COG Newsletter

Principal's Message-

Laura Spence

Hello, students and families,

 

We are halfway through Term 1, which is hard to believe, but as you will see in this issue of COG, we have packed in a lot of fun and learning, making it fly by quickly. In this edition, you will also see details of our incredible 2024 Year 12 graduate results and some not-so-amazing results from Thursday’s Staff vs. Student Pictionary event. I have included a photo of Mr Carlton’s drawing, which, if you weren’t sure, was meant to be of Albert Einstein. You can see why the staff didn’t win!

 Congratulations to the 2025 Year 12s. They picked up a well-deserved win in this one, clawing back a draw after a tough water polo loss at the swimming carnival. We have an exciting second half of the term for every student, so please encourage your child to take up all the opportunities available to them at McClelland.

 

You may have seen in recent media the struggle schools have with staffing. This is a system-wide issue, often in the areas of Maths and English. Late last year, we employed extra staff and were fortunate to start the year fully staffed. We have several staff who will commence leave from late Term 1 and whom we have been recruiting against. We hope to remain fully staffed throughout the year, but there may be changes of teachers in subjects as we manage the staff leave entitlements. We appreciate your understanding.

 

An area of staffing we are very excited to tell you about is in our newest VET subject, Electrotechnology. Mark Tasman, a very experienced IT (CISCO) VET trainer from RMIT and Chisholm and a qualified electrician, commenced with us at the start of this year. This has given McClelland the enormous opportunity to give our senior students a place in VET Electro study, which is the pathway to becoming an electrician. These courses are usually only available at Chisholm and Westernport, creating challenges for our students with travel, offsite, and minimal places. This year, we have offered every student who wanted Electro a place at McClelland and four places to external students who had missed out at Chisolm. Next year, we will provide both 1st year and 2nd year Electro, and we also hope to offer VET CISCO, an IT course around building networks, leading to cyber security. In addition to starting Electro this year, we are very excited to offer VET Community Services for the first time, with current staff member Tarena Murray undertaking the qualifications required to be a VET trainer. This class is packed with McClelland VM and Year 10 students who have a fantastic opportunity to be on-site for their VET study but also in the community as part of their study. In addition, we continue to run the very successful VET Public Safety through our SES program, the only school in Victoria to do so, and offer students a paid school-based apprenticeship with the SBAT Parks and Gardens. You couldn’t pack any more Community, Opportunity, and Growth into our senior programs!

 

We started this term with the two enormous events of Athletics and Swimming, with a few weeks following settling into school. We are about to commence many exciting events created and implemented by our new Student Representative Council. Please read in COG to learn more about our Clean Up Australia Day, Staff vs Student games, Pi Day, and Interact Club Colour Run.

 

One significant event which students may not describe as exciting is NAPLAN. Our Year 7s and 9s will participate in their assessment soon, with information going home shortly. Every Year 7 and 9 student must participate in NAPLAN, as the data collected informs our teaching practice and strategic planning. It also affects our funding in some areas, such as tutoring. Our ability to provide additional tutors in English and Maths classes in Years 7 to 10 is determined by the Department according to the need shown through NAPLAN. If parents choose for their child not to participate, we miss the opportunity to track their learning growth through a standardised assessment and have them included in our tutoring funding. We can accommodate provisions for students who may struggle with participating in NAPLAN, so please let us know if you think your child will need consideration. When talking with your child about NAPLAN at home prior, please encourage them to do their best and show what they have learned over the past two years. It’s not about others, just them. It is also very similar to all the other assessments they do at McClelland.

 

McClelland is extending its place as the centre of a thriving community as we welcome the commencement of building works for our Early Learning Childcare Centre, which will start in the coming months, opening for the start of 2026. Our community will have access to birth-to-graduation education services between the ELCC, Ballam Park Primary School, and McClelland College. There will be challenges with traffic during the building works, however the Victorian Schools Building Authority are planning thoroughly to minimise the impact to the usual operations of family and the schools.  Details are:

 

  • The Early Learning Victoria centre based at McClelland College will open early in 2026, and applications for enrolments will be open in the coming months. The centre will provide long-day care for children aged 0-5 and integrated Three-Year-Old and Four-Year-Old Kindergarten programs within the long-day care program.
  • Early Learning Victoria is a Victorian government organisation. We’re committed to providing high-quality early childhood education and care. Our approach is child-centered, with a focus on learning through play. We foster strong connections to nature and local communities.
  • To learn more about Early Learning Victoria, you can visit the website, and we will provide an update when enrolment applications are open: Early Learning Victoria | earlylearning.vic.gov.au

I want to thank all the staff and students I spend time with as I get around the college. Angie Fusinato and I joined the Shrek Jnr crew for their first rehearsal altogether, and I also spent an afternoon with the VCE Theatre Studies class as they prepared for A Midsomer Night’s Dream. This group was fantastic as the whole rehearsal was student-led, with students directing, providing each other feedback, learning the lighting and sound, and practicing their skillful acting. Being part of the sports carnivals is a joy as students are brilliant participants and athletes; their skill and willingness are infectious. The class visits I am part of for our staff coaching schedule are also a privilege to be in. Last week, I was in Mr. Rowly’s Year 8 Art class and saw brilliant 3D sculptures; I tried some tough Chemistry in Ms. Murphy’s Year 10 Science and was pleased to hear many thoughtful Year 9 English students thanking Mr. Kuhn and wishing him a great weekend at the end of their lesson. There was one harsh lesson for me, though, in Mr. Jack’s Year 8 Japanese class; they loved a game of silent ball, which required them to recite colors in Japanese with an action. Unfortunately, I couldn’t tell if they were correct! We certainly had fun either way.

 

Finally, thank the parents, carers, and students who plan to nominate for School Council. If parent elections are required, we will provide more information. Please get in touch with the college if you wish to nominate but haven’t yet.

 

I hope everyone has a great second half of the term.