Principal's Message

Dear Students, Parents and Carers,

Staff and students continue to work well as we move further into Term Two. Part of our focus for the term ahead is to continue to support students with their return to onsite Teaching and Learning given the impact of Covid – 19. We continue to be pleased with how students have settled into their learning for Term Two, and it is great to see our students embrace the recent excursions and incursions that have been offered.

Student Attendance is vital to helping improve student outcomes and we want to work strongly with families to further improve student attendance across all year levels. Parents and carers are asked to please reinforce the importance of student attendance – the higher level of student attendance, the stronger continuity students have with their learning.

As a College, we will continue to use Compass in our communications with families. Regular Compass Posts, together with emails from teaching staff to families using the Compass platform will be used. Other functions of Compass include families and their ability to approve their child’s attendance when it is appropriate to do so, together with a Calendar of Events highlighting the dates of key activities and events throughout the College. Families are asked to continue to use Compass with every opportunity and to contact the General Office on 5945 1433 should they require any assistance.

We have a committed and dedicated staff at Pakenham Secondary College. Our staff are involved in so many facets of the College. Key Learning Area Meetings, our Professional Learning Communities Program, Staff and Other Meetings, Enhancing Practice Sessions and membership of various other teams throughout the school. Furthermore, our committed staff are involved in organising and leading a number of activities and events from Lunchtime Clubs and Sport, to Drama, Music and Student Leadership opportunities. I thank my colleagues for their wonderful work.

We continue to work through our Annual Implementation Plan (or AIP) for 2022. A reminder that the Goal of our AIP for this year includes:

“Some of our students have thrived in the remote learning environment. Others have maintained their learning progress, and some need extra learning and wellbeing support despite their best efforts of their teachers and families. In 2022, we will continue to focus on student learning – with an increased focus on Numeracy – and student wellbeing through the 2022 Priorities Goal, a learning Key Improvement Strategy and a Wellbeing Key Improvement Strategy. We will teach and support each student at their point of need and in line with the Framework for Improving Student Outcomes”.

The 2022 AIP has been developed and endorsed in line with the College’s School Strategic Plan. Key elements of our School Strategic Plan are repeated from the last Principal’s Report below for your reference.

The points below were shared via a Compass Post to Families just last week. I have again included these points for your convenience as part of this Newsletter:

1. PSC Social Media - please check us out on Facebook and Instagram to receive regular updates on student learning and involvement at the College.

2. College Tours - they have re-commenced for prospective families interested in PSC every Wednesday morning at 9.15am. Any prospective families interested in a tour of the College are asked to make a booking with our General Office on 5945 1433.

3. 'Be An Active Learner' - this is a significant focus with our students across all year levels this term. Teaching staff will be looking out for and recognising those students who are 'Being An Active Learner'. Key areas we are concentrating on in the coming weeks are provided below:

Across the entire school:

Actively participate in class discussion
Complete work to the best of your ability.

From Year 7 - 10:

Punctuality and preparation

Part of our recognition of students will be to use the Green Chronicles on Compass, together with students recognised going into a draw to receive special prizes.

4. Covid - 19 – please be reminded that it is highly recommended that students complete a Rapid Antigen Test (or RAT) every Monday and Thursday morning before arriving at school. Any positive RAT result of students needs to be communicated to the General Office (5945 1433), and logged with the health authorities using the link below:

If students receive a positive test result at any time, they must report this through the Department of Health system (Rapid antigen tests | Coronavirus Victoria) or via the coronavirus hotline at 1800 675 398.

Students (or their parents) must also report a positive result to their school, either through the COVID Test portal or by phone or written notification; this is so the school can record that they will be absent while in 7-day isolation, provide support and learning materials as needed, and let the rest of the school community know there has been a positive case onsite and that they should monitor for symptoms.

Students and staff who tested positive and completed their 7-day isolation period are not required to participate in the RAT screening for 12 weeks after their release from isolation. In addition, if a staff member or student has recovered from COVID-19, they are not required to get tested or isolate/quarantine if re-exposed to a case within 12 weeks of ending their isolation period.

5. Curriculum Structure, 2023 - we are in the midst of discussing and considering what our Curriculum Structure for 2023 and beyond may be. The Senior School Certificate Reform has prompted us to review what we are doing to best support students at the senior end of the College. Furthermore, we are also discussing and considering what changes we might make from Year 7 to 10 inclusive on what and how subject offerings from various key learning areas could be made available to our students. If parents and carers would like to know more and / or provide some input on this important discussion, please contact the General Office (5945 1433).

In closing, we would again remind families that it is an expectation that all of our students are in full school uniform, and that mobile phones need to be left securely in lockers throughout the day.

Finally, our College Open Night for 2022 (4 5 22) was very successful with a number of families coming along to check out our great school. We thank our staff and students for their leadership and attendance concerning our 2022 Open Night.

Regards,

Aaron Smith

Acting College Principal

Pakenham Secondary College