Executive Team Report
Firstly, congratulations to all and thank you for the fantastic work completed during this term with all its challenges. The staff have generally been impressed by the efforts of students when at school and the mature approach displayed by those who have been required to isolate. We have also been very appreciative of the support and involvement of parents and carers.
The Department of Education and Training has announced that they will continue the testing regime and supply of RA tests at least until week 4 of Term 2, so we will continue to distribute these as they arrive. Visiting lots of classrooms to hand out RA tests to our students has been an enjoyable consequence of our new protocols. Please aim to conduct a test prior to students returning on April 26.
I received some interesting reflections which puts into perspective the challenge of the term and explains why we may all be feeling a little weary.
It’s quite remarkable to think we have completed our first full term onsite at our schools since 2019 – and a long one at that! Translated to students: our Grade 2s’ first full term of school ever and our Year 9s’ first full term of secondary school. It’s also incredible to think that our 3rd year teachers have just taught in a classroom for a full term for the first time in their careers.
David Howes, Deputy Secretary, Schools and Regional Services, shared some statistics at a Schools Regional Services (SRS) meeting yesterday. Throughout Term 1, 71,000 students and 3,782 staff have tested positive for COVID. This is alongside all of the staff, students and families that have been in periods of isolation due to being household contacts. He also shared that for the 1553 Victorian Government schools across the state, only 100 have not reported COVID positive cases. When we reflect on these numbers, we should all be proud of the remarkable work completed by staff and students and the fantastic support provided by families as we navigated our way through the many challenges provided as we returned to school and work amidst COVID break outs.
As always, I am energised and extremely proud of the quality of the work our students produce and the enthusiastic way they engage with the program at Koonung. We recently were selected by the Department of Education International Division as one of five schools chosen to represent Victorian State Education in an Online display Forum for International Education. We had a film crew spending a day in the Life of Koonung and a short film was produced as part of the showcase, showing our school. The clip will be advertised on Department websites.
Koonung Secondary College:
I also had the pleasure of attending the launch of the Top Designs display of VCE work at the Museum. Two of our students, Tahlia Vosnakis and Jasmine Nicol represented the College with their fine work. If you have the opportunity to visit you will not be disappointed as the quality of the work shown is spectacular.
A reminder that students should be wearing the full winter academic uniform including their blazer for terms 2 and 3. Correct physical education uniform may be worn for the whole day if a student has Sport Education or practical Physical Education classes. The College Spray Jacket is not to be worn inside and can only be worn with the PE uniform or to protect the blazer on the way to or from school if it is raining. It is not to be worn instead of the blazer.
Items of uniform can be purchased from Dobsons and some may be available from the Second Hand Uniform shop.
Next term I am taking Long Service Leave and travelling to Queensland to support my Dad as he transitions into Aged Care and then returning to welcome the birth of our second grandchild. I am really pleased to announce that the Executive team will be Sandra Greenhill (Acting Principal), Mary Eade (Assistant Principal), Conor Sheehan (Acting Assistant Principal) and Stace Kerr (Business Manager). I know the school is in great hands with excellent leadership and a fantastic and dedicated staff.
Take care and stay well.
Marianne Lee
Principal
Year 12 Badging and 2021 Academic Awards Assembly
On Wednesday this week, the Senior School and Student Leaders ran the traditional Year 12 Badging Ceremony as well as presentation of the 2021 academic and leadership awards. This assembly was conducted on the Hockey Pitch rather than in the Hall, which is a change from previous years. The School Captains, Chloe Pedler and Dheklan Pitaliadda, did a fantastic job as joint MCs of the event as well as giving the School Captain’s Address to open the proceedings.
2021 graduating students Rui Ann Lim (College Dux with 99.7), Michael Thompson (Studying Medicine at Monash University) and Natasha Mulay (Studying Science at the University of Melbourne) returned to the school to speak to the students about their journey through Koonung as well as the start of their tertiary studies this year. I would like to thank our Year 12, Year 11 and Year 7 students for their respectful participation in the event and it was great to be able to recognise the fantastic achievements of our students over the past 12 months. On Tuesday of Week 1 next term, our Year 7 to 10 students will again visit the hockey pitch for an ANZAC day ceremony.
A list of all award recipients are listed on the next page of this newsletter.
Conor Sheehan
Assistant Principal
2022 College Council members
This year, as the number of nominations in each category equals the number of
vacancies, we did not need to proceed to ballot.
College Council members for 2022 are:
Executive Officer - Marianne Lee
Parent members
Gary Howell (President), Lou Will (Treasurer), Glenn Bartlett, James Chan, Katherine Harding
DET members
Mary Eade, Sandra Greenhill, Conor Sheehan
Community members
Geoff Spicer (Vice President), Frank Tlozek, Chloe Pedler and Dheklan Pitaliadda (2022 College Captains)
Student members
Isabella (Bella) Cidoni, Rory Spicer
Working bee thank you
On Saturday 19 March, we held our first working bee for 2022 and we would like to warmly thank the hard workers who attended. A combination of parents, students and staff worked hard, with a focus on gardening, mulching and general tidy up of the Senior courtyard area. A during and after shot is included below. It really is amazing what can be achieved in a short time with our community working together. We hope all members of our community appreciate the efforts and treat the gardens with care as they go about their work.
Capital works program update
Exciting news! We have taken delivery of the keys to our new building, which will be known as A block. Pending installation of whiteboards during the term break, we hope to begin classes in the top section from term two. The tender to complete the bottom section of the new building should be released in the next few weeks.
Stace Kerr
Business Manager