Principal's Report
Thank you and Well done.
I can only say it has been a very interesting and challenging term. Once again I thank all members of the school community - parents/carers, students, teachers and education support staff for the enormous effort that was made during the time of remote learning. As I have written in some of my Compass posts I am very aware that each family has had to manage their own challenges some of them financial and emotional during the last few months due to the impact of COVID-19 not just in our local area but around the world. I believe that our students have done the best they can given some of their circumstances. Our teaching staff have continued to work with great commitment to consider what is the most essential aspects of each curriculum area that students need to achieve rather than overwhelm students with "catching up." There is no doubt that many of our students have grown physically and in maturity during the last three months while some have very much missed the social aspect of school. As we head into the mid year break I encourage all members of the school community to continue all the excellent practices around physical distancing; health and hygiene in order to keep your family and friends safe these holidays.
Teaching and Learning
We have tentatively engaged again with our educational consultants – Bronwyn Jones, Rob Park, and Louise O’Kelly. It has been a bit more challenging in regards to our international consultant Lee Watanabee; however, he has developed an educational app which allows teaching staff to respond and engage with each other as well as other schools and continue professional learning in the areas of teaching and learning. As a College we intend to make use of this tool to continue to induct teachers in our key strategic areas to support student learning growth.
The College Educational Leaders have made enormous gains this term in planning for 2021. The focus has been on the three areas of: Senior School – Introduction of Year 10 for 2021 and complementary learning experiences for students; Career and Pathways counselling at Year 9 and further development of the Year 9 Curriculum and 10 Elective program for 2021. I have included some extracts from the support and reference material that is being developed by our Leaders to support the students in choosing options next semester for 2021.
Future Build - Update
The tender is close to being determined with the letter of award aiming to be issued Friday the last day of term. Both the Victorian Schools Building Authority and the Project Architects are expressing confidence that the outcome will be a very good result for the community. If all goes well, the contractor will begin to fence off the site for the start of Term 3 and then Stage 2 will begin!
Edgars Creek Primary School (Interim Name) 2021
We had the opportunity to meet the new Principal of Edgars Creek Primary School – Ann Turner-Calleri. She has been the Principal of Keilor Height Primary school for the last 5 years. She will be based at ECSC starting from next semester. As the next door neighbour, I am excited about the prospects to come in the future and the possibilities for our students in the areas of leadership and coaching and other cross age/community projects.
New Staff - beginning Semester 2
We welcome three new staff members to start in semester 2:
- Administration Officer – Victoria Giceva
- Librarian Technician – Trisha Bennett (provisional)
- Mental Health Practitioner – Social Worker – Kathryn Wakeling
We have begun the forecasting for recruitment and at this stage the College will need to recruit somewhere between 20 – 30 staff members for 2021 (teaching and further ES staff). The recruitment drive will begin early semester 2 and continue for the whole of the semester.
Jo Camozzato
College Principal