Principal's Report
Term 3 Report
We would like to welcome two special guests into our community from Indonesia Fitri Yati and Soffie Molyaty. They join us as part of a partnership the College has with the Asia-Bridge unit at Melbourne University. The purpose of this partnership is to not only develop international cultural understanding, but to also explore global educational practices that can be shared to improve pedagogy and student learning outcomes. Both Fitri and Soffie will be visiting classrooms in action, engaging in our community programs and working on a Capstone project that they will share with the Indonesian Government when they return.
Huntingdale Primary School and South Oakleigh College in Japanese
We were delighted to meet with the School Council President of Huntingdale Primary School, Mr Dennis Moschoyiannis, School Council Member Sofia Oresti and Assistant Principal Ms Naomi Mori-Hanazano to discuss future opportunities to build on the existing relationship we share between our two schools through the Oakleigh Education Plan and in particular the future opportunities that may exist between our two schools in the area of Japanese.
With Huntingdale PS moving to a 50:50 Japanese/English teaching and learning model it is a timely discussion to begin exploring future opportunities for staff professional learning experiences and engaging students who have a passion for learning Japanese and catering to students who join us from a stronger and more experienced base of Japanese. We look forward to further discussions to build on what we shared with each other in our first meeting.
Parent/Guardian/Caregiver Survey
The Parent/Guardian/Caregiver Survey is now open for parents to respond to. Gathering Parent opinions is important to us as it provides valuable insights for shaping the future management of the school. We thank all parents in advance for their contribution.
Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences
Parent/ Student/ Teacher Conferences were held on Thursday 10 August via Microsoft Teams. It is important that feedback shared is acknowledged by all as we continue to work together to achieve the best learning outcomes for all our students. While Conferences offer a formal platform to engage with teachers over your child’s learning, we encourage ongoing communication throughout the year to emphasize a collaborative approach to support students’ learning progress and how they can be supported at home.
Uniform/Mobile Phones -A School Community Responsibility
South Oakleigh College is an excellent school and all students and carers should be proud to be a member of our College community. Being a member of our school community does entail having rights and responsibilities and these cover more than just the academic area.
A wider responsibility for students is to wear the school’s uniform proudly. Students are required to have a ‘uniform uniform’. Parents and carers have a responsibility to ensure their child maintains the culture of wearing the South Oakleigh College uniform correctly and proudly every day. Our College Values also involves the students’ responsibility of following the Department of Education’s ‘no mobile phone policy’ which is designed to provide a safe and secure environment for all students.
The policy also aims to build a learning community where students are not disengaged from their learning or their social responsibilities at school as a result of using devices such as mobile phones and the like.
2024 Subject Selection
Students in Years 9-11 have now made their first round of selections for subjects in 2024. From week 6, all students in Years 9-11 will participate in Course Counselling where they will reflect on their learning achievements in Middle School and pathway to Senior School with a member of the Principal or Leadership Team. Students will reflect on their subject choices considering their Semester Report, engagement in class, Morrisby interviews and pathways to VCE or the Vocational Major.
School Production- August 24th & 25th
It is with great excitement that we look forward to this year's school production “Suessical Jr”. Mr Platenkamp and Ms Hoernell have worked tirelessly with the cast and crew to ensure a very energetic and entertaining production. I urge all families interested in watching our talented students on stage to quickly book their tickets before they all sell out!
House Athletics Carnival
Congratulations to Mr Knee and his team for their efforts in running yet another successful House Athletics Carnival earlier this term. To see student and staff engagement on the day is a wonderful reflection of our school’s vibrant and engaged community spirit.
A further Congratulations to Acacia who put their “Stinger Pride” on display to be crowned House Athletics Champions in 2024.
Thank you
I would like to thank Mr George Tzimourtas who has done a wonderful job stepping into an Acting Assistant Principal role for six weeks. In particular, I’d like to thank George for his leadership and for his support of our students and staff over a very busy end of Term 2 and commencement to Term 3.
Mark Picone
Acting Principal