Acting Principal's Report

Welcome from Acting Principal, Ms Lea Volpe

 As we head into the school holidays this a great time to reflect on the term, especially on all the positive achievements, considering that we have been in and out lockdown. You are probably wondering why I’m writing this article instead of Andrew. Andrew is taking a well-deserved break with his family and he will be back for the commencement of Term 4.

A farewell to Doctor Kate

Since 2018, Reservoir High has been a lead school in the 'Doctors In Schools Program'. Our program has been very successful and used as a model for the program across the state. Much of this success has been due to our wonderful Dr Kate. Dr Kate has been an integral part of school, in both health support and promotion and working with students and families across the full range of medical needs. Many wouldn't know that Dr Kate lives outside of Melbourne and commutes a long distance to come to Reservoir.  At the end of this term, Dr Kate will be continuing her work as part of the Doctors in Schools program, but at a school much closer to her residence.   We would like to thank Dr Kate for her outstanding service and support of our school, students and families and wish her all the best in her new school and future endeavours. You will be missed. 

 Remote Learning 6.0

I have been very impressed with the students and teachers with all of the teaching and learning that has been taking place during the term. The attendance has been excellent and congratulations to all the students who have won a voucher or points for 100% attendance. I know that teachers have been checking in with their classes each lesson and running some very engaging activities to keep the students engaged and motivated. At the same time, it is important to give the students some time to complete and consolidate their work away from their screens. This is why the weekly catch up/consolidation days are so important and we have received very positive feedback from students, parents and teachers. It is a very busy time of the term where teachers are trying to finalise assessments and many Common Assessment Tasks are due. Teachers are constantly collaborating to plan curriculum and engaging activities for our students.

Special Activities

Over the last few weeks we have run special weeks with different activities, such as quizzes, dress up parade, science experiments, cooking demonstrations, art activities etc for our students. We have had Science Week, Book Week, PE/Health Week and lunchtime clubs. I thank all of the staff who have organised activities. I joined quite a few and found them to be very entertaining and I know the students who participated appreciated the effort and also the opportunity to be involved in something a little different from normal classroom activities. It is important we consider the students’ wellbeing during remote learning so this was one way of creating an environment of fun for the students.

On Friday 27th August we once again had the pleasure of hosting the Bruce Kingsbury Ceremony. We have a long association with the 2/14th Battalion and the President of the Association, Craig Iskov gave a very moving speech as did our Student Leaders and Kingsbury Primary School students. It was also an opportunity for the Bruce Kingsbury Scholarship winner, Yoedhzer Nidup to read her winning entry. Even though the event was held virtually, it was just as thought provoking and moving as if we were attending in person. We look forward to the day we can once again run the ceremony at Reservoir High School and see each other again.

Another very important event held during remote learning is Principal Awards. On the Monday 30th August a WebEx ceremony was held for the recipients of the Principal Awards and their families. Congratulations to all the recipients. This is an award that recognises all of the hard work and effort the students put in during semester. I look forward to the assemblies back on site where the students will be presented with their certificates and badges.

Course Counselling

This is the time of year that where we are planning for 2022. We are receiving enrolments for 2022 Year 7 students and all other students have selected their subjects/electives for next year. This is a very important process, so I thank all students and parents for the thought and consideration that was taken when selecting subjects. I also thank all the sub school staff, careers team and timetabler for all of their work for running such a smooth process. We are now making decisions on what subjects run in 2022 and sorting through all of the student selections to ensure each student has a viable course. As soon as we are able, we will notify students of their 2022 subjects.

Year 12 information

All the Year 12 students have been notified that the GAT has been moved to 5th October and information about the vaccine blitz has been sent to all Year 12 parents/guardians and students. At this stage the exams have not been moved and the Consideration of Educational Disadvantage will again be applied this year. This process was used last year, and it worked well to ensure our students achieved their goals. More detailed information about all that I have mentioned will be provided to all year 12s and their parents/guardians. With Year 12 VCAL students they will remain at school until all of their outcomes have been met.

Now I would like to take the opportunity to wish all of students and families a safe and enjoyable school holiday. Students take the opportunity to have some screen free time and enjoy the outdoors whenever you can. I know we can’t travel very far but hopefully we will be out of lockdown soon and we are able to have students back onsite. As soon as we have any information we will pass it onto to families. 

Stay safe everyone.