Dear Parents/Caregivers/Staff and Students

Another busy week at the college with preparations for 2020 well underway.

Course Selection Completed

Over the last few weeks students and parents have been meeting with coordinators and submitting their subject selection forms for the 2020 subjects. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Senior School team for the massive amount of work they put in to counselling our students, as well as our Year 8 & 9 coordination team for the endless hours they spent chasing up paperwork and ensuring information was entered into the database. We will now use this information to construct the 2020 timetable. Students should get a confirmation of their 2020 subjects just prior to rollover in early December.

Parent/Teacher/Student Interviews

These will be held on Wednesday 18th September. Students will not attend normal classes that day, but are expected to attend interviews with their parent’s. Bookings for interviews will open next week and parents can book using their parent login details on COMPASS. If you have difficulty with this, please contact the college on 9555 5955.

Instrumental Music Spring Soiree

Congratulations to Lisa Maxwell Cripps, and all staff and students involved in the Instrumental Music Spring Soiree held on Thursday evening 5th September 2019. Thank you to all our parents and families for supporting this very enjoyable evening.

NAPLAN

Victorian students lead the nation in NAPLAN. This year, Victorian primary and secondary students achieved the State's best ever reading and numeracy NAPLAN results. NAPLAN measures literacy and numeracy skills, which every student needs to succeed in future work and study. Victorian students have been steadily achieving higher NAPLAN results since 2015. This year's NAPLAN results show they're among the nation's top performers. Here's how Victorian school students excelled in NAPLAN this year:

Year 3 students achieved the highest scores for reading and writing. Numeracy results have increased from 409.7 in 2015 to 418.4 in 2018.
Year 5 students achieved top scores for numeracy, writing and grammar. Reading results have increased from an average score of of 508.3 in 2015 to 519.9.
Year 7 students were the first or second best performers in four out of five testing areas.
More Year 9 students are achieving at the highest levels in numeracy. 23.8 per cent of students in top two bands rose to 27.2 per cent this year.

While these results are impressive, this is about more than just numbers. Better literacy and numeracy skills help young people succeed at learning and at life. Congratulations to our hard working students and their teachers for this huge achievement. NAPLAN results for Years 7 and 9 are being posted home today.

DET $515 million maintenance blitz

The Department of Education and Training recently announced the $515 million maintenance blitz for schools.

All Victorian government schools will share in this $515 million investment for maintaining existing school infrastructure over the next five years, and an additional $43 million invested on an ongoing basis, to keep Victoria’s more than 1500 schools safe and modern.

I am pleased to advise that Cheltenham has been allocated $188600 which we will allow us to undertake long awaited maintenance tasks as well as look at some new works.

Over the next few months we expect to engage with our school community to assist us in the planning and undertaking of a range of maintenance tasks for the building and grounds including priority development and actual working bees. I will keep you up to date with developments on this front.

Student scholarships now open for Year 12 students

Scholarship eligibility and availability

Applications for more than 60 scholarships are now open to current Year 12 Victorian government school students who are planning to undertake tertiary studies in 2020.

A variety of scholarships are on offer for eligible students.

Year 12 students heading to university or TAFE

Five Alexander Rushall scholarships are available for eligible students who will be undertaking a degree in 2020, with no restrictions on the course. This scholarship is valued at $1,500.

Two Walter Lindrum Memorial Scholarships valued at $500 each are available to eligible students who will be undertaking a degree or diploma in 2020.

Year 12 students planning on studying education

Thirty George Garibaldi Turri scholarships are available each year for eligible students who will be undertaking a full-time teaching degree in 2020.

These scholarships are valued at $2,680 each annually for up to four years.

Year 12 students interested in studying fine arts

Twenty Ella Donald Fine Arts Memorial scholarships are available for eligible students who will be undertaking a full-time Fine Arts degree in 2020.

These scholarships are valued at $1,000 each annually for the duration of the course.

Year 12 female Koorie students

One Alice Jennings scholarship is available for a current Year 12 female Koorie student who will be undertaking a full-time TAFE or university course in 2020 in a field that contributes to the welfare of the Koorie population.

Those fields include law, social work, education, psychology and applied science (health production and nursing). This scholarship is valued at $1,000 annually for the duration of the course.

Application details

Applications are now open and will close 31 January 2020.

To apply see Year 12 scholarships for more information, including scholarship-specific criteria.

Scholarships for students in Years 4 to 11 will open in November this year.

Karl Russell

Principal

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COMMUNITY NOTICES