PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE 

A message from our Principal

We are heading quickly towards the end of term 1 and I am so pleased with how 2018 has begun.  We have a wonderful and curious group of new Year 7's and they have all transitioned well into secondary school-life. Their approach to learning and commitment to our school values has been impeccable. The Year 7 camp is always a fantastic way for staff and students to get to know each other and I was delighted to receive great feedback from the Year 7 camp teachers – “all students had a positive attitude and gave all activities a go even when they were pushed beyond their comfort zone.” 

Our theme this year 'This is me' is all about getting to know each and every student individually and embracing their strengths and passions and who they are as a person.  Our new house system and Learning Mentor groups have been a big success with students embracing this new change and working together to make strong relationships with their peers and teachers. Every morning students meet for 14 minutes and undertake a themed curriculum designed to get them “ready to learn”. Our themes are: Mindful Monday, Tackle It Tuesday, Wonder-full Wednesday, Thoughtful Thursday and Friendship Friday.  

At Rowville Secondary College, we believe strong relationships matter. Students learn best from teachers they love and respect. 

Recently, we held our House Captain nomination assemblies and I was impressed with the calibre of students who got up in front of their peers and gave a prepared speech about all the great things they want to do to make the day-to-day experience in their house positive, have an impact and an inclusive one for all. There were strong recurring themes from students that included talk of houses being like your “family” at school, what the school values achieve when they are lived by all of us and the importance of being connected and feeling a sense of belonging. I was moved by the passion and commitment to the College that the nominees demonstrated. We will find out who our House Captains are for each house early next term. Thank you to all of our nominated students and good luck.

We are working extremely hard updating our buildings at the college, so that the classroom environment supports Curiosity and Powerful Learning. This is an ongoing focus for the school and we are excited with the new changes we are seeing. 

Our School Captains and Vice Captains have already established themselves as a group of exceptional leaders. They have shared stories of themselves as powerful learners at whole school assemblies, attended the Knox Schools Expo to talk to prospective new families about our school and played an active part in our open nights - just to name a few. Second term will see them working closely with student leaders from Doncaster Secondary College on a “Teach the Teacher” professional learning session that collects and collates feedback from students in classrooms and informs teachers about improvements and/or changes that students believe would benefit them as learners.

A big welcome to all of our new students from years 7 to 12 and Education Support and Teaching staff who started at the college this year.  It is very exciting to have so many passionate and talented people on board.  

This week we held our school open nights on both campuses and had an impressive number of over 700 people visit us to see our school in action. It was a fantastic turn out and I am extremely proud of all the hard work the teachers, staff and students put in to make this night a success and the feedback I received from prospective students and their families on the night was all positive.   

I wish everyone a Happy Easter and safe holiday and I look forward to seeing everyone back for an exciting term 2 ahead. 

Julie Kennedy

College Principal