Dear Parents/Carers,

As we reach the end of Term 2, I would like to take the time to reflect on our first semester of learning at LSC for 2022. We started the year with a Year 7 to 12 Start Up Program to set up students for a positive year. We focused on establishing strong pre-conditions for learning, including re-establishing our college mobile phone policy, as well as ensuring all students have access to and bring all their required books and equipment to every class. We also focused on uniform to ensure that all students are in full and correct uniform each and every day.

As we move into Semester 2, it is important that students, parents and carers take the next couple of weeks to undertake important tasks to prepare for Term 3, including:

Replenishing equipment in pencil cases;
Getting new exercise books for new subjects or if current ones are full;
Ordering a warm jumper or jacket from our uniform supplier Beleza; and
Ensuring that their laptop is functional and ready for Term 3.

All of these basics ensure that students have the best opportunities for learning and success. As a college, we will continue to follow up with students who continue to breach our key pre-conditions for learning (mobile phones, equipment, uniform), as well as focus on further areas including attendance.

It is also important at this time to reflect on some of the key activities from Term 2. We had all Year 7 and 9 students complete their NAPLAN assessments online, all students provided important feedback via the Attitudes to School Survey and multiple student forums occurred where students provided important feedback to guide our 2023 curriculum and uniform updates. For more information on these items, please see later on in this report.

We also saw many of our students take on opportunities to engage and connect positively with the college beyond the classroom. A variety of sporting teams headed out to represent the college, students took their learning beyond the classroom on excursions, and guest speakers informed, engaged and inspired our students. This included important sessions from Susan McLean who educated our Year 7 to 9 students on cyber safety and Scott Darlow who entertained and inspired our Year 10 to 12 students with his philosophy of FLUTE (forgiveness, love, understanding, tolerance, empathy) and a musical performance.

In addition, our students had multiple opportunities to represent their houses, earning points for volleyball, UNO, and the incredibly popular Lyndhurst’s Got Talent.

Shifting the focus to Term 3, our key priority areas will be on actions outlined in our Annual Implementation Plan. In addition to actions focused on boosting student connectedness, pride and respect at the college, staff will engage in extensive professional learning on how to effective support students to build their literacy and numeracy skills, as well as commence planning for our exciting new subjects offered in 2023.

Our 2023 curriculum plan will see the college enter year one of a project aiming to provide students with more voice and choice in their learning pathways, right from Year 7. From Year 7, students will be able to select their sport options, as well as engage with STEM-based learning. Students identified as needing additional support with their literacy will have a specialised class to provide opportunities to build their literacy skills across the curriculum. In addition, there will be more choice in the Humanities and Science areas from Year 9 and more VET subjects available to study at LSC. A detailed document outlining the full structures and subject offerings for 2023 will be shared in early Term 3 as part of the subject selection process for all students.

In addition to curriculum innovation for 2023, our School Council recently approved significant adjustments to our uniform policy. These changes were made with the aim of ensuring all students were warm, comfortable and had suitable uniform options available for them. An updated uniform policy will be available on our college website shortly, with the following key changes:

Students are permitted to wear EITHER the academic uniform OR the sport uniform each day as the official college uniform.
Students are permitted to wear all black, leather (or leather look) runners with their academic uniform.
Students wearing PE uniform are to wear leather (or leather look) runners for health and safety reasons.
Please note that boots, ankle boots, slip ons, zipped, canvas, suede or ballet flat shoes are not permitted.

From 2023, we will also be introducing some new items based on student voice feedback and School Council approval. These include:

Warmer mid layer options of a rugby top and a ¼ zip jumper;
New baseball cap and beanie designs; and
House colour/themed bucket hats as a sun smart option.

Final designs will be shared with the college community once confirmed, but students involved in the feedback process are all very excited to see these items become available to buy and wear!

With the introduction of the rugby top and ¼ zip jumper, we will be phasing out the current v-neck woollen jumper. Students will be able to wear this item until the end of 2024 at which time it will no longer be considered part of the official school uniform. To support this transition phase, families are able to purchase this item at a significantly reduced price until these are sold out. We thank Carl and the team at Beleza for their support of our community with this generous discount.

As always, I thank the students, parents/carers and staff of Lyndhurst SC for a great semester and look forward to seeing more great things occur in our college community in Term 3. I wish all members of the LSC community a safe and restful break.

Ms Eloise Haynes

Principal

Senior School

Senior Girls Netball

One VCE