Principal's Message

Dear Parents & Guardians

This has been an extremely exciting and productive year for MGSC. Collectively we have implemented many improvements that have transformed the school both physically and academically. Thirteen months into the job and I still feel energized and proud of the achievements of each and every student. I am also grateful for the endeavours of our dedicated teachers and education support staff. It isn’t easy when a new Principal joins the school, especially when there hasn’t been a change of leadership for 19 years. I appreciate their adaptability and professionalism over this time. My mantra is always “students are at the centre of all that we do and that is why we must innovate”.

At times the day to day work of our teachers goes unnoticed so here is a short list (but not complete by any means) of what our teachers have been working on in addition to their core responsibilities which is teaching. Teachers have:

Surveyed their classes to receive feedback on the teaching and learning program and then acted on this feedback to tailor the work to meet the needs of the individual students.
Observed each other’s classes so that they receive another teacher’s perspective on their teaching.
Worked in Professional Learning Teams to develop, document and share course content.
Contributed to the Curriculum Committee discussions where we debated the virtues of ongoing assessment and reporting, rubrics for assessment as well as the implementation of the new Victorian F-10 curriculum. We analysed parent, student and teacher feedback and implemented refinements for semester 2. We also aligned the Year 10 subject offerings with VCE subjects to provide more choices to students than ever before to accelerate their program.
Contributed to the Facilities Committee where the physical needs of the school were discussed and prioritised. Many enhancements have been made to the buildings and grounds as a result of these discussions. The grounds are looking more inviting with the green thumb of Tammy and many of the buildings have received a fresh coat of paint to bring them back to life. My thanks go to Bronwen Peterson, our Facilities Manager for being so proficient in her role as well as Gerry Van Den Berg who sees to all of the day to day maintenance of the school. I would also like to thank Glenn Chadwick and Darren Hawkless from School Council for their contribution to this committee. The work will not stop over the holidays as the library will be refreshed and refurbished in time for the students’ return in 2018.

We also had a year of change with David Russell departing at very short notice at the end of term two to take up a position as Principal at Parkdale Secondary College. I appreciate the contribution that David made to the school over the last few years and I would also like to acknowledge the positive way in which Bronwyn Moline and Carol Duggan incorporated aspects of David’s role into their already busy portfolios.

Our Leaders of the school also steered the school towards achieving its goals and so in appreciation I thank our Business Manager, Inny Smit, Leading Teachers, Domain Leaders, Sub-School Teams, Program Leaders (such as STEAM) and our Education Support Staff and IT Team for all of their work.

Our students have also worked hard this year having achieved much in their areas of interest. This incorporates achievements across all subject areas from aerobics to music. Most recently a team of four Year 10 students and one Year 11 entered into a 'Superhack Engineering Challenge' run by Melbourne University and Robogals and walked away with first prize. Achievements such as this signal that our girls live by our school motto “Courage and Hard Work”. Very soon a group of girls from different year levels will be going on the HASSE Space trip to NASA as will one of our staff Gemma Johnson.

We have also seen the world through a global lens as we forged relationships with our International Students here as well those met at schools whilst on the trips to France and Japan. I have been humbled and impressed by the way in which our students have been so welcoming and supportive of our international students when they have spoken at assemblies or in class.

Although many may think that schools are winding down in December, for all of us at MGSC, we are still full steam ahead. The students and staff are immersed in the Headstart Program and the work of 2018 has already begun. This is a sign that we are always looking to the horizon checking for that next change in wind direction. Thank you to everyone at MGSC for making this a great year.

With thanks

Linda Brown

Principal