From the Principal

So, after many twists and turns, we have reached the end of a very eventful 2021. Compounded by the significant challenges of last year, I am so proud of each one of our students who despite all the setbacks and with a constant thread of uncertainty, have displayed a positive mindset and a resilient approach.

I commend our teachers and support staff who have been committed to ensuring the learning and wellbeing of students was not adversely affected by the disruptions we have faced. We have learnt so much over the past two years about our individual and collective capacity to manage unprecedented circumstances and this learning will allow us to approach 2022 with a degree of confidence. Next year, we will leverage what we have learnt and continue to explore even more possibilities to optimise the learning and wellbeing experiences of our students.

As we approach the end of the school year, I take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank the students and all staff members. I would also like to express my appreciation of the outstanding leadership provided by our Assistant Principals, Karen Boyle, Cameron Campbell and Jas Kaur, to our School Council led by Stefan Kazakis, and Parent and Friends Association led by Aban Tengra who all provide enormous support and guidance for our College.

I especially thank all parents for your support throughout another trying year and look forward to continuing to work in partnership with you in the education of your children in 2022 and beyond. I hope that you have an opportunity over the summer break to relax, reconnect and enjoy the company of your family and friends.

Finally, to our students, can I acknowledge your efforts, your application and desire to keep learning, growing and progressing and encourage you to keep trying to be the best you can be. There have been challenges, significant ones, and there will be further challenges ahead, but these can be equally matched with personal growth, the development of life-long relationships and the excitement of what your future holds.

At our Presentation Event (see below) that I addressed this week, I concluded my reflections of the year with the following comments:

I don’t believe we can consider the breadth of our schooling experience this year without acknowledging the difficulties our community has experienced in 2021.

While COVID-19 continues in many ways to dominate our landscapes and pose challenges for us all, I believe that we should draw pride and inspiration from the resilience, adaptability and innovation shown by our East Doncaster Secondary College students, teachers and support staff.

College Presentation Event 2021

Can I further remind our students, parents and staff that a Compass Newsfeed was posted today to offer a link to the video presentation of this year’s Presentation Event.

The circumstances and level of restrictions within school settings prevented us from conducting our Presentation Evening in our usual format.

We were, however, determined that such challenges would not prevent us from such a vital opportunity to celebrate student aspiration and achievement and we would hope that this event will be well supported by our College community.

Please join with us as we acknowledge the wonderful student achievements of this year.

VCE Results Released today

VCAA (The Victorian Curriculum Assessment Authority) released the 2021 VCE results this morning. I am proud to say that our students again performed very well;

Our median VCE study score was 33.

4 of our students achieved an ATAR of 99.

36 of our students achieved an ATAR of 95 or higher.

29% of our students received an ATAR over 90 – that is better than one in four of our VCE students achieving such a high benchmark.

49 % of our students received an ATAR over 80.

Our average ATAR was 79.29 – the state average was 68.3.

These results, I believe, strongly reinforce the direction we are taking to seek continual improvement in student learning outcomes at our College, and is a credit to students and teachers alike – made all the more remarkable against the backdrop of two COVID impacted years.

DUX of the College

For the third time in the past six years, we had joint Dux of the College.

Tom C and Jordan L gained an ATAR of 99.85 – a truly outstanding achievement.

Both students worked extremely well during the year and it is great to see that their effort, application and maturity towards their studies was so richly rewarded. We warmly congratulate Tom and Jordan.

As stated previously, we wish our entire Year 12 cohort all the very best and are very proud of their effort and persistence in this challenging year.

College Captains 2022

We were delighted at the commencement of our VCE Orientation period a little over a week ago to conduct an Assembly of our Year 12 (2022) cohort and announce the College Captains for next year.

Our Captains in 2022 will be Chiaki C and Harris K.

Our Vice-Captains will be Ashwina S, Nona S and Katy H.

As we look forward to 2022, I am very excited by the opportunity to work closely with our student leaders and will watch with pride as they exert their considerable positive sphere of influence on our school community.

Farewell to Staff

This is the last week of service to East Doncaster for several staff who have been a part of our community for either a short period ranging to well over ten or twenty years. On behalf of our community, I would like to publicly acknowledge their commitment and contributions to our College and wish them all the very best for their future. These staff include Jordan Moor, Tram Nguyen, Naomi Creelman, Roya Samedi, Zac Greenwood, Stephen Thompson, Emma Butler and Mark Gabriel.

Laraine Ross, Haydn Bethune, Andrew Beet, Irene Palamaras and Jane Denton will be taking extended leave for part or the duration of 2022.

I would like to especially acknowledge Kay Stubbs, Janice Bain, Peter McKenzie, Helen Wilson and Lin Dalben who have retired or departed during or at the completion of this year, after many years of outstanding service to the Victorian Government School system. Kay, Peter, Janice, Helen and Lin have given a combined 100+ years of dedicated service to East Doncaster Secondary College – an amazing level of service by any benchmark. We are so grateful for their commitment to our College and we will miss their wisdom, experience and passionate support of our students. We wish them all the very best for the next exciting chapters of their lives.

Can I also take this last opportunity to wish all members of our College community a very Merry Christmas and a safe, relaxing holiday period with family and loved ones.

John Roberts

Principal

Parent Payment arrangements for 2022

The Parent Payment arrangements for 2022 are now available via Compass on your home page under “Course Confirmation/Payments”.

Payments can be made through Compass or directly to the College via credit card or cash using the College Payment Envelope (when the General Office re-opens to parents).

If you do not wish to pay via Compass, please ensure you return a copy of the completed form to the General Office, available under “pay in person at the school” link at the bottom of the page in Course Confirmations/Payments, or you can request a copy from the College via

parentpayments@eastdonsc.vic.edu.au

Payments were due by Tuesday 23 November 2021

Your ongoing support of the College allows us to continue to offer a broad range of programs and enhanced curriculum experiences.

Please refer to the attached Parent Payments Policy and further links to information via

https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/parent-payment/policy

College Philosophy

At East Doncaster Secondary College we have a strong tradition of academic excellence and we aim to promote and sustain a reflective learning culture. We want students to experience a sense of achievement and growth in their academic, personal, social and emotional development. We have high expectations of our students’ commitment to being mutually supportive and striving for success as learners. We are proudly multicultural with a student population from 43 nationalities including a number of International Students. 68% of our students speak a language other than English at home.

A student’s life at school is full of opportunities, being rich and varied with a range of co-curricular activities in music, sport, productions, debating, clubs as well as camps and international experiences for the educational and personal development of students. Our students are vibrant, energetic, and talented young people. There are many student leadership opportunities and we aim to continue to increase student access to decision-making and self-determination as learners.

We endeavour to create a "Culture of Curiosity" with goals of ensuring learning improvement for every student – every student, every period, every day.

Our school’s purpose is to develop passionate learners who are critical thinkers with the confidence and capability to engage in the global community.

Care and Compassion, Curiosity, Excellence, Fairness, Resilience, Respect and Teamwork are the core values that underpin the culture of our school as we embrace the challenges of 21st Century learning.

We aim to sustain a learning culture that provides every student with a sense of achievement and of being their best in their academic, personal, social and emotional development.

Privacy and Data at East Doncaster Secondary College

East Doncaster Secondary College uses a number of digital platforms to support your child’s education, such as Compass, Google Drive and Office 365.

The College has an Information Security Policy and complies with the Department of Education and Training Privacy Policy. Click on the below link to access these documents.

International Student News

Final Cooking Club with Kay Stubbs