Principal's Report

Welcome back – I have had the pleasure of welcoming all of our students over the past week back to on site learning at Lalor Secondary College. We now look forward to seeing the whole school return together on Wednesday the 3rd of November.

It’s great to have life come back into the school and to see our school community revived. The energy around the school is great and exciting, which is what we love when working in education.

It’s hard to believe that it was the first week of Term 3 back in July that we were asked to return to lockdown conditions and return to remote learning. And for the last 2 years we have faced these challenges over the winter months. Melbourne and its people, our communities, your local community have now spent the most time in lockdown across the entire world. This has seen the world change after facing significant challenges, and we have changed as a result of the circumstances we have faced. No matter what your situation at home, life was different, freedoms were reduced, and we learned to live a different life. We now think differently and look at the world a bit different.

One of the challenges we all face together is slowly transitioning to a new normal. Again, what this looks like for everyone will be different, but there are some common ideas and social challenges we will experience together.

It was for this reason that we altered every student’s day 1 program, because we know that returning to school and mixing in large groups with people you haven’t seen in person for long periods of time can lead to ‘reverse culture shock’

Returning to our ‘home’ culture (in this case, our physical school environment), can be jarring and anxiety-provoking, when that culture has changed and when we have changed as a people while away from that culture. 

Readjusting to the school environment may take time and therefore the school put together a day to talk about some of the challenges we face, as well as mark our return with some activities that will decorate and change our school forever, leaving a lasting mark from everyone who was present this week. 

I had the privilege of facilitating an activity to highlight that everyone experiences different feelings every day. And we often can’t recognise them, or even write them down and acknowledge them, but they are there, and they do influence our behaviour.

Every one of us is experiencing many feelings about returning back to school including teachers, students and family members. We are all experiencing and navigating these changes together, while the process is very different for every single one of us.

While I asked all students to reflect on how they have been feeling and I briefly mentioned the circumstances we have all faced over the past two years – There is still one thing that I am certain of:

The Future is not some place we are going, but one we are creating.

Over the coming days, weeks, months and years every single person at our school can determine their own path. We can all look forward, rather than dwell on the past.

As a school we are excited that our community will be involved in the changing of our physical environment with a new double court gym, new food technology and hospitality rooms, a new performing arts centre, new VCE centre, a new Arts centre and Music facilities, as well as new landscaping replacing the old buildings and asphalt with new green spaces. These aren’t just new buildings but are opportunities for new subjects and experiences for every student within our college. It is the students that will fill the new buildings with energy and create a new culture and feeling across the school.

It is an exciting time to be a student at Lalor Secondary College and I we know that young people are resilient and most of them will bounce back quickly. I ask that as a community we assist those around us that may need a little more help by being positive and looking to a bright future.

I wish everyone the best with our return to on site learning and look forward to seeing our community return to a new normal school program.

Best regards,

Corey Jewell

College Principal

Student Free Days

Students will not attend school on the following days.

Monday the 1st of November – Curriculum Day

Tuesday the 2nd of November – Cup Day Public Holiday

Vaccination 

COVID-19 vaccines are safe, free and voluntary. COVID-19 vaccines are effective at preventing infection and protecting against serious illness from COVID-19. Getting vaccinated is the best way you can protect yourself, your family and our school community from further outbreaks. 

For more information on vaccinations and how to book an appointment, visit coronavirus.vic.gov.au or use the Australian Government’s COVID-19 vaccine clinic finder. You can also contact the Department of Health Coronavirus hotline on 1800 675 398.

As a result of the populations double vaccination rates those students who are double vaccinated will only have to isolate for 7 days as a Primary Close Contact of anybody who has tested positive for Covid-19. Students who are unvaccinated will have to isolate for 14 days. 

I strongly encourage all members of our community to get vaccinated.

VCAA Exams

Our Year 12 students have had a challenging time over their VCE with the past two years being a rollercoaster of on site and remote learning. We are proud of every student who has persisted through this year and made it to their end of year exams. The English Exam was held on Wednesday the 27th of October and marked the start of the VCAA exam period. The exams run over a 3-week period and we wish everyone of our students all the best with the exam schedule.

With the reopening of Melbourne and events it looks like the school will be able to run a Graduation Evening later in the year. More details are to follow.