Principal's Update

Dear Families, Students and Community Members,

Return to Onsite Learning

It is wonderful to have all students back onsite full time from this week. Congratulations to the majority of students who settled back quickly into the normalcy of school and onsite learning over the staggered return.

With our typical spring weather of a mix of warm and cooler temperatures, I ask that families please ensure students have the correct school jumper or polar fleece to wear to school, as hoodies are not allowed under any circumstances. Any families requiring some financial support to purchase the correct school uniform can contact our Wellbeing team. We do receive donations that we put aside to support our families who may be going through a tough time. There is also a Mordialloc College second hand uniform Facebook page set up by Emma Walker, one of my staff members. A reminder that our Middle School students are permitted to wear their PE uniform for the day (if it is the correct uniform) when they have PE or Sport, to avoid congestion in the change rooms, and with the Gym being out of bounds due to the final Year 12 exams. These are scheduled in the Gym up until Thursday 18 November.

Awards Night Thursday December 9 2021

Students across Years 7-12 have worked to the best of their ability in the remote learning space throughout the year and we congratulate them for their achievements in such difficult circumstances. As we move towards the end of this school year, despite all the disruptions, it is still very important that we continue preparations for one of the key events on the Mordialloc College calendar, the annual Awards Night. Every year we come together as a College community to celebrate student successes in a variety of areas such as Academic Excellence and Endeavour, the Arts, Sport and Community Involvement. Over the last few weeks, with the latest announcement of all restrictions being lifted from around November 24, we did give serious thought to going ahead with our live event at the City of Kingston Town Hall. However, after much consideration, given the high cases numbers that still exist in Victoria, we understand some staff, parents and students may not feel comfortable attending an event with 1000 guests at this current time. Students over 16 also need to be double vaccinated to be allowed to enter the Town Hall. Therefore, we have decided to proceed with a pre-recorded event again following COVID safe guidelines for our Awards Night. We will be filming on the 17 and 24 November and will have the video link ready for all families to be able to watch this event at home by the first week in December. We look forward to returning to a live event next year.

There are many prizes awarded on the night, thanks to the generous sponsorship of numerous organisations in the school community. Students are nominated for these awards by their teachers, home group teachers and year level coordinators and these nominations are based on specific criteria for each award. I encourage all students to strive to achieve your best for the many awards celebrated at this important occasion. These include:

Academic Excellence: The ‘Academic Excellence’ award is bestowed upon students who have demonstrated outstanding academic results within a subject. They have consistently worked above the expected level and/or have achieved a B or an A (in relation to Victorian Curriculum Achievement levels) on their reports where possible. At VCE level students need to be consistently attaining high or very high on all assessments. Students also need to have demonstrated very good to excellent learning habits in the learning area.
Achievement- Endeavour: The ‘Achievement-Endeavour’ award is awarded to students in recognition of consistent efforts made to strive for their personal best. They have demonstrated academic progress within a subject and have made significant improvements to reach their learning goals
Community Service: The ‘Community Service’ award is awarded to students from across each year level who have served the College in a particular way. For example, by participating in a variety of school activities as determined on an annual basis such as: SRC, House Athletics, House Swimming, School Production, subject competitions, contribution to the College Magazine, participation in Open Night, primary school visits etc.
Sport Champion: Awarded to one female and one male student from Year 7, Year 8, Intermediate level, and Senior level in recognition of outstanding sporting achievements made throughout the year.
Special Awards: These awards are contributed by organisations to recognise achievements made by students in particular categories. For Example, City of Kingston, Rotary, Victoria Police, Australian Defence Force etc.
Year 12 Subject Awards: The ‘Subject Award’ is bestowed upon the student who has consistently attained the highest academic results in all assessment tasks within the subject (for each Year 12 subject).
Year 12 VCAL Awards: The ‘Year 12 VCAL Award’ is awarded to students who have demonstrated significant achievements and progress within the VCAL program. A total of four awards will be given to four students in the subject areas of Numeracy, Literacy, Personal Development and Work Related Skills.
Year 11 VCAL Award: The ‘Year 11 VCAL Award’ is awarded to a student who has demonstrated significant achievement and progress within the Year 11 VCAL program.
Year 10 VCAL Award: The ‘Year 10 VCAL Award’ is awarded to a student who has demonstrated significant achievement and progress within the Year 10 VCAL program.
Art Award: Awarded to students across all year levels in recognition of outstanding art achievements and progress made throughout the year.
Quality Learner Award: Awarded to a Year 7 and a Year 8 student who has shown high quality commitment to individual learning excellence, achieved through teamwork, a process of continual improvement and taking responsibility for their learning.

We also award the dux of each year level based on the number of Academic Excellence awards they have received and close examination of achievement data. Thanks to Marina Walsh, Sonja Hill and Catherine Boulton, who have started work on the planning for this important school event.

Facility Development update

We still don’t have a full workforce back on our construction site as all sub-contractors need to be double vaccinated to enter the building site. The external wall cladding is continuing, service rough is nearly complete, brickwork is completed, the window frame installation is well progressed, and the wall and ceiling lining continues.

I am sure the students noticed a big difference when they first returned onsite to what they remember the building looking like at the start of Term 3!

Having Positive Conversations about School with your Child

Parents in partnership with the College can have a significant impact on a child’s achievement. A positive aspect of remote learning over the past two years and parents working from home, was the strengthening of the home school partnership during this time. Parents had the opportunity to see or hear their child’s/children’s face to face lessons delivered via Google Meet providing greater insight into what was happening in our classrooms, support offered by our teachers and education support staff and the expected work to be completed by students. Now that all students have returned to onsite learning and parents are no doubt enjoying a more peaceful work environment for themselves, I do encourage parents to stay involved in conversations about their child’s/children’s learning. Asking questions that make your child have to think more deeply about the question if they are going to be polite and answer you. Questions you could ask include:

What have you learned today that might be useful in the immediate future and/or for a lifetime?
What have you completed today that makes you feel particularly proud?
What has been the best thing about returning to onsite learning (apart from seeing your friends again)?
Can you think of a time today when you went out of your way to be helpful to someone?
What is the most demanding or challenging experience you had today?
Can you think of a time today when you were especially enthused? What made you feel this way?

Ask them to rate their day on a score of 1 to 10. If they say 4 or 5 out of 10, ask what do we need to do to get you to a 6 or 7 out of 10?

Senior School Exams and Whole School Head Start program

We have completed our planning for the final weeks of the 2021 academic year before launching into our whole school roll-over (Headstart) on 22 November. Year 11 and 10 exams have been delayed and re-named as tests recognising the delayed return to onsite learning and giving these students some time back in the classroom with their teachers to revise before final assessments commence on November 10. We have decided not to have Year 9 exams this year.

Year 7-9 students have final assessments in the week of 8-17 November, with Student Led Conferences cancelled for this year, with reflection activities in each class instead. There are also several activity and excursion days (within COVID safe guidelines), planned to make up for some activities missed during COVID and providing a form of celebration before all students from Years 7-11 begin our whole school rollover or 2022 Headstart program from November 22. It is expected that all students returning to Mordialloc in 2022 attend these very important Headstart weeks. The Senior School team will also be reviewing student achievement, effort and homework completion at the end of the second week for our senior students to ensure students have made the correct subject selections and are on track for a successful year. In the Middle School pre-testing and formative assessment to develop instructional groups and all work completed during the three-week period will count towards their assessment for 2022.

High Energy Drinks

A reminder that the College does not recommend the consumption of high energy drinks due to the high caffeine and sugar content of several popular brands on the market. Some contain the same amount of caffeine as two to three cups of coffee and, as they are drunk cold, deliver caffeine faster that a cup of coffee would. This can lead to sudden peak in energy followed by a crash that can leave you feeling worse than before. The short-term effects of energy drinks include alertness, stimulation of the nervous system and an increased heart rate, while excessive consumption can aggravate symptoms like anxiety, cause insomnia, nausea, vomiting and heart palpitations. As such, we seek parent support in not allowing their child to bring high energy drinks to school, and this includes when students are on an excursion.

World Teachers Day Friday 29 October

World Teachers’ Day is our chance to acknowledge Victoria’s teachers across our schools, TAFE and training, and early childhood education and care settings. All have contributed to the strength of education across the state. It is a fitting tribute in another year when we have asked teachers to be adaptive, innovative and bold. They have constantly dared to find new ways to keep doing what they do best — supporting students and inspiring a love of learning.

We had a lovely surprise on Friday with the delivery of a special morning tea provided by the House family to thank our wonderful teachers and support staff. This morning tea was prepared by cakesbycarter (another parent from our school).

"We wanted to show the MSC staff our appreciation for all your efforts! Teachers & staff have been a part of our home - literally! - for months on end during two years of remote learning. Thanks for doing your best to keep teenagers engaged, parents informed & yourselves sane! Hopefully most of you get to enjoy a lovely lockdown-free long weekend!" - Rachel, Matthew, Jessica and Ryan House

Michelle Roberts

Principal