Principal's Report

David Reynolds - College Principal

Students at Melton Secondary College flourish when they succeed in their learning and build positive connections with their peers and their teachers. This almost always takes hard work, but nothing truly valuable comes without effort. Take Year 11 student Tahnisha Gosney for example. Tahnisha has been an enthusiastic writer for many years and at the end of last year with support from her Year 9 English teacher, Mr Williamson, she entered a national writing competition. Earlier this year she  found out that she had been shortlisted in the top five entrants for Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia. The competition was incredibly strong and the other shortlisted students all attend prestigious independent schools. Enthusiasm and the hard work  has taken Tahnisha's writing success to a national level. Well done Tahnisha!

Students in every year level are working hard. We have had many students achieve outstanding results in their Term One progress reports and over the past two weeks more than 200 students have taken advantage of the extra help on offer from staff at after school Home Work Club or Study Hall to complete and improve their classroom work.

You will see later in this edition of Melton Mail that students have been focusing on positive relationships with Project Rockitt and 'Bullying. No Way!' Day. Through these programs, they learnt about the important difference between an 'Upstander' who is ready to step up and a bystander who stands back and watches without helping. Our Bullying Prevention Policy is being carried out in many effective ways across the college and students are feeling more comfortable to report incidents when they happen. Some young people believe that it is never OK to report incidents and that to do so is to be a  "snitch". Young people who are being hurt by bullying need Upstanders. Students should feel confident that they can choose to be an Upstander by reporting incidents of bullying anonymously through our online Well-being Referral form or confidentially with a member of Wellbeing or Sub-School teams. It is a powerful combination when the school can work with parents to support their children to make safe and respectful choices to resolve conflict. Our STARR Values ask students to THINK before they act. THINK stands for:

Is it True?

Is it Helpful?

Is it Inspiring?

Is it Necessary?

Is it Kind?

The college recently updated its Mobile Phone Policy to make it clear that students who choose to bring their phones to school must ensure that the phones are not visible or audible during the school day and while on school grounds. Phones seen or heard will be confiscated and returned to students at the end of the school day with a staged response of more serious consequences for repeated breaches of this expectation.

Flourishing Staff

At Melton Secondary College we know that our vision of flourishing students depends upon the expertise and dedication of our staff. Our students' results all depend upon the work that teachers do getting to know every student in their classes,  building positive relationships, creating great lessons and providing effective feedback. The work that our support staff is equally important as they make sure that the finances and other important resources are available when students, staff and parents/carers need them. This includes making sure that the buildings and grounds are in good repair, that students are able to access support services in wellbeing, careers, sub-schools, IT and the library. The college places a high priority on supporting our staff with a workplace where they feel respected, valued, able to develop their professional skills and have the time they need to do their work. Coming up to the term vacation break teachers will continue planning and assessment of student learning tasks in preparation for the start of term two. They will also take some time to re-energize after a term of hard work. 

What does it take to flourish? Our STARR Values make this very clear. Please take this opportunity to familiarise yourself with our values, read them with your child and discuss where she/he can build on the values they demonstrate with confidence and develop those that need growth. The College STARR Values are attached below.

New College Administration and Entrance

It has been just over 12 months but our new administration building and entrance are now complete. From the start of Term Two, visitors to the college will be welcomed at the new reception and office area. Students will have a new entry into the new building when they have business with the general office and via a new gate during the school day. The new building and reception area will make entry into the college much easier for visitors, the entrance more visible from Coburns Road and parking more accessible for staff. Building works always present a temporary disruption to our routines, but these improvements certainly make it well worth the trouble. 

Primary - Secondary School Transition

There was a big turnout at the recent Transition Information Night, with more than eighty families attending. They were greeted by a team of staff and student leaders and taken on a tour of the College and a presentation about the college programs. Below is a selection of wonderful student art work which was on display on the night. The college expects another large intake of Year 7 students as we continue to demonstrate the growth and achievement of young people who flourish.