Principals Report

I’d like to begin my report by recognising the hard work and resilience of all students and staff this term. This is our first full term at school in over 2 years, and despite our relief at being back onsite, it has not been without its challenges. 

Students and staff have all enjoyed the opportunities for connection at school – it would be remiss of me not to mention the outstanding game of netball this week between Yr 12 students and staff. It was a valiant effort by students (who definitely had the support of the crowd!), but the staff were just too strong on the day 😊

School Council

On April 6th, we held the first meeting of our 2022 GSC School Council, and I’m pleased to announce our school council members and office bearers for 2022:

President: Nick Hughes (parent)

Vice-President: Nadine Pachi (parent)

Secretary: Heather Livermore (DET)

Members:

• Andrew Makin (parent)
• Ray Buttigieg (parent)
• Petrina Frazer (parent)
• Danny Kane (parent)
• Belinda Taylor (parent)
• Melanie Matthews (community/parent)
• Kirsty Henry (community/parent)
• Richard Palmer (DET)
• Nick Maxwell (DET)
• Oscar James (student)

I’d like to make special mention of outgoing School Council President, Sam Fisher. Sam has been a council member for 6 years, and president for that last 4. During that time, Sam has made a significant contribution to the GSC School community, and I thank her for all her efforts. All the best in the future Sam!

Vaping

Many of you would be aware that ‘vaping’ has become a significant health issue for young people throughout the Macedon Ranges and beyond. As a school, we are working a range of strategies to educate and protect our students from potential harm related to vaping. As this is such a new trend, very little is understood about the long-term effects on the health of young people participating in vaping. We do know that these products contain dangerous, toxic and highly addictive chemicals that can seriously impact both health and wellbeing. 

Working with families in this process is crucial, and as such we have provided a parent resource in this newsletter, to support you to engage in meaningful conversations with your children about vaping and its potential harms. The resource offers evidence-based information on vaping, its health, safety and legal issues in Australia, and the ways in which it presents a serious health risk to the body and lungs. An online version is available here: https://lungfoundation.com.au/resources/vaping-and-young-people-parents-and-carers/or see the end of this report for a downloaded version.

Closing remarks

I’d like to finish my report by thanking all members of the school community for your support and congratulations on my provisional appointment as Principal of Gisborne Secondary College. I am thrilled to be able to continue in this role, and I look forward to working with the school community to continue providing wonderful opportunities for our students. I hope you all have a restful and relaxing Easter, and I look forward to seeing everyone next term.