Welcome

I extend a warm welcome to all families new to Greensborough College in 2017 and I welcome back all families returning for another year of partnership with us.

This year will see some great changes in our buildings and facilities with the rebuild to begin early term 2. As a school community we will also be focusing on:

building student leadership
developing our students’ voice in making decisions about what and how they learn
providing resources and opportunities for our teachers to collaborate and
strengthening our family and community partnerships

At our first school assembly I spoke to the students about two touchstones that will underpin how we work together – Respect and High Expectations.

Respect: Establishing and promoting positive and respectful relationships in our community is the foundation for effective and productive outcomes for all. We will do this by showing respect for ourselves, each other and our teachers.

High Expectations: We have high expectations of everyone to be outstanding representatives of Greensborough College, to be demonstrating our values of respect, honesty and integrity, self-discipline, learning and cooperation and to be striving for excellence; to achieve our personal best.

I ask families to take the opportunities that arise from time to time to connect the conversations at home with these touchstones and the values your child is learning at our College.

2017 College Leadership Team

Pauline Barker

Principal

Jim Ringin

Assistant Principal

Sharyn Campbell

Leading Teacher – Junior School Engagement & Wellbeing

Paul Meager

Leading Teacher – Senior School Engagement & Wellbeing

Lee Gillam

Leading Teacher – Pedagogy & Staff Development & Enrichment

Leighton O’Donnell

Leading Teacher – Data and Student Outcomes

Sharyn Niclasen

Leading Teacher – Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting

New and Returning Members of Staff

Welcome to our new and returning staff members.

Melissa Lenten - School Nurse

Stacey Thorne - Integration Aide

Jo Gardiner - PE – Fridays

Kathy Welsh - (Family Leave)

Mick Lonsdale - (Long Service Leave)

Sally Reynoldson - (Long Service Leave)

Nick Licciardi - (Long Service Leave)

Diamond Valley Special Development School

Our school community also includes Diamond Valley Special Development School and I would like to welcome back their staff and students. We will continue to build our partnership with DVSDS in 2017.

Academic Results 2016

The VCE results for the Class of 2016 were pleasing. The cohort achieved a median Study Score of 27. Our College Dux, Matthew Walker, achieved an ATAR of 99.55. Matthew addressed the students at our school assembly and an edited transcript of his speech is in this newsletter. Eight students achieved an ATAR above 90, which represents 8% of the cohort. 18% of the cohort achieved an ATAR above 80 (top 20% of the state).

As a College we achieved above State mean study scores in Health and Human Development, Maths Methods, Specialist Maths, Chemistry, Physics, Food Technology, Literature, Information Processing, and Visual Communication and Design.

While these results are important and to be celebrated, I want to stress that the learning of every student matters and that we will continue to celebrate students achieving their personal best in a range of pursuits.

Meeting Families

I am looking forward to getting to know as many new parents as possible. Parent evenings, student-parent-teacher meetings, School Council, the Parents and Friends Association and school working bees are all excellent ways for us to meet. I am looking forward to our Year 7 Welcome BBQ being held on Wednesday, 22nd February and do hope that all of our new and old families will be able to join us.

If You Have Any Concerns

Please do make contact with the school if you have any concerns. It is important that you are in contact with the school straight away so we can work with you to ensure a successful outcome. Our office staff will be able to answer your question or direct you to the best person. We do welcome you to please keep the lines of communication open, be in touch when you have concerns and share your ideas for improvements. Also, share with us what we are doing well. We will love to hear about any success and news your child has. Please do not hesitate to be in touch to celebrate this with us too.

It is a privilege to be the Principal of Greensborough College in 2017 and I look forward to working with the whole school community to achieve great outcomes for everyone.

Pauline Barker

Principal

Rebuild Update