Dear Parents/Carers,

“Empowering students for learning and life”

Open Night

On Wednesday 18th of April, and we welcomed prospective parents to our school and had the pleasure of showcasing the many wonderful programs and opportunities our College has to offer. We had in excess of 240 people in attendance, who participated on a school tour which focussed on what made Lyndhurst different and why it should be their school of choice. The night was led by our wonderful students who proudly took families to visit a range of spaces such as our innovative science area, our state of the art Automotive centre and our amazing digital technology space. Families saw our student choir in action and heard our student leaders speak and highlight the importance of our students’ voice in our College. These are just a few of the activities families experienced on the night. Feedback indicated that it was a huge success and the families were impressed by our wonderful students who conducted themselves professionally and to a very high standard. I would like to thank our students and staff for helping to create such a wonderful and engaging open night. We look forward to welcoming the families that attended, to our College in 2019.

ANZAC Assembly

The legend of ANZAC was born on the 25th of April, 1915, recognising and celebrating what is now referred to as the ANZAC spirit – courage, endurance, initiative, discipline and mateship. Our soldiers were renowned for these values. On Friday 27th of April, our school honoured the memory of our soldiers who fought for our freedom and for the life, we enjoy today with a whole school assembly. We had the honour of Mr Barry Rogers from the Cranbourne/Dandenong RSL attend and speak to our students about the meaning of ANZAC and what it meant to be an Australian solider. Our school captains led the assembly, with other student leaders, reading poetry and laying wreaths in memory of our soldiers. Our whole school community observed a minute of silence and our students upheld our school values and conducted themselves with respect.

High Expectations for our Year 12 VCE and Year 12 VCAL students

Last week, Year 12 parents received another progress report, which summarises their student’s attendance, progress to date and timely submission of work. These reports form the basis of our discussion with our Year 12 VCE and VCAL students, focusing on how we can best assist them in achieving their goals and providing wellbeing support if needed. Mr Anthony Brannan, Ms Kelly Bendon and I will be reviewing the VCE reports, with Mr Daniel Rogers and Ms Sue Carroll reviewing the VCAL reports. Over the course of the term, we will continue to meet with our Year 12 VCE and VCAL students and invite parents as required.

Student Attitude to School Survey

At Lyndhurst Secondary College we want our students to tell us what they think.

Our school is conducting a survey to find out what your child thinks of our school. The Attitudes to School survey is an annual student survey offered by the Department of Education and Training. The survey assists schools in gaining an understanding of students' perceptions and experience of school.

Our school will use the survey results to plan programs and activities to improve your child's schooling experience.

This year the Attitudes to School survey will be conducted at our school between Monday 7th May to Friday 1st of June. The survey only takes 20-30 minutes to complete and occurs during your child's class time.

What our students have to say matters and we look forward to hearing from our students.

NAPLAN

On Tuesday 15th, Wednesday 16th and Thursday 17th of May, our Year 7 and 9 students completed the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). The NAPLAN testing assesses students’ knowledge and skills in Writing, Reading, Language Convention (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and Numeracy.

We encouraged all of our students to do their very best when sitting these tests as the results from these tests provide information for students, parents and teachers which can be used to improve student achievement.

Year 10 Work Experience

Our Pathways Team is working with our Year 10 students to support them in gaining a work experience placement for the second last week of Term Two, following their exam period. We expect all Year 10 students to make the most of this valuable opportunity to see what a workplace is like and potentially learn some new skills. As always, we would expect our students, as ambassadors of our school, to present themselves appropriately attired for their work and to be model members of the workforce they are experiencing.

The deadline for returning the required forms has now passed. Any student who has not returned these forms will be expected to be at school and follow an alternative program. We are looking forward to visiting our students while they are ‘on the job’ and hearing about their experiences.

Primary School Visits

Over the course of the year, Lisa Williams, our Transition Leader, together with Claire Clancy, Publicity Leader has been working with our local primary schools, providing opportunities for the Grade 5 and 6 students to experience life at Lyndhurst SC. Together with our staff, our Student Leaders have supported Lisa and Claire in their work by taking school tours, running activities, and providing an overall engaging and positive experience for the primary school students. The Academic Challenge, a fun competition, was again very successful and we look forward to hosting more of these activities for our local primary schools over the course of the year.

I would like to acknowledge and thank Lisa and Claire for the many hours of work they have put into organising the Grade 5 and 6 visits and the Open Night and to all the staff and students who have supported them in ensuring the program we run is of the highest quality. We look forward to continuing to work closely with our local primary schools.

House Athletics

The College Athletics event will take place on Friday 25th May, and I encourage all students to consent as soon as possible. This can be done through the events module in Compass. We encourage all of our students to dress in their house colours on the day and get involved in as many events as they can. We look forward to another great College sporting event.

Lynbrook Art Competition

Once again, Lyndhurst Secondary College is working with Lynbrook Village Shopping Centre to host an ART competition, where our students from years 7 – 12 submitted their art pieces at the end of last term to be on display at the shopping centre. We had 59 submissions and twenty-nine pieces made it through to the final selection. The students created a piece of art depicting ‘CULTURE’ – Incorporating Peace, Community and the Environment.

These top 28 pieces were submitted to Lynbrook Village Centre Management Office at the end of last term. These pieces have now been reproduced as large format corflute print and are on display in Lynbrook Village Shopping Centre for a 6-week period where the community can view the art pieces and vote for their favourite piece of art.

1st, 2nd, 3rd winners will be chosen along with a peoples choice voted for by the public. All winners will receive a prize. Winners will be announced, and prizes awarded at later this term.

Lynbrook Village Shopping Centre will also be donating art supplies to our school. We are very proud of the work our students have produced and encourage our school community to visit the centre over the next few weeks to admire our talented students work and place your vote.

Cranbourne Home Community Banner Competition

Lyndhurst Secondary College and Cranbourne Home joined forces again this year to bring the community together through art. The opportunity at Cranbourne Home carpark using the large hanging banners was such a success in 2017, the competition is running again this year.

Students were invited to design or submit an image that reflects our community ‘Winter in Casey’ on A3 paper. All images will be posted on the Cranbourne Home Facebook page following the closing date last Friday. Voting starts tomorrow and the top 10 images with the most likes will be scanned and reproduced in centre. Voting is running from 24th May to 15th June so please log on to facebook and vote. Winners will be announced on 18th June, flags and posters will be installed on 2nd July at Cranbourne Home and Prizes will be awarded at the start of Term 3.

Yard Duty Supervision Reminder

Please be advised that schoolyard supervision occurs at the following times:

Before school, from 8:30am – 8:50am; for the duration of recess and lunchtime; and after school from 3:00pm – 3:20pm (bus supervision stops at 3:30pm). Note that on the last day of each term, due to a shortened day, after school supervision be

Wellbeing

Mindfulness in May

Tuning In to Teens