting the official report, but I would like to thank Kylie Russel for her leadership in ensuring our college was highly prepared to meet the expectations of the evaluation. Thank you also to the families and school council members who were able to give their time and feedback as part of the process. 

Production

A message to the cast and crew from Mrs Vaughan:

My heart was so full and bursting with pride, the future of the MESC stage is so very bright! So impressed with all the harmonies, the ensembles were the bee’s knees. Most of all I had tears of nostalgia for it was Suess that made my young boys read a little louder. Tomorrow night “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because the adults in this room and you made it happen!” Suess ❤️🤍

Community Engagement

Our sports teams have been shining this term with interschool sport competitions, including many teams who made it through to the Southern Metropolitan Region level. Lunchtime futsal competitions have been a huge success and 3 on 3 basketball is upcoming. 

Local author visit from Danielle Binks helped to engage Year 7 students in their Language and Literature inquiry, providing insights into her novel, ‘The year the maps changed’. Our Year 10 students watched Macbeth come to life through a visit from Complete Works Theatre company to further unpack this Shakespeare classic.

Year 9 students are well immersed in their Community Project, connecting with local organisations to take action. To support their efforts, we welcomed Jodie Belyea (MP) to speak with Year 9 students and our VM classes. Jodie shared her experiences working across community, corporate and philanthropic sectors as a community change-maker and leader, including a previous role as the Managing Director/Founder of the Women’s Spirit Project. 

A message from the HPE Team

It has been great to see students, with the support of families, work with us to encourage students to be ‘ready to learn’ – including uniform. From term 4, HPE staff will be focusing on the PE uniform as they have seen a decline through the winter months. Can families please support students to be in correct, full PE uniform for PE/SPORT classes and Interschool Sport. ‘Out of uniform’ processes will be followed from the beginning of term 4, including students not being permitted to attend external sport events. Students are allowed to be in CORRECT PE uniform on the way to and from school, if classes are period 1 and 5 ONLY. All items can be purchased form the uniform shop.

Science/Technology refurbishment update

Koslov, the appointed architect group, have started consultation work with staff, students and families (link for families below). Koslov are seeking opinions and thoughts on what parts of the college we all value and areas we would like to see improvement. The intention of this is to support the development of a Master Plan – to hopefully inform future projects.

Course Counselling

Thank you to Leanne Paterson and Alex Gibson for their organisation of the Careers Expo at the start of the term. Opportunities for students to explore future pathways are invaluable as we continue to grow the profile and importance of careers, ensuring students are empowered to make well informed subject and course selections. 

Thank you to all of the students and families that engaged with Course Counselling in recent weeks. It is such an important time in supporting students to develop an education plan that they are going to be engaged and motivated to participate in, as well as supporting career pathways. As a leadership team, we love this time connecting with families and students.

Engagement with Education Improvement Leader (EIL)

I would like to acknowledge the ongoing commitment our Maths Domain have to our students and each other, focusing on student growth and achievement in their learning whilst also being flexible when changes have been required to accommodate shifts in staffing. Recently, members of the Maths team have worked with Education Improvement Leader, Hosna Amiri, from the region to look at how we can continue to refine our teacher practice and improve student outcomes, particularly in the areas of retention and recall. Hosna will continue to work with the Maths team this term as we plan for the transition to the Maths 2.0 Curriculum (both teaching and assessment) in 2025.

Student Led Conferences

A reminder that Tuesday 20th August is Student Led Conferences. These conferences will be online, with students and families connecting with teachers via WebxEx links that are published via Compass. Student Led Conferences are a great opportunity to discuss the student achievement and to collaborate with teachers on goal setting and next steps in learning. Students are not required at school on this day but are expected to engage online to lead the conversations about their learning. 

Only halfway through the term- lots of wonderful opportunities still ahead!

Celeste Lombardi

Acting College Principal