FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Welcome Everyone 

And a special welcome to our NEW families

A new year, new adventures/opportunities and, all being well, students at school for a full year!

Despite the uncertainty of the start to the school year, it has been relatively smooth thanks to everyone’s support and cooperation. 

The Year 7 students are settling into their new environment that will be enhanced when the Junior School refurbishment is completed. 

Year 8 - 12 students have adapted well to the disruption of the building works and settled into their classes. 

We are very much looking forward to the year and the onsite activities that everyone has enjoyed in the past. 

Leadership Team 2022 

Principal

Wendy Powson

Assistant Principals

Stuart Young

Trent Silk

Melissa McMillan (on leave)

Genaha Thompson

Head of Senior School and Year 12

Katie Wilson

Head of Year 11

Daniel Toma       

Head of Middle School and Year 9

Riana Asta  

Head of Year 10

Michael Bourne           

Head of Year 8

Jye Cuff

Head of Year 7     

Jeremy Neumann   

Head of Arts - Sarah Hardy

Head of English  - Jessica Timmers      

Head of Mathematics - Caitlin Saliba                

Head of Humanities - Leah Shields       

Head of Languages - Kelly Farrell  

Head of PASE - Alister Stuart 

Head of Science - Sara Schulz       

Head of Technology - Caitlin Marshall

Head of Data and STEAM - Sally Stepniewski

Head of Instrumental Music - Jackie Goode 

Head of Sport - Paul Hager

Head of Inclusive Education- Catherine Zavrou

Sub School

 Coordination Teams

Junior School 

Jeremy Neumann, Jye Cuff, Morgan Wyatt, Cindy Harris, Eleni Stavrou and Jayne Morrow

Middle School

Riana Asta, Michael Bourne, Narelle McGrotty, Maddy Ignatiadis, Zoe Younger and Catherine Edwards

Senior School

Katie Wilson, Daniel Toma, Janine Sayers, Mark Beatson, Jodie Street, Kelsey Currie and Sarah Redgewell

Lunchtime Clubs are all GO!

It was great to see many of the Year 7 students signing up for Lunchtime Clubs and this year’s School Production. 

The clubs already on offer include:

• Art Club
• Book Lovers Club
• Gamer Club
• Lunchtime Health and Fitness Training
• Chess Club
• Clay Club
• Zoology/Zoo Keepers Club
• Clay Target Shooting Club

The Yarra Ranges Tech After School Program (every Friday afternoon) is also once again on offer in 2022.

Interschool Sport Teams

There are a range of interschool sporting teams that teachers are currently organising tryouts for.   Full details are on Compass.

We encourage all students to check the News Feed in Home Group every morning.  

Lunch with our School Captains

A lunch with School Captains, Ava Van Leemput and Lilly Urquhart occurred last week to chat about how they see their role and what they would like to achieve this year. They had some great ideas including; cross year level activities, fund raising and celebrating special days. 

They will work closely with the other captains and the Student Representative Council to make 2022 a much needed year of celebrations. 

Ava Van Leemput and Lilly Urquhart

Communications

You can contact any staff member via Compass, email or via phone at any stage, they will return your communications.

In the interests of work – life balance for our staff there is a policy in place regarding the timing of communication.

Staff will reply to emails within 48 hours, however, they are not obliged to check emails after 4.30 pm.  If there is an urgent need for communication please phone the school directly.

Thank you to everyone for your assistance with this.

Uniform and Mobiles

Thank you to everyone for your support in relation to uniform and mobile phone policies. 

A reminder to all students, that phones must be locked in lockers until the end of the day and facial piercings are not permitted to be worn.  

If students need to contact parents during the day, they should attend the Sub School Offices (Junior, Middle and Senior) and not contact parents/carers from their phone. 

When students have to chat with their coordinators and teachers regarding any concerns, it builds confidence, resilience and independence.  The staff will be only too happy to assist where needed.   

It is important that everyone complies with the rules and expectations so that we can get on with the business of learning in a safe and consistent environment. 

The aim of the mobile phone policy is to provide:

• a safe environment to learn without inappropriate mobile phone use (including cyberbullying) or distractions
• greater opportunities for social interaction and physical activity during recess and lunchtimes.

Our school policies can be found on the school website and below;

3 Way Conferences

The first of our 3 Way Conferences is coming up on Thursday 17 March, that will be virtual.

The aim of the sessions are to exchange information in relation to learning and to set some goals for individual subjects.

Online bookings for parents and carers will be available soon on Compass. 

Wendy Powson

Principal