Principal's Message 

Dear School Community

I hope you were able to have a relaxing Easter break and have come back to the school term replenished and re-energised.

Discovery Night

This night is an important calendar event for the school as it is an important way we promote the school and the activities and opportunities at Fairhills.

It was great that the numbers on the night were double of previous recent years.  There was a very positive vibe to the night and the people who attended were engaged and interested in the information and activities provided to them.

I was very impressed with the staff and the vast number of students who participated and would like to thank them for their hard work and commitment to the night.  In particular, I would like to acknowledge Ms La Leggia who was responsible for organising the night.  Discovery Night would not have been as successful without Ms La Leggia’s careful planning, perspiration and ingenuity. Thank you to everyone in the School Community who helped make the night an amazing success.

Uniform

Thank you once again for supporting the uniform policy. As a school we have made great inroads to ensuring we are wearing the uniform with pride.  However, there are a few key areas that we will be addressing with more vigour.

• All students are required to wear the uniform correctly to and from school.  As the uniform reflects who we are as a school to our community students must wear the uniform correctly to and from school. This is a non-negotiable.  If students are cold we recommend wearing white plain t-shirts or thermals under their uniforms.
• I received a parent complaint last week regarding girls’ dress length.  She said, and I quote “some of the girls’ dresses are obscenely short.” The dress (as per the uniform policy) must be no higher than 5 cm above the knee.
• Caps to be worn must be black with no visible logo.  Students have improved in this area however, caps must only be worn outside.

School Council

It is with great sadness that I let you know that Scott Fraser the School President has had to resign from the role due to health reasons.  Scott has been involved with the school for a long time and his positivity, energy and passion for the school will be missed.  We wish Scott the best for the future and have him in our thoughts.

At the next School Council meeting (end of May) a new President will be elected. 

Capital Works

As you would be aware the school has been granted $8.07 million to spend on upgrading and building new learning spaces.  The school is currently collaborating very closely with our architects Thompson Adsett to deliver amazing new facilities.  The current projection is that by April 2023 the new learning spaces will be available for students to utilise. 

One reason why Thompson Adsett were chosen was the importance they place on consultation. This means that the school community will all have the opportunity to have their voice heard.  Please keep a look out for your chance to have your say to shape the school’s future.

Student Voice

It is imperative that the school is empowering the students to have a voice in all aspects of their learning.  Last week I went to an amazing interactive session that supported my development in this area.  It was great to attend with so many local primary school teachers and leaders.  As the Principal of a secondary school I wanted to attend because I believe that students must be provided with the structures, skills and confidence for their voice to be heard clearly.

 The sessions (ongoing) are facilitated by the Quaglia Institute which is a global organisation that has a sharp focus on improving student voice.  I felt privileged to have Dr. Russ Quaglia online as well as Jason and Sue from the Quaglia Institute who facilitated the session. This was an amazing session and I want to thank Tracy Bancroft (Principal of Knox Gardens) and Boronia Heights Primary School for organising and hosting this event. I’m looking forward to the next session in Term 3 but more importantly introducing some tangible strategies to build our students’ voice capacity.

Form Group Uniform Winners

Congratulations to students from 7A and 10G on winning the free pizza lunch for wearing their uniform with pride.  7A and 10G were drawn out from the Form Groups who had won a raffle ticket for wearing their uniform correctly.  This will be an on-going initiative for students who continue to wear their uniform with pride.

You need to be in it to win it!

Regards

Ian Van Schie

Principal