Principal's Report 

“To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle requires creative imagination and marks real advances.” Albert Einstein

We are creating an enduring collaborative culture together that is providing students with the creative and critical thinking skills to be innovative in their learning. We have the precursors for our school success — a shared vision and a safe and orderly learning environment. Our students belong to a school where to learn is to grow, they believe in the CORE values and they will become their best selves on the journey. Student engagement and wellbeing is supported by our team at the college using the School Wide Positive Behaviour Framework. We work closely with parents to ensure students thrive, grow and excel throughout the school year. This vision anchors the culture we are creating as we add a new year level each year. There are also elements of continuous change as we move through each new school. The real world problem solving within the PBLs provides students with transferable skills that they can use and apply confidently as they make decisions throughout the learning process.  

Sod Turning Event

We had our official sod turning event for Stage 2 on Wednesday May 19th. Tim Richardson, Parliamentary Secretary for Schools and Member for Mordialloc spoke to student leaders and turned the sod recognising the importance of Stage 2 for our growing school.  

The school community members who attended were Steve Pearce, School Council President, Margot Worthy and Spencer Marshall, College Captains, Natalia Hjordjek, Year 9 Leader, and Bjorn Stegweit, School Council Representative for students. It is exciting to see the building beginning to take shape as the concrete pours and scaffolding begin to be erected behind the hoarding.

Year 9/10 Specialism Art & Soul

Students in the Year 9/10 specialism Art and Soul have designed the following mural:

Be the change you want to sea

"We at Beaumaris pride ourselves on the sustainability of our oceans. We want change that can ever last our forever-evolving world that creates positive change among our diverse oceans. This mural represents the change that Beaumaris students want to create to make the ocean a better place." 

Personal Safety Session

The Personal Safety session presented by Sonya Karras for parents on May 19th was well attended. Parents were provided with information on how to support their teenagers to make safe decisions as they navigate more complex social situations with gatherings and parties. Sonya shared links to resources with parents which are on the screen in the image below. The Wellbeing Team will be organising more sessions for parents as well as follow up with students across Year 9 and 10.

Staffing

We are excited to welcome Shannon Hewlett who has joined our team at the college as the Executive Assistant to the Principal Team and Public Relations and Events Manager.  

Shannon brings a wealth of experience and a strong connection in our local community.

Primary School Visits

I had the pleasure of taking a few of our Year 7 student leaders back to their primary schools to share the experience of starting Year 7 at Beaumaris Secondary College. Our students are wonderful ambassadors of the college vision and values. Thank you to the students who gave Year 6 students an insight into life at Beaumaris Secondary College.

Black Rock Primary 

Reuben Marcus and Siobhan Olds

Beaumaris Primary School 

Ava Alexopoulos, Freya Garrard, Valentina, Ljutic and Judah Searle 

Beaumaris North Primary School 

Thomas Anderson, Deacon Mactier, Sophie Russell and Daisy Ward

Cheltenham Primary

Toby East, Ariel Judah and Flynn Wardle

NAPLAN

Our students approached NAPLAN with a positive attitude. The students were tired after the NAPLAN but felt confident about their performance. The Year 9 students were surprised with the lack of algebraic problems in the numeracy test. They were inspired by the Writing test where they had to respond to a prompt about another world. This year will be the last year that there will be paper tests as next year NAPLAN will be online across the state. NAPLAN took place on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday (11 -13 May 2021). Students who were absent for the test had an opportunity to re-sit during that week.  

BGKLLEN Expo

We were fortunate to hold the BGKLLEN Careers Expo on Tuesday 11 May at the college. Our Year 10 students were able to visit the expo during Session 1 and experience all the amazing industry stall holders had to offer. They also had the opportunity to ask plenty of questions if there was an industry stall holder present that held particular interest. 

We also had 8 Independent and Secondary Colleges visit the expo throughout the morning.  

Attitude to Schools Survey

All students (unless we have received individual notification that families wish their child to opt out) completed the 2021 Student Attitudes to School Survey (AtoSS) on Monday May 17th during GOAL Group. The survey took approximately 20 minutes. The results will be interesting following the students return to on-site learning this year.

The AtoSS is an annual student survey offered by the Department of Education and Training to assist schools to gain an understanding of students' perceptions and experience of school. Students will be asked about their thoughts and feelings in relation to their school, their learning, peer relationships, bullying and life in general. 

Stage 2 Build Looking Ahead

Building A

Continue with construction of in-situ structure. This will involve the following:

• Scaffold erection
• Formwork
• Concrete Pours - Traffic Management in place

New Bike Store between Multipurpose Pitch and the Pavilion

• Ground Works and Excavation
• Concrete Pour

Balcony seating continues to be installed with the latest on level 2 in a beautiful Beaumaris blue.

Managing Illness in Schools and Early Childhood

Student Success

• Congratulations to Luca Kocent (Year 7) who performed at an official Thank You morning tea hosted by Bayside Community Emergency Relief with Highett Neighbourhood Community House & Community Bank Highett, last Friday. We are very proud of Luca who confidently shared his talent in front of a room full of adults including Brad Rowswell (Member for Sandringham).

• Congratulations to Hunter Salvatore who recently competed in round 3 of the Australian Kart Championships in South Australia and came 9th in the final out of 36 kids in his class (KA4 Junior Light). Hunter also raced in round 2 of the Metro Series (an open meeting held in Seymour, Victoria) and qualified on pole (1st) and ended up winning the final.

• A total of 46 students represented Beaumaris at the Divisional Cross Country event on the 19th May. Once again, a testament to the passion for sports within the school community. Congratulations to all participants and good luck to those who progressed to the Regional finals.
   
• The intermediate boys soccer had a stunning win to proceed to the State Finals.

Debby Chaves

Principal