Principal's Report

Our class of 2023

As our graduating class of 2023 nears completion of their VCE and VCE VM the focus will be completing SAC’s, Areas of Study, Learning Outcomes and upcoming Exams. During the first week of holidays our VCE practice exams will give our Year 12 VCE students a valuable opportunity to practice under exam conditions and obtain timely feedback leading into their VCAA exams which commence on Tuesday 24th October. 

On Monday 16th October our school community will have the opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate the class of 2023 with our traditional whole school assembly. The senior school team have been working collaboratively with our College Captains to organise  Celebration Day on Tuesday 24th October as well as end of Year Valedictory to be held at Frankston Arts Centre on Tuesday 19th December.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish our class of 2023 well with their upcoming exams as well as those starting apprenticeships and entering the world of work.

World Challenge

On Saturday 16th September 19 students across Years 10 and 11, as well Ms Blackburne, Ms Riddle and Mr Clayton, headed off to Maylasia to engage in the World Challenge program. Our students will expand their knowledge about what it means to be a global citizen, to develop their transferable skills through collaboration and leadership. Students will also represent the College through their community initiative at the Turtle Conservation, enabling them to become aware of global environmental issues. We are looking forward to hearing of the amazing experiences this group have had upon their return.

Professional Learning Communities

On the back of the exemplary work started in 2022, our College was nominated by the Department of Education Training to be the Lead School in the Bayside Peninsula Area (BPA) in supporting the implementation of Professional Learning Communities (PLC). PLCs are made up of small groups of teachers who meet weekly to improve student learning and wellbeing in their classrooms. These PLCs were tasked with identifying a gap in skills or knowledge of their students and then designing and implementing an intervention to address the issues. Some of the interventions were focused on supporting Year 12 students in developing specific skills relating to the required preparation when undertaking examinations whilst others focused on skill development in junior levels to support the work of our senior years. 

During the term, as part of our PLC Link school work, we have hosted numerous schools in the BPA who have visited to see our PLC’s in action and be provided with valuable advice, support, both at a system and network level, and be further supported by being provided documentation we have developed to run effective PLCs at the College.  Our work with other Colleges in the BPA at a deeper level has been so impactful, that we have also presented our PLC implementation and work that we do to support our local schools at the Department of Education state wide professional learning days. 

Sand Dune Regeneration

We have recently completed an extensive regeneration of our sand dunes with the help of a federal government grant, Queen's Jubilee grant, and National Tree Day. 

Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee 2022

The Australian Government supported a range of national and community events to commemorate the Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, and to honour her life’s achievements. 

Community-based tree planting and commemorative events funded through the Planting Trees for The Queen’s Jubilee Program have continued in honour of The Queen and her 70 years of service as Australia’s Head of State.

We recently received a grant of $6,000 to assist with regenerating the border between our school and the Seaford Wetlands.  

In 2021 we removed non native pine trees and with this grant have replaced the pine trees with 50 trees from tube stock and seven larger trees that are indigenous to our local area. This brings our total number of new plantings in the sand dunes to over 200 once native grasses and small shrubs are included. 

All plants were sourced from local Indigenous nurseries.  Both our VCE VM and Horticulture students have been involved with this process. We would like to thank the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water for their generous grant to assist in our Sand Dune Regeneration Project. 

Footy Colours Day

On Friday 1st September we held our footy colours day, with students encouraged to attend dressed in colours of their favourite football team. As always it was well supported across various codes and teams with money raise for fight cancer foundation which supports young people who have been diagnosed with cancer, our College raised in excess of $650. Well done to our Student Leaders, SRC and Ms Catherine Blackburne for organising such a fantastic day. 

Road Safety

On occasion this term we have heard from members of our school community about road safety issues with our students on Milroy Crescent, Emma Street and Palm Beach Drive. I would like to encourage students to ensure road safety is at the forefront of your thinking whilst travelling (walking or riding) in the community. Please think about the following strategies to ensure safety at all times:

• be considerate of other road users
• when on bikes wear a helmet 
• exit school grounds carefully 
• use walking and bike paths where available 
• avoid riding erratically 
• not using a mobile phone or listening to music
• look both ways always

Charter Bus Services 

In the last edition of our newsletter we advised of a tender process that had commenced for our school charter bus.

We would like to advise that, after much deliberation,  school council has chosen Crown Coaches as the successful applicants.  They will start servicing Patterson River from 2024.  

Canteen Service at Patterson River Secondary College

The School Council is seeking the services of suitably qualified companies or individuals for the provision of a healthy, nutritious, high quality and affordable canteen service to the school community for breakfast, recess and lunch (adjusted seasonally to accord with the season).

In addition, the School Council will require catering on an ad hoc basis for internal school meetings and functions throughout the year. 

The School Council believe that all employees that work in the canteen service should be facilitators of positive development who provide a safe, engaging environment and nurture healthy interactions towards students, staff and associates of the school and others legitimately upon the land.

Expression of Interest for the Canteen Service at Patterson River Secondary College are due 3.00pm Friday October 13th, 2023 and can be accessed via www.prsc.vic.edu.au or via email Rachel.lindsey@education.vic.gov.au.  

Mr Adam Slater

Acting College Principal