Principal's News

Welcome back community

The last six months have been a very trying time at Sandringham College. First we had the Sandringham Primary School fire, and then COVID-19 struck. Through all of this, the Sandringham College community of students, staff and parents has consistently and powerfully demonstrated why we are such an incredible school. If ever there was a time to celebrate our values of excellence and community it is in reflecting on these experiences. 

The Sandringham Primary Fire serves to remind us of the importance of community. Community at Sandringham College is about embracing everyone with kindness and respect, it is about reaching out and supporting each other in times of need, and it is about working as a collective, rather than as individuals to make an impact on the world in which we live. Everyday we try to instill in our students that being a great human being is about being a strong and productive member of our local, national and global community. 

At our school we all strive for excellence. During COVID-19 and Online Continuous Learning (OCL) I witnessed a level of excellence in our teachers that went above and beyond new about our educators. Our teachers spent countless hours learning new skills, preparing inspirational classes and delivering online learning. All of them gave up a significant amount of their Term 1 holidays to prepare for online learning, and all of them did their absolute best to ensure that they were meeting the learning needs of students whilst working online. Many of our teachers did this whilst also home schooling their own children. I received countless emails from parents thanking our teachers for their work and on behalf of the College, I extend that thanks to our teachers from our students, parents, from the School Council and from the leadership team.  

New Assistant Principal

It is my pleasure to announce the appointment of Ms. Suzanne Trease to the position of Assistant Principal – Head of Wellbeing and Engagement. 

With almost 3 decades as an educator, Suzanne Trease has worked in both Primary and Secondary schools, TAFE and University, in a variety of locations ranging from rural to inner urban, and both nationally and internationally. Her vast experience as an educational leader across a variety of educational sectors, provides her with a substantial understanding of how to promote a culture of excellence for all, build students confidence, resilience and positive sense of self. 

Suzanne’s vast experience includes working across a 7 college campus in the UAE, and a multi-campus P-12 setting in the Western suburbs. She was acting principal at Montague Special School for 12 months and has spent a term in internship at Melbourne High School studying leadership within a gifted education setting. A life-long learner herself, Suzanne holds a BA, diploma of education and a Master of Education. She also holds a Certificate IV Assessment and Workplace Training and a (Level 2) Coaching qualification in basketball from the Australian Sports Commission. 

Suzanne's most recent experience has been as  Assistant Principal with a portfolio of Positive Climate for Learning, Professional Leadership and Community Engagement in Learning at Roxburgh Park Primary School, an outer suburban residential area with diverse cultures and socio economic backgrounds.  Her current role also includes leadership of the implementation of School Wide Positive Behaviours for Learning across a network of schools in her region. 

As an educational leader Suzanne always takes the “holistic perspective” ensuring that the development of every young person's full potential. Her focus is on supporting the team of teachers and education support staff working with each child, developing the skills, knowledge and capacity of staff in order to lift the academic and lifelong outcomes of all students.  

Staffing Changes Semester 2

We have a number of staffing changes occurring in Semester 2. 

Retiring

Mr George Greig (Wood)

George retires after a significant career in the Department of Education. George has been working in schools since 1968 and has been at Sandringham College since 1993. 

George has made a significant contribution to education and to our community. He has taught woodwork to countless children, fostered life-long skills and for some, opened a gateway into a career in the trades. George has been an advocate for sport, and encouraged many students to participate in sport through his love of golf. 

 We wish George all the best for his retirement and hope that it will allow him more time on the golf course. 

On Leave in Semester 2

Ms Karen McVilly (Art/Technology)

Mrs Barb Hamilton (Mathematics)

Ms Christine Coldbeck (English)

Returning in Term 3

Ms Lynne Laursen (Mathematics)

Mr Liam Small (English)

Mr Steve Morris (Mathematics)

Mr Bob Fisher (VCAL/Technology)

New staff joining our school 

Mr Marc Lewandowski(Maths/Science)

Ms Xiaoming Li (Humanities/Maths)

Mr Jonathan Stevenson (Maths/Science)

Mr Roland Khayat (Technology)

COVID-19 Update

The College continues to go above and beyond the requirements in terms of hygiene at school. We have additional cleaners provided by DET who clean the tables, door handles and touch surfaces. The school has self-funded the installation of automatic hand-sanitising devices and these have been placed in various locations across the College.

In addition to this, we have asked that at the conclusion of class, students and teachers wipe down their tables after use. Sometimes teachers will stay behind and do this after class but most often our students have positively participated in this, supporting our school to be as hygienic as possible.

In term 3 we know that we can resume some activities and I am pleased to announce that at this point in time the Year 9 Camp will go ahead at the end of the Year. Currently Inter-school Sport and excursions cannot proceed,  but we are looking at enhancing opportunities for students by running school based programs, employing specialist coaches and sourcing guest speakers. We will also be introducing the Rock and Water Program for all Year 7 students as part of sport (additional information on this in the Wellbeing section of the newsletter). Despite the obstacles and the lack of inter-school competition, I believe that our students will gain a great deal from the programs that we are introducing. 

Sandringham Primary School

This term we welcomed Sandringham Primary School to our Bluff Road Campus. They will be with us for about 18 months. We have already begun to forge positive bonds through the sharing of resources. We look forward to new opportunities to build connections through our Arts, Performing Arts and Science Programs.

With the arrival of the Primary School, we have had increased traffic around the school. The Bayside Council have devised a traffic plan for the streets around the school. I have included a larger version of this in the Community Section of this Newsletter. 

Have a wonderful break

I wish all of our families and particularly our students a restful break. They have worked hard during online learning and I encourage them all to take some time these holidays to rest and relax. Term 3 and 4 are going to be exciting and busy and we look forward to being back together at school on Monday 13th of July.