SCHOOL LEADERSHIP MESSAGE

PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

Vale Noah Peacock

It was with great sadness and heavy hearts that our community learned of the sudden passing of Noah Peacock. Our thoughts, condolences and love go out to Michelle and Jason, Jake and Bailey, Noah’s extended family, and Noah’s many, many friends. Noah was an exceptional young person who impressed the staff with his kindness, empathy, and compassion. He stood alongside us in helping us face our challenges, and showed incredible maturity in supporting others. When he left for an apprenticeship, we were excited for the life that lay ahead of him. It is impossible to understand why some people get a long life and others do not. Noah’s passing has once again reminded us that life is fragile and we should never hold back on expressing our gratitude and love for those around us. He will be so terribly missed, however, the impact he had on us is something we will remember forever.

Science Week

Thank you to all the students and staff who participated in Science Week. This is a highlight of our school calendar every year. There is no doubt that the Science staff do an amazing job in organising and running special events throughout this week but John and I would specifically like to acknowledge and thank Ms Witton and Ms Muldoon for all their hard work this week and in the lead up to Science Week.

Administration Building Update

We are hoping that by the time you read this, we will have officially begun moving back into the Admin wing. All going well, we anticipate that parents and carers will be able to access the General Office from the new space from Monday 22nd.

School Review

Friday 19th August was the last formal day of our School Review. The reviewer has already provided a lot of positive feedback and on Friday we would have begun drafting our goals for our next Strategic Plan. Some of the highlights the review panel have commented on have been:

• Positive and engaged students
• Capable, hardworking, and highly competent staff
• Strong and strategic leadership from within the school
• Staff, parents, and students pride in the school
• A strong sense of community from all stakeholders
• Staff ensuring all lessons are up on Compass
• Students accessing the lesson plans prior to classes; students finding these exceedingly valuable to their learning
• Students able to articulate their learning
• Students wanting to do well
• Students speaking positively about GPAs processes, Mentor Interviews and Profile Pages
• The quality, rigour and benefits of our Signature Programs: Like Minds, Year 9 Activate, ACE, and Like Ability classes
• Our strong Early Access program, VCAL and VCE programs.

In future newsletters, we will share our next Strategic Plan and our next steps for further improvement. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank Mr Branko Lukic for his leadership during the review, and our panel/challenge partners, Mr Nathan Pirouet and Mr Dan Wells (Korumburra Primary School), Mr Dean Duursma (Foster Secondary College), Ms Rebecca Williams (Drouin Secondary College), and Ms Karen Bowker (DET; Senior Education and Improvement Leader).

Vaping in our Community

A reminder to our community that smoking and vaping is banned on school grounds and within 4 metres of schools (more information about this in the Vaping Fact Sheet/Information Sheet included in this newsletter). This is the case in all schools and government buildings and includes everyone irrespective of age or visitor status. Students caught vaping at school will receive a consequence which may include a suspension. Any individual or business giving or selling vapes to anyone under 18 years of age is breaking the law. We all have a responsibility to protect young people from harm, this includes risk to their health.

Principal - Vaya Dauphin

Assistant Principal  -  John Wilson