From the Principal
It is with great pride that I thank all members of the GEC community for all that you have done to make 2021 a successful year for our students and our college. I am so proud of our students, staff, parents and community. I appreciate the work that you all do in supporting our students to achieve the very best they can in all aspects of their lives at GEC.
I would like to thank Jonathan Lock - Council President, Stephen Loyer - Council Vice President and the School Council, Parents and Friends Association and all other volunteers who contribute so much to the College.
It was wonderful to be able to welcome 175 new Year 7 students to Orientation Day. Our peer support leaders did a wonderful job in supporting our new students.
I am extremely proud of our Year 12 students who have done marvellously well in dealing with much of their VCE in 2020/2021 online.
Strengthening Vocational and Applied Learning for School Students
The Victorian Government has announced a $38 million investment to create a new single Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) that will give students flexibility to combine academic and applied learning in line with their interests, strengths and career aspirations.
The new single VCE senior secondary certificate will mean students no longer have to choose between doing VCE or VCAL. This will start to be implemented from 2023.
The move to a single certificate follows a review by former Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority CEO John Firth that found the change would provide all Victorian students with the best opportunity to develop both academic and practical vocational skills.
The review found evidence of outstanding programs across the state but that more needed to be done to ensure all young people had access to training that engages them, delivers high demand skills and leads to quality jobs.
The integration of a vocational and applied learning pathway within the VCE will offer high-quality pathways for all students so they are better prepared for lifelong learning and can transition more smoothly through school, further education or training and work.
Tutoring Program and other Intervention Supports
The Department of Education and Training is continuing to fund the tutor learning program for one more year. This, with the MYLNS Literacy and Numeracy support programs, will ensure students receive the additional supports needed.
Students in Years 7 and 8 are supported through our already established intervention programs at these levels and our Middle Years Literacy Numeracy Support (MYLNS) funding, again based on our data and feedback from teachers to identify students most in need of this extra support. MYLNS funding is also supporting students in Year 10, and we also run Literacy and Numeracy intervention electives in Year 9, which students (and parents) have elected to do as part of their learning program.
All parents of students selected for any of our intervention programs including the tutoring program will be contacted to give their consent for their child’s participation.
A new funding line for schools is the Disability Inclusion funding. This funding is to support the many students who don’t qualify for funding through Program for Students with Disabilities (PSD) (PSD students have an aide allocated to support their learning in the classroom). We will now be able to employ several additional aides to support students who have some form of learning difficulty. We are also considering entering the therapy dog program and are investigating the parameters and costs associated.
In our planning we need to have an overall picture of which students are getting what support out of all these programs, to ensure we are not leaving anyone behind and to also maximise the funding provided and, at the same time, have effective measures in place to gauge effectiveness of each form of intervention.
Updated Policies
We have updated the following policies and encourage all members of the GEC community to review the policies. If you have any concerns or questions, please do not hesitate to give me a call to discuss.
Yard Duty and Supervision Policy
Staffing
We say farewell to:
- Erin Cavanagh, Ry Mathieson, Sunny Chen, Justine Douglas, Stephanie Lamborn, Florence Pyke, Wendy Dassie and Daniel Mulligan and thank them for their wonderful contribution in working with our students during their time at GEC and we wish them all the best at their new schools.
- Julia Pound, Maria Anbar and Sasha Byrnes but only for a year while they take leave.
Congratulations to Nick Hamer-Smith who has been successful in applying for an Acting Principal position for term 1 2022.
As our numbers continue to grow, we are in the wonderful position of recruiting excellent teachers to the college.
We welcome back:
Sarah Mortimer – Junior School Leader
Shaun Reynolds – English and EAL
Tara Fang – International Student Coordinator
We welcome:
- Sheena Shi – Piano
- Colin Shnier – Maths / Learning Specialist
- Dean Marsh – English / Literacy support
- Cassandra Ackroyd - Maths / Humanities
- Thomas Balme – Physical Education / Psychology
- Daniel Bouchet-Hibbert - French / English
- Ashleigh Oliver – Physical Education / Health
- Madeleine Owen – English Language / English
- Arik Singer – Hebrew
- Bridie Skinner – Alumni Coordinator
- Joanne Valis – Numeracy support
- Jenny Wall - Reception
Finally, I wish all students and families a happy and safe holiday. I look forward to seeing our students ready for the 2022 academic year on Tuesday 1st February.
Sheereen Kindler
Principal