Principal Report

Welcome back to 2021 

In what was a very difficult year for our entire school community in 2020, we are really looking forward to getting back into a school routine, and really focus in on the learning for our students again.  

Our Year 7's and Year 12's returned on Friday 29th January, and it was lovely to see so many happy and smiling faces from both ends of the school.  It was particularly nice to be able to welcome our new Year 7's and their parents/guardians into the Mount Erin College Community.  Our new gym was a hive of activity with just under 200 students and over 100 parents/guardians and staff joining us to welcome our new students and to get them off to a positive start to the year.  The balloons, breakfast, music, and video's all made for a great atmosphere to get the school year started off in a positive way.

Our Year 8, 9, 10 & 11 students all returned on Monday 1st February, and after some short assemblies to set the expectations for the year, they too were straight into classes to get started on their learning for 2021.  

Our messages to all of our students for 2021 are very clear.  Learning is our priority at the College. We want to work hard to support all students to learn and achieve success, and that we will be looking to challenge them to achieve their personal best in each lesson, of each day.  Mount Erin College is a great school - and it is the students, the staff, the parents/guardians, and the wider community that contribute to our fantastic school community.  We want 2021 to be a really special and positive year for all of us involved, but the focus needs to be on the learning, on our growth, and setting our sights to achieve success.

Our Year 7 Students and Staff enjoyed a great 3 days of warm weather on their camp down to Phillip Island.  The camp is designed to have our new Year 7 students build relationships with each other, build their confidence, get to know their teachers, and generally help them to settle into life at secondary school.  I was delighted to be able to go down to the camp on Thursday afternoon and spend the night there. It was lovely to get to speak with the students and get to know them outside of the school environment. I was really happy with how all of the students were conducting themselves, and enjoying one another’s company. I am positive it will be a great year for these Year 7 students.

At the end of Week 3 as the Year 7 Students returned from camp, we were again thrown a challenge with the announcement of a 5-day snap lockdown, which involved students learning from home for three days in Week 4.  The way in which our whole school community responds to these challenges is nothing short of amazing.  Once again, our students, staff and parents rose to the challenge. The learning continued remotely, and our students were still engaged in their work. I would like to say a big thank you to all members of the Mount Erin College Community for your resilience, persistence and acceptance of these challenges that are thrown our way. As a community we continue to come together and support one another – this is what great schools do, and this is one of the reasons why Mount Erin College is a great school.

There are lots of events to keep an eye out for throughout the remainder of Term 1.  As a College we will continue to plan for each event as if they will go ahead uninterrupted, and we will continue to communicate with all families if there is a need to adapt/change the planning.  I want to reassure all members of our College Community that we are following, very strictly, all of the COVID safe guidelines at the school, including the monitoring of facemasks.  Whilst the facemasks are proving a challenge to monitor, we are required by the DET to ensure that all staff and students are wearing them in the College. We would appreciate the support of all members of our community to wear them appropriately, and all do our bit to keep one another safe.

Finally, we have developed a whole new marketing strategy at Mount Erin College in 2021 to promote and celebrate what great work our students do, and how great our College is.  One of our aims is to improve our communication with our parents/guardians and the wider community, reaching all different platforms of communication to keep you all informed.  If you haven’t yet added us to Facebook, or followed us on Instagram, you are missing out. Through these platforms we are pushing out positive stories and messages almost daily with a new look Mount Erin College branding, to spread the positivity and recognition for the great learning opportunities that our students receive here at the College. Learning is our priority and this year you will see us celebrating the learning and achievement, and communicating this with you all to keep you informed.

Jarrod Main

Principal (Acting)