Student Wellbeing

Liz Dawes – Connor’s Run & the Robert Connor Dawes Foundation 

In a recent assembly, we were incredibly fortunate to have Liz Dawes present to our students, encouraging them to join and support the Connor’s Run Shelford Team. Liz shared the heartfelt story of her courageous son, Connor, a local bayside boy diagnosed with brain cancer in 2011. Tragically, Connor passed away at the age of 18 in 2013, but the Dawes family was determined to ensure his legacy lived on through brain cancer research. Their efforts aim to support other families in need and to help change the odds for young people with brain cancer. Thanks to the support of Connor’s Run, the Foundation has been able to invest in world-class research and development. We are immensely grateful to Liz for taking the time from her busy schedule to visit Shelford and share her powerful story and how it is she has been able to honour her beloved son and make a significant impact in the world.  

Team Shelford 

In 2023 Shelford entered a team for the first time in Connor’s Run. This year we have a dedicated organising committee spearheaded by two of our student leaders, Octavia and Stephanie who are determined to ensure that the Shelford Team will be bigger and raise more funds for the Connor Dawes Foundation than it did in 2023!  

This year Connor’s Run is on Sunday 15 September. This is a great community event, and if anyone knows how to support community, it is Shelford! We encourage all members of our community to get involved in whatever way they can. Some ways you can show your support are: 

Sign up to the Connor’s Run Shelford Team here. 

There are numerous options on the day 18.8km, 9.6km or the new Little Bird Loop 3km. Simply choose the distance that suits you! 

Donate to the Shelford Team here. 

If you can’t make it on the day, you can still support this very worthy cause by donating to the Shelford Team. 

Cake Stall 

On Wednesday 21 August we will be running a cake stall to raise funds. We will be seeking donations closer to the date, so if you are a baker this is the way you can get involved. Keep your eye out for further communications later this term. 

A big thanks to those students, staff and family members that have already signed up to a be a part of the team. We are greatly looking forward to supporting the Robert Connor’s Foundation this year and hope you will join us! 

Monash Scholars 

We recently celebrated our Year 10 Monash Scholars Ermo H, Lucy and Avani during our assembly. The Monash Scholars program is a prestigious program for high achieving secondary school students to give them a unique head start into university life. Students that are selected in Year 10, stay until the end of Year 12. 

Over 2.5 years, Scholars participate in a range of bespoke activities to enhance their learning; explore their career ambitions; define their personal aspirations; and build networks with other high achieving students. 

In their application, students needed to demonstrate academic achievement, extra-curricular endeavours and articulate what a good leader looks like and how they display these qualities in their own lives.   

Memory Books 

This term, we continue to celebrate the students’ final year at Shelford with our Memory Book sessions. These sessions offer students the chance to reflect on their journey at Shelford and begin considering their future beyond our school. This term's theme is "Becoming a Shelfordian". 

The first session focuses on the school's values, exploring how these values have influenced the students so far and how they may continue to guide them in the future. The second session will centre on our school song, encouraging students to provide their own contemporary analysis of what the song means to them. 

2024 NAPLAN results 

Families in Years 7 and 9 will have now received their child’s NAPLAN report. This information has been shared with teachers helping them to leverage their students’ strengths for learning growth. The NAPLAN data, along with other data sources and all that we know about our students, help us to further inform our teaching practices, to set goals in numeracy and literacy, and plan support and extension for individuals and cohorts.