College Principal's Report
Welcome Back!
Welcome back to Term 4. It is always a great term, with many occasions to celebrate the success of students from all year levels. I especially enjoy the journey that begins with those coming into our College community from Grade 6 and those exiting from our Senior School classes as they transition into further study or work. Term 4 highlights for us the growth of our young people into adulthood.
Over the break Year 12 students were offered additional revision preparation classes by their teachers and, in many instances, presentations by expert VCAA assessors. I would like to thank teachers for their commitment to conducting these sessions for our students, Mr Knight for overseeing the English practice exam and Ms Ellen Sawyer, Head of Senior School, for organising the schedule.
This week we are holding a number of events to honour our Year 12 students for their persistence with their studies and their contribution to their studies. The week started with a barbeque breakfast for the students commencing at 7.30am on Monday, a fancy dress parade at lunchtime on Tuesday, a jelly challenge and tree planting on Wednesday and final assembly on Thursday. Following the final assembly, students were shown a film showing highlights of their time at Scoresby Secondary College. I would like to commend the Class of 2018 for their positive approach to their studies and exemplary behaviours throughout the week. I am looking forward to seeing our Year 12 parents and carers at the valedictory dinner tonight. The valedictory is the traditional evening in which students acknowledge support and guidance of parents and carers over their thirteen years of school. I am sure our community will get behind me in wishing all of our VCE students all the best for their study week and exams which commence with English on Wednesday 31 October.
Principal’s Parent Forum –Strategic Plan: Increasing Positive Parental and Community Engagement
A Principal’s Parent Forum will be held for one hour on Tuesday 13 November at 6.00 pm, here at the College to engage with parents and carers on the theme of ‘The Path Forward – Scoresby Secondary College Strategic Plan 2019 – 2022 Consultation’.
It will be a pleasure to meet with all of you to obtain your insights into the College goals for the next four years of our Strategic Plan. These goals arose out of our College review during Term 3. After a brief presentation, I look forward to listening to parents/carers’ views on the following questions:
- What are the three best things we have done as a College community to address the areas that require further development that we should continue.
- What have you contributed or will you further contribute to ‘The Path Forward – New Direction’ at Scoresby Secondary College
- What do you believe should be OUR next steps as a College community to achieve the goals?
A range of Principal’s Student Forums have already been held over the past four months to canvas students’ ideas on ‘The Path Forward’.
University of Melbourne Principals' Scholarship
It is a great pleasure to announce that Jessica Saunders from Year 12 has been offered the 2019 Melbourne Principals' Scholarship. I nominated Jessica for this scholarship, in recognition of her academic achievements and contribution to our school or wider community, in particular representing Victoria in the World Olympiad Competition. This scholarship provides Jessica $5,000 towards her studies at the University of Melbourne in 2019.
Vocational Education and Training (VET) Awards
Congratulations to our VET students who obtained awards at the VET Awards Ceremony held last Wednesday and performers representing the College. The winners are highlighted in the careers report. It was a night of recognition for us as lead provider of Certificate III VET Music and Certificate III VET Sport and Recreation. I was very proud as I received feedback from tertiary providers and parents about how well presented and respectful our students are.
Principal for a Day Program
On Thursday 11 October, Mr Stephen Pickering, Vice President and General Manager of Australia & New Zealand at Thermo Fisher Scientific, was our guest as Principal at Scoresby Secondary College as part of the Principal for a Day Program. Students enjoyed hearing about Thermo Fisher Scientific and their status as a world leader in science, his words of advice about preparing for employment and encouraged by his commitment to work in partnership with our College. The benefits of this partnership are enormous, being located locally and providing our students access to their laboratories and other resources, it will place our students at the forefront of science. Thermo Fisher Scientific has been instrumental in science research working on solutions to many of the world’s problems, from coming up with solutions to help prevent the spread of the Ebola virus in West Africa, manufacturing the first approved diagnostic and cell treatment for leukemia, to supporting Australian farmers with the recent strawberry crisis with x-ray technology to bring back consumer confidence.
“I had a wonderful day, I enjoyed the discussions and opportunity for the staff and students and look forward to working together” said Stephen.
Australian Council for Education Leaders Conference (ACEL)
ACEL held their annual national conference the second week of the Term 3 holidays at the Melbourne Convention Centre. Despite being school holidays, Mr Murray Cronin, Ms Emily Phibbs and myself attended this outstanding program, along with thousands of delegates including system leaders, principals, policy makers, teachers and researchers from independent, catholic and public sectors.
Keynotes at the ACEL conference included several global thought leaders in education including: John Hattie (AUS/NZ) Byran Goodwin, Alice and David Kolb (US), Lyn Sharratt(USA), Andy Hargreaves (UK), Elizabeth Ross Hubbell (USA), Gill Callister (AUS), Anthony McKay(AUS) , Robert Biswas-Diener(USA), Evonne Cawley (AUS), Hon Dan Tehan, Stephen Gneil(AUS) and Alex Rance (AUS) who shared their unique perspectives to the conference theme of ‘Evidence and Experience – Setting the Learning Agenda’.
On the second day of the conference our college was one of two schools from Victoria selected to present our work. Our presentation was titled ‘Building Practice Excellence Through Instructional Leadership and Student Voice’. During the presentation Mr Cronin and myself were able to showcase:
- the development of our college instructional model and how it is leading to improved student engagement and learning
- the development of a new feedback tool which facilitates student feedback to teachers to increase teachers’ awareness of their teaching impact. Teachers use the feedback to collaborate with the students to further build their teacher practice in areas identified.
The personal highlight of the conference was the acknowledgement by such respected world leaders in education of the quality of Scoresby Secondary College’s work. This well-deserved recognition is credit to our staff commitment to continuous improvement and evidenced by student engagement and learning growth.
Attendance Matters
‘Going to school every day is the single most important part of your teenager’s education’.
Although it seems obvious, if your child is not at school they are missing opportunities to learn. It is very important that students are arriving on time and attending every day. Attendance not only maximises opportunities for learning, it helps to build and maintain social connections. Student absenteeism leads to many issues later in life including the lower likelihood of academic success and there is even a correlation with poorer health outcomes in adulthood.
Please read the information provided from the Department of Education and Training.
As part of Scoresby Secondary Colleges strategy to minimise loss of learning, we introduced a
requirement for parents and carers to apply in writing for approval of any absence greater than three days a minimum of six weeks prior to that absence (this is required for all absences other than illness or similar grounds ). The purpose of the six weeks’ notice is to ensure an absence learning plan can be prepared for the extended absence so students can complete the essential work that may be missed prior to or during the absence. Any late requests will result in a non-approved absence.
If you have any concerns about getting your child to school, please speak to the relevant Year Level Coordinator or Head of School. Early interventions are critical to establish good long term habits that students will require for their futures.
Mrs. Gail Major
Principal