Principal's Message
Hello and welcome to week 8 of the term.
As always in our College, a lot has been happening.
On Friday 10th March we had our Professional Development Day. This day was a huge success. It was the first time that all the schools in the BTN (Bairnsdale Tambo Network) closed for the day and came together for Professional Development, this meant over 400 teaching and education support staff in one place!
Our day started at the Riviera Christian Centre with a presentation from Kristen Douglas. Kristen leads a large team through Headspace working across all Australian Primary and Secondary Schools to enhance the mental health and wellbeing of whole school communities with a focus on school leaders and staff. The presentation from Kristin was fabulous.
Following the presentation all staff returned to our College to participate in 2 workshops for the remainder of the day focusing on wellbeing for both staff, students and the whole school communities.
Vaping: Vaping has become a serious issue at school and appears to be a growing trend. It is not safe and can have serious, harmful long-term effects. Facts around vapes include:
- Vapes can contain many harmful chemicals found in cleaning products, nail polish remover, weed killer and bug spray
- Many vapes that are labelled as nicotine-free, contain nicotine
- The nicotine in one vape can equal 50 cigarettes
More information can be found regarding vaping and its effects by clicking on the links below.
Within the school environment there is a clear link between inappropriate behaviours being caused through chemicals included in vapes. Recently, there have been reports of students vaping on buses. The consequences of such actions will be:
- If a student is found to be vaping on a bus, they will be immediately excluded from travel on the bus for a minimum of 5 weeks.
This information in the newsletter, will be reinforced at all year level assemblies and will serve as the 'first warning'. With knowledge that this is a firm stance, the priority of a safe environment for all students and bus drivers must be a high priority and I seek your support in ensuring the safety of all.
NAPLAN: The NAPLAN testing period for all Year 7 and 9 students has been completed and we could not be prouder of the way our students conducted themselves during these tests. NAPLAN results provide a snapshot of a students’ academic journey throughout school and although it is ‘one test, on one day’, there is a strong correlation between results and students final ATAR scores. Students held themselves in high stead of the Colleges values of being Respectful, Resilient, and taking Responsibility for their learning and I congratulate each and every one, regardless of results. Also, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all staff that were involved in this testing process. The fact that it was seamless comes down to the high level of organisation obtained and the professional manner in which staff conducted the sessions.
Parent Teacher Conferences: With Term 1 ending, it is important for all students and families to check in with teachers to discuss progress and growth made during Term 1.
Conferences will be run on consecutive days during the evening and during the day to ensure all families get an opportunity to participate. We strongly encourage students to be active in the conference process as they are the topic of conversation.
Conferences will occur :
- Wednesday 5th April from 5.00 pm to 8.00 pm
- Thursday 6th April from 10.00 am to 1.00 pm (There will be no classes on this day to allow students to attend conferences with their parent/carers.)
Conferences will be available via phone or WebEx and appointments can be made via the Compass App. Bookings open Wednesday 29th March. If you would prefer a face-to-face chat with the teacher, please contact your child’s respective teacher and organise a mutually satisfactory time.
I am currently on leave and Alli Hopkins will be the Acting Principal during my absence and will be more that happy to chat.
Talk soon.
Trudie Nagle
Principal