From the Principal

Welcome to The Lakes South Morang College. As we kick off a new and exciting year of learning and opportunities for our students I congratulate you all on the outstanding effort to have uniforms, shoes and resources that look smart and brand us as a place where we are proud to be Lakes students.

In introducing myself to those who don't know me well, I have been teaching since 1978 and have taught mostly in secondary schools across metropolitan Melbourne. Teaching is my passion. Students are my focus and their needs are priorities one, two and three.

I have been privileged to be the founding Principal of The Lakes and am excited and in awe of the magnificent teachers who work daily with your children. I will be working across the primary and secondary campus this term supporting Bill and Marcus in their roles as Campus Principals.

Who am I?

I am married to Michael and have been for forty-two years. I have two adult children - Kristie (38) who has complex special needs and Marc (33) who is a musician, songwriter and the Year 9/10 Unit Leader. I also have the adorable Ella - grand dog extraordinaire. I barrack for Collingwood, I follow baseball and I love to read.

Returning Staff

We welcome back the following staff:

Sue Ritson in our Year 3 team

Nicole Watt in our Year 6 team and Health

Andrew Rogers teaching drums

New to us

A big Lakes welcome to the following new staff members:

Jennifer Kenny in our Year 1 team

Nicole Manoukian in our Year 2 team

Angela Turvey in our Year 6 team

Loanna Finch in Humanities

Shannon Widdeson in Art

Erin Mould in English

Anita Sara in Science

Rim Wannous in our Student Support Team

The Education Department has launched a plethora of new programs and projects and we have been successful in acquiring some grants to enhance programs. The following list will be explained and shared with you over the next few weeks.

New challenges and programs:

DET Secondary Schools Mental Health Practitioner, which will run one day per week

DET Middle Years Literacy and Numeracy Project, with a Target Group in Year 10 to be led by Renee and Vanessa

DET High Achievers Program to be rolled out in Semester 2 and led by Jennie

City of Whittlesea Grants

Harmony Day Cultural Grant - March 17th run by Kate

Community Garden Community Grant - in partnership with Little Learners

Through the lens of adolescence - music clip on student-identified issues

Our community will also see lots of firsts as we take the next steps in refocusing to a Primary and Secondary environment with new faces , a fresh uniform, refreshed learning spaces and a year I am calling 2020 - The Year of Student Voices. Hopefully if we listen carefully your students will help us be creative and solution-driven in ensuring The Lakes South Morang College is the very best available.

Keep cool.

Kerrie