Senior School News

Central Australia/Darwin Tour

I would like to wish the Year 12 students all the best for a fantastic trip on the Central Australia/Darwin tour.  I am sure they will have a wonderful time and will have life long memories of this adventure.  A special thank you to Mrs Anne Thomson who has overseen the organisation of this tour and Mrs Adrienne Shepard and all staff attending the trip for their excellent work in ensuring the trip is an outstanding success.

The organization of the trip has been a huge logistical task in ensuring all COVID safe plans are in place for the health and wellbeing of our students and staff.  Thank you to Mr Andrew Batchelor, our School Council and our travel operators – Educational Tours and Safaris (EDTS) for all of their efforts in ensuring this trip could take place and providing this opportunity for our students and staff.

Interim Reports 

Interim reports were available to parents online from Tuesday 22 March.  These reports provide families with the opportunity to celebrate achievements and develop an action plan for future improvement.  If parents have any enquiries concerning their child’s progress, please do not hesitate to contact the subject teachers or Year Level Coordinators.

Parent Student Teacher Conferences 

Thank you to all parents, guardians and students who attended these interviews on Wednesday 30 March remotely via TEAMS.  The feedback was extremely positive and it was reassuring to know how much the school community values the excellent work of our teachers.  These interviews provide an important opportunity for teachers, parents and students to work together to further improve learning outcomes. 

VCE Leadership Awards

Students may wish to nominate for the 2022 VCE Leadership Awards.  These awards recognize the efforts of VCE students in promoting leadership and participation in their school and local community.

VCE Leadership Award recipients are students who demonstrate initiative, inspire others, work well in a team and are committed to making a difference.  They take an interest in activities such as the arts, sport, debating and public speaking; they may campaign for social justice and environmental protection and/or raise funds for worthy causes.

To qualify students should be studying at least two Unit 3 & 4 studies.

If you are interested in nominating yourself or another student, please see me as soon as possible.

Study Skills

Students should now have developed regular study habits and an organization/study timetable.  In the senior student diary there are great hints on where and how to study, motivation, goal setting, note taking skills, essay writing, research strategies, memory skills and stress management.

I encourage all students to have a look at this valuable resource and discuss how they can use these techniques to develop better study skills, which are vital for Years 11 and 12.

Students should also be practising as many exam type questions as possible, in preparation for the end of year examinations. 

Monash Scholars Program 

Year 10 students who are interested in applying for the Monash Scholars Program should see myself, Ms Tiffany Greenhill, Ms Sam Cody or Ms Libby Toovey for further details.

Applications are based on students’ academic ability, leadership qualities and contribution to school and community life.  All applications must have a school endorsement.  

The benefits of the Monash Scholars Program include:  enhanced learning, exploring career ambitions, defining personal aspirations, preparation for university life and building networks with other high-achieving students.

Applications open on Wednesday 27 April and close on Monday 16 May.

Schools Access Monash Mentoring Program

Congratulations to Karthiikeyan Chandiliyan (Year 12), Chang Ji (Year 11), Niranjan Sudheer Krishna (Year 12), Jorden Lancaster (Year 11), Brianne Oates (Year 12), Luka Pajic (Year 11), Hannah Russell (Year 12), William Scroggie (Year 12) and Lu Yang (Year 12)  who have all been accepted into the Monash University Mentoring Program for 2022.

We recently held our in school launch where students where given a further understanding of the program and the opportunity to meet some of their mentors.

We wish these students all the best for a successful year ahead and hope they take advantage of the knowledge and experiences of their mentors.  It was wonderful to see Sofie Saleh, one of our alumni as the Access Monash Project Officer overseeing this program for our students.

Thank you to Mrs Cindy Bryant, the SAM Coordinator for providing this opportunity to our students.

Students Driving To School

Students who drive to school are reminded that they must complete a consent form (which is available from the Senior School Office) and attach a photocopy of their driver’s licence.

Students are not permitted to park in the school grounds and hence, must ensure that they follow local parking restrictions on nearby roads. 

Students should also be aware that they must not park too close to the pedestrian crossings or driveways.

Term Vacation

I wish all senior students and staff a relaxing and safe holiday.  Students need to ensure that they are revising their work over the holidays and Year 12 students  should continue to practise past examination questions.

Examination papers  can be viewed on the VCAA website:  www.vcaa.vic.edu.au.  Students should also look at the assessment reports on this website; these are written by the examiners and individual questions are discussed.  Generally, if students have performed poorly on a type of question then this question may reappear on future exam papers.

I cannot stress highly enough to students the importance of using part of these holidays for study purposes. 

Senior School Team

If you have any concerns or questions please do not hesitate to contact any member of the teams.

Ms Helen Wilson

Senior School Principal