College Principal's Report
Welcome to Scoresby Secondary College’s first newsletter for 2017
Welcome to Scoresby Secondary College’s first newsletter for 2017.
Welcome back to students and families after the break and a special welcome to our Year 7 students and other families new to the College. I look forward to working closely with you all throughout the year.
We have already had a positive start to term 1 with students enjoying the special start up programs on Tuesday and Wednesday, whole college assembly and commencement of timetabled classes. The program for Year 7 students was organised by the Junior School Team and followed on from the transition programs which commenced last year. It was a great opportunity for all students to develop positive relationships with members of their classes, home group teachers and sub-schools. Based on observations of student engagement and feedback from students, parents and staff it has been a highly successful start to the year.
New and Returning Staff
We welcome the following new staff:
Ms Ellen Sawyer
Head of Senior School /English/Humanities
Ms Yi Li
Mandarin / Business Studies
Ms Erin O’Sullivan
Art / Visual Communication
We also welcome back from family leave:
Ms Aoife Geoghegan
Humanities
Ms Emma Rooke
Biology / Health &Physical Education / Mathematics
Assembly
On Tuesday last week our College Captains led our first whole college assembly. Students had the opportunity to welcome our incoming year 7 students, meet new and returning staff, hear a music performance by Year 12 student Bridget Caesar and be provided with an overview of what 2017 has install for them. One of the highlights of the assembly was the official presentation of student leader’s badges to our College Captains and Vice Captains.
College Captains:
Frazer Spence and Natasha (Tash) Orfanidis
College Vice Captains:
Mislav Tiosc and Christy Pritchard
If our first assembly was any indication, 2017 has four excellent leaders to represent our students and the College.
2016 Dux
We congratulate our Class of 2016 who achieved some outstanding results followed by successful first round offers for further studies. We are proud to report to our community that our College Dux was Andrew Wittmer who received an ATAR score of 97.8
I would like to acknowledge the strong commitment and work ethic of our staff and so many of our students who have worked together with us to transform our College to achieve such results. In the January edition of the Department of Education’s North Eastern Region Newsletter, the article below was written by Anthony Raitman the Outer Eastern Area Director.
“We wish to share a story from an Outer East school which has undergone significant improvements after their school review in 2015. Scoresby Secondary College has been transformed over the past two years by developing: a new school culture, an agreed curriculum, teacher leadership capacity and welcoming many new staff and students to share in this journey. The school has taken a leading role in their Improving Student Outcomes Numeracy group, supporting local primary schools, which has resulted in impressive improved learning gains for the primary students.
Academic results are improving with Scoresby Secondary College being nationally recognised for one of the highest gains in literacy student outcomes in 2016. Following the release of 2016 VCE results, Scoresby Secondary College celebrated students obtaining top results in Specialist Maths and Physics, and scores above 40 in the in Legal Studies and Mathematics Methods. School dux Andrew Wittmer was congratulated with an ATAR of 97.8.
Scoresby SC teacher Aaron Mackinnon was the Victorian winner of the 2016 Australian Council of Educational Leadership (ACEL) Teacher Leadership Award. The growth of Scoresby Secondary College is set to continue in 2017 with several exciting initiatives planned”
Our College
At the start of the year I revisit the college vision and values with students, staff, parents and the community. These are the key drivers of everything we do.
Vision
Scoresby Secondary College’s vision is to be a College of choice and to be respected by parents, community, tertiary providers and employers.
Our purpose
Scoresby Secondary College’s core purpose is to provide a safe, supportive and rigorous learning environment that focuses on nurturing the whole person so that every child gets the opportunity to be their brilliant best.
Our values
Underpinning our purpose is our strong desire for our students and school to have strong links to the local community and our genuine care for students’ personal growth. These are embodied in our College values of I.N.S.P.I.R.E.
·Integrity
·Nurture
·Success
·Pride
·Innovation
·Respect
·Excellence
Priorities 2017
College Council will be presented our Annual Implementation Plan this month. This yearly plan finalised by the leadership team in January, outlines the goals and priorities from our strategic plan which will be our focus in 2017. In December our teachers worked collaboratively in professional learning teams in preparation for teaching and learning. Establishing quality teacher practice, curriculum planning and assessment will continue to be a core priority for our College.
New Uniform
We are pleased with the exceptional feedback about our new uniform. The new items have been phased in at Years 7 and Year 10 levels this year and for the remainder of the College by the start of 2018. The new uniform comes after significant work by members of our Uniform Committee and community consultation over the past two years. I thank the parents / guardians on the committees who have been instrumental in selecting the uniform and development of the associated policies. While the new uniform has been well received by the community, it has been disappointing that our suppliers have let us down with lack of stock and late arrival into the store. I want apologise for the issues this raised and to reassure families that we are working with PSW Area Management to ensure the problems experienced in the store are overcome in the future.
Year 12 Residential
This week I attended the Year 12 Orientation Camp held at Ormond College one of the largest residential buildings at the University of Melbourne. Ormond College is an historical sandstone and cream brick building and opened 1881. The mediaeval gothic appearance of Ormond immediately provides a sense of academia and as such makes an ideal location for our study camp each year. The experience of studying in this environment, together with the expertise of the presenters, opportunities to participate in team building and hear study tips from past students has been motivational for our students.
Personal Property
Parents / guardians and students should be aware that personal property brought to school is not covered by the College or Department of Education and Training does not accept any responsibility for any loss or damage. Personal property is often brought to school by students, staff and visitors. This can include mobile phones, calculators, toys, sporting equipment and cars parked on school premises. Students are discouraged from bringing any unnecessary or particularly valuable items to school.
Accidents
The Department and College do not provide personal accident insurance or ambulance cover for students. Parents and guardians are generally responsible for paying the cost of medical treatment for injured students, including any transport costs. Student accident insurance / ambulance cover policies are available from some commercial insurers, and can be obtained by parents / guardians for individual students.
2017 Parent Payments and Student Resources
Thank you to parents who have made their full payments or made arrangements with our Business Manager Vicky Kamfonas for a payment plan. Parent payments are an essential source of funds for a school to operate effectively. Without charges, schools would not be able to provide the many programs and resources we provide for the students. The actual