Principal's Report

Dear Collingwood College Community,

Facilities

Last Friday at 4pm our stadium was officially handed over to the school.  Such a fantastic time for our community to have access to this impressive facility.  As excited as we are, Collingwood Allstars are also buzzing as they started training and playing games out of hours this week. 

An official opening is in the pipework with some very big names that will be in attendance.  We suspect that this event will be at the start of the 2020 school year.  Please keep an eye out for an invitation soon.  In the meantime please make your way over to one of our Art shows/exhibitions which are hosted in the old gym as part of the new facility …

Art shows!  That’s right, tonight we are showcasing the wonderful work of the VCAL and VCE students, including work from Fitzroy High School.  I’ve had a sneak peak today, and can assure you it is well worth the visit.  Doors open at 5pm closing at 7pm. 

Next Wednesday 27/11 the P-10 show will be highlighted in exactly the same location.  Please bring family and friends and celebrate our wonderful work!

As beautiful as the new stadium is, there is another part of the school that has been recently renovated and completed – the Theatre.  To remind you, we have a new stage, curtains, carpet, paint, heating and cooling and most importantly seats.  Classes have remained in the theatre whilst renovations were completed and students are finally experiencing the benefits of the refit. 

This allows me to again call for parents to get involved with the school should you want to donate some time.  Whether it be participating in a committee such as Buildings & Grounds or voluntarily watering some of our new plants or help tidy/paint/scrub our theatre foyer, we just love help and have lots of small jobs for volunteers to do.  Please see the reception if you would like to get involved.

Teaching and Learning

Although it is becoming easy to focus on some of our new and renovated facilities, I’d like to remind our readers that this is not what makes a quality school.  At Collingwood College, our teachers are at the front and centre of student achievement and wellbeing – not something new at Collingwood College, this has been in our DNA for many years. 

Therefore, it is with great pleasure to announce that DET has recognised the great work staff have been doing in the ‘Respectful Relationships’ domain.   Collingwood College can now proudly boast that we are a ‘lead school’ in Respectful Relationships and are now charged with the responsibility of partnering with other schools to boost the program.  Please see https://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/programs/Pages/respectfulrelationships.aspx for more info.

On the back of the Respectful Relationships success, our application to DET’s ‘Place-Based Partnerships to Support School Engagement and Completion Initiative’ has also been given approval by DET.  This is a $50 000 grant to assist us with interpreters, multicultural aides, professional development, and community liaison officers.  I sincerely thank the team that put this application together, in particular Lori Michael, Learning Specialist.  This is a welcome boost that will have positive outcomes for those students and parents/community with CALD backgrounds.  More information to come as the program is developed.

China Principals Visit

This week we hosted a delegation of 15 principals who made an exclusive visit to Collingwood College to learn about our Science and Mathematics program in the 7-10 environment. This delegation was led by a close friend and partner of Collingwood College, Principal Xu, from Kunshan High School.   As you may know, Kunshan High school is a sister school of Collingwood College and is a centrepiece for our Yr 9 Victorian Young Leaders in China Program (VYLCP).  Our guests were thoroughly impressed and were keen to see more of our school, including our Primary School and Senior Program.  Our Yr 9 VYLCP’s were terrific in greeting our guests and liaising in Mandarin.  We suspect that in future, on the back of the success of this visit,  we will have more high profile Chinese Principals’ visit Collingwood College to learn more about Government schools in Victoria in both a Primary and Secondary school context.

Staffing

As mentioned in the previous correspondence, we farewelled our Business Manager, Martina Owen in Term 3.  I’d like to announce and congratulate Claire Gibson, previously Office Manager, as the new acting Business Manager at Collingwood College.  After an extensive and detailed audit of the administration environment we are confident that we can continue to operate successfully with minimum changes such as additional hours for current support staff.  Thus far, we are delighted in the way the office is working, and are very confident that we are meeting needs of our students, teachers and community as well as being DET compliant.

Heat and Asthma

As we head into warmer weather it is beneficial to remind students (particularly Primary-aged) of heat smart behaviours:

·         Frequently drink small amounts of water

·         Seek shade when outdoors and limit rigorous activities

·         Always wear a hat and sunscreen outside (Primary students are required by school policy to wear a hat between September and April)

There is also an increase in weather-related asthma events with the commonly unsettled climate in the warmer months. Stay abreast of conditions concerning ‘thunderstorm asthma’ by monitoring Government websites and phone apps.

Mezzanine

You may notice the beauty continuing to grow under our mezzanine.  Big thank you to Olga Lambriandis (VCE product & design/arts) who continues to add the student painted discs to the existing artwork.  The effect is already striking and will look impressive when finished.

Intentions for 2020

We are finalising plans for the 2020 school year. Knowing the number of students who will be enrolled at Collingwood College for the following year is crucial in the development of our funding models, structure and recruitment of teaching staff.

If you are not returning to Collingwood College next year, we ask that you notify us as soon as possible.

Thanks, everyone.  I hope to see you at one of our Art shows!  If not, have a grea