Welcome to all students and families - returning and new. It has been a very positive start to the year for students and staff. Our wonderful Parents & Friends association organised our second hand uniform sale just prior to school commencing. Many families were able to take advantage of the opportunity. Thank you to the team of hard working parents who were on hand to help.

Staff spent the first day of the year engaged in professional learning. Our focus for 2017 is to continue to improve outcomes for each of our students, providing them with a challenging and supportive learning environment with a range of opportunities to develop their skills and talents. Each year schools develop an Annual Implementation Plan that is approved by DET. There are six Improvement Initiatives outlined by the Government. Schools must choose one or at most two as a focus for the year. Schools then articulate the Key Improvement Strategies (KIS) detailing how these will be achieved and the measures we will use to assess our work in achieving our goals. The table below outlines our KIS.

Once we have received final approval from DET the AIP will be uploaded to our website. We also reviewed ‘The Glen Eira 5’ which is a document that articulates the practices behind the promises we make as a staff.

The Glen Eira 5

5 promises teachers make to our students;

maintain a safe learning environment.
know how you learn and what direction your learning should take.
make classes engaging.
listen, encourage and support.
involve the wider community in your learning.

5 promises staff make to one another;

share resources.
support one another.
work collaboratively to improve student learning.
be consistent in applying policies.
learn from one another.

5 characteristics you will see in our teaching;

differentiate teaching and learning to support and challenge the full range of abilities.
structure lessons according to SABRE.
be innovative and reflective.
be enthusiastic.
be accountable for improving student outcomes.

5 things you will see from our students;

be enthusiastic and motivated.
communicate and be respectful.
seize opportunities to participate and learn.
work together, acting responsibly and creatively.
direct their own learning through questioning and exploring.

5 things you will see from our parents, carers and guardians;

be involved and contribute to the broader educational program.
play an active role in the child’s learning.
support their children in achieving their learning goals.
promote the school values.
maintain open lines of communication with the school.

Professional Learning

On Wednesday 15th February staff were involved in a full day of professional learning centered around our newly developed Professional Learning Teams (PLTs). All staff have committed to one of the following PLTs:

Google Classroom implementation; Student Wellbeing – a focus on improving student morale and distress; Reading; Writing; Teaching and Language using CLIL methodology; SEAL; XUNO Markbook implementation; Progress Report implementation or VCE Guidelines implementation.

Our facilitator, Ian Wallis worked closely with the staff to achieve the following Learning Aims. To:

gain a better understanding of why PLTs are now common practice in schools, the learning theories that govern them, what their purpose is, how they are structured, what they strive to achieve, and how they underpin DET’s FISO principles and standards.
define the purpose of the PLT we had joined, their operational protocols, their roles as members of the PLT, and clarified their success criteria.

New Staff

With our growth in student numbers comes growth in our staff also. I am delighted to welcome and introduce our new staff.

Kathryn Allen: Administration
Laura Baker-Goldsmith: Music/Drama
Edgar Bonne: Maths/Chemistry
Ann Butler: Administration
Mark Dipnall: Woodwind
Parminder Kaur: Maths/Business Management
Camille Lancelin: French Communications Intern
Carol McCaskie: Careers and Pathways Coordinator
Karys McEwen: Librarian
Karen Muramatsu: Japanese/Science/ Maths
Timothy Lee: Integration
Julia Pound: French
Sarah Mortimer: Media/Drama
Joey Dikranian: Sports Assistant
Lainie Hayle: Science
Georgia Noonan: English Language Centre Teacher
Mandy Shen: English Language Centre Multicultural Assistant
Kathryn Vaughan-Niven: Integration
Marina Godoun - Integration
Mariah Basile- Library Assistant/ Integration

Haroula Christodoulou has changed to her married name and is now known as Haroula Loucaides.

Erin Burgess has changed to her married name and is now known as Erin Cavanagh.

Being involved at GEC

We are always looking for ways to involve our parents in our community. Please contact me if you have ideas of how you would like to be involved. Our Parents and Friends group is an excellent way to meet other families and I encourage you to join.

Permanent Telstra Group employees can apply for a Telstra Kids Fund grant (www.kidsfund.telstrafoundation.com) of $1,200 to support a project or activity run by a non-profit organisation involving a child, 18 years or under, in their immediate family. Each year $750,000 is given to local community organisations on behalf of children related to Telstra employees. There are three funding rounds per year. Requests for musical equipment, educational resources, sport and recreation equipment and building upgrades have been among the grants given by Telstra's Kids Fund. Schools cannot apply directly – an employee must apply on behalf of the school.

So if anyone in your family works for Telstra please contact me as we would love to apply for funding for our students.

School Reports

In line with the introduction of the Victorian Curriculum, we have over-hauled our reporting system. We appreciate all the feedback received from families. This year the college will implement a continuous reporting model. All reports will be completed electronically via XUNO. Parents will be notified when reports are available to view. We believe that this new system will provide parents and students with much more meaningful information. We will review the new reporting system in semester 2.

Progress Reports: These reports will provide information in regards to: Quality of work, Classroom Behaviour, Effort, Homework, Attendance and Learning Progress assessed on a 5 point scale. They will be provided 3 times per term.

The third progress report in the semester would indicate a final S or N and would also assess Victorian Curriculum Progression Points.

Year 7-11 Progress Reports

Year 12 Progress Reports

Victorian Curriculum Progression Points: These are applicable to students in Years 7 – 10 only. Years 7 – 10 and will be provided at the end of each semester.

Assessment Tasks: Students will complete a minimum of 3 formal assessment tasks per semester. The results will appear on the XUNO portal.

Parent Teacher Interviews: These will continue to be held in terms 1 and 3.

VCE Results

We were very pleased with the superb results of our Year 12 class. Congratulations to Sofia Vamvakidou, our Dux, with an ATAR of 98.15. We had a 100% pass rate and again our median ATAR score increased. All students who applied for tertiary places have been offered a place, which is wonderful.

Capital Works

There have been a number of issues including termites, a fuel tank being found that was not documented causing design changes to be made, issues with water leakage into the areas footings were to be made – significant engineering support required to solve this problem, areas that were documented to be fire rated were actually found not to be so….

Work is progressing in 4 areas:

Gym: demolition is all but complete. It has been frustrating that this has taken so long. DET will be ensuring that there are no further delays and that whatever can be done to move the construction of the new gym along will occur.
Canteen/Music Room: We hope to have access to the music room by the end of the month, canteen to be ready by the end of term.
Block A: Food Tech (1 of 2 new kitchens) and Admin – completion date late April.
Block A: Arts/Tech– completion date late May.

Also, the new roof on the PAC is almost completed.

Crossing Update

School Council, led by Vice President Ruth Gordon, are continuing to work hard to make our crossing safer.

David Southwick has met with us and continues to raise this issue in parliament.
The signage, designed by parent, Lisa Minichiello, has attracted the attention of the public which is excellent. A huge thankyou to Lisa for the work involved in designing the sign.
The petition has been sent to parliament.
The minister has requested for VicRoads officers to meet on site with Glen Eira Council members and Glen Eira College school representatives to discuss any further treatments that could be implemented. The meeting is set for 27th February.

Finally…

The swimming carnival was a fantastic event as always. The weather this year was perfect. Student behaviour at the pool was outstanding. All events were well supported with many students doing their very best to gain points for their house. The beach volleyball was great fun – and taken very seriously by the competitors. Thank you to everyone involved in the event and particularly to Peter Bales for the wonderful role he did in organising the sports.

Our Year 7 students had a fantastic camp at Marysville; so many new friendships were made over this time. You will receive a detailed report further in the newsletter. Some families may be aware that 2 of our students did not uphold our value of respect and determined to resolve an issue by fighting. This behaviour is absolutely unacceptable and never tolerated at Glen Eira College. Consequences for such actions are serious and a support plan is initiated to ensure students make better decisions to solve future problems. Special thanks to Bernie, Daniel and Keira for organising such a wonderful experience for our students and to all the staff who attended.

Schools have been advised by the Department that it is not compulsory for schools to offer a whole-of-school insurance policy, and to remind families that any insurance needs to be taken up on an individual user pays basis.

Parents/Guardians are also reminded that the Department does not provide personal accident insurance or ambulance cover for students. Parents and guardians of students, who do not have student accident insurance/ambulance cover, are responsible for paying the cost of medical treatment for injured students, including the cost of ambulance attendance/transport and any other transport costs.

Parents/guardians can purchase insurance policies from commercial insurers if they wish to insure their child.

We have many wonderful events planned for 2017 – Cultural Diversity Week in March will be a highlight for term 1. Lunchtime and afterschool activities have begun – see the website for a full list.

Sheereen Kindler

Principal

We Welcome New Staff