Principal Team Report

Principal Team Report 

“There’s more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island.” — Walt Disney

As we celebrate book week, it brings into focus just how important it is to develop a lifelong love of reading and learning. Each day, as a Principal team, we are privileged to wander into classrooms observing the many great learning moments that are taking place across a diverse range of subjects and activities. Whilst many of these learning moments involve hands-on activities, class discussion and debate, or a range of other engaging tasks, the role of reading and writing is often central to the learning process. Celebrating book week is a great reminder of the world of exciting adventures and interests that await our young people when they immerse themselves in reading. The benefit to their overall learning is the proverbial icing on the cake.

‘Popstars’ the musical.

There is nothing like a major event to build excitement within a school community, and there are few events that can rival the energy and passion that comes with a large-scale production such as this. After tireless months of rehearsals, countless hours of volunteer time from teachers, parents and a loyal band of ex-Mullauna students and parents, the show is finally here.

This week, we welcomed students from Mitcham Primary School to a matinee performance. Judging by the applause and cheers which echoed throughout the hallways, they clearly enjoyed the show, and we look forward to the remaining performances over coming days. 

Parent / Caregiver / Guardian survey – PLEASE have your say!

As you are hopefully already aware, our school is conducting this annual survey to find out what you think of our school.  The Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey (POS) will be conducted from Monday 22nd August to Friday 16th September.

All families are provided with the opportunity to provide feedback, and we sent out almost 400 emails with a personal PIN and the survey link to the Parent / caregiver / guardian listed as ‘Parent A in our Cases database.

If you did not receive an email from the school on Monday 22nd August, please check your junk mail (just in case) or search your emails using ‘Orima’, the name of the survey provider. If you still can’t find it, contact reception at the school on 9874-3422 to assist.

The Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey (POS) is an annual survey offered by the Department of Education and Training that is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behavior, and student engagement. We encourage all families to participate in this survey. Our school will use the survey results to help inform and direct future school planning and improvement strategies. This is particularly beneficial as we complete our current School Review and prepare to develop our new four-year School Strategic Plan.The survey will be conducted online, only takes about 20 minutes to complete, and can be accessed at any convenient time within the fieldwork period on desktop computers, laptops, tablets or smartphones. The online survey will be available in a range of languages other than English. These include: Arabic, Vietnamese, Simplified Chinese, Chin (Hakha), Hindi, Japanese, Somali, Turkish, Punjabi and Greek.

To access the survey:

1. use the following link: https://www.orima.com.au/parent
2. then select the school and campus name (‘Mullauna Secondary College’ in both cases) 
3. and finally enter your unique PIN.

Each year, we use these survey results, along with the results of student and staff surveys, to measure our progress against goals, and to review and improve programs and processes. The results are tabled and discussed at School Council, and are reported back to the school community in a range of ways e.g. the School Annual Report to the Community.

GAT workshops

The General Achievement Test (GAT) is held annually for all students studying a Year 12 VCE subject. While the GAT already plays an important role in the quality assurance of VCE assessments, it will now also provide students with an opportunity to demonstrate they have the literacy and numeracy skills expected of students completing studies at senior secondary level. For the first time, a general literacy and numeracy test forms part of the GAT in addition to assessing specific skills in mathematics, science, technology, the arts and humanities, with a focus on critical and creative thinking skills. 

The GAT will take place on Wednesday September 7th and in order to prepare our students for this important task, Daniella Taglieri (Director of Student Services) and Penny Nevill (VCE Co-ordinator) ran an outstanding workshop for students that will arm them to achieve their best with the different components of the GAT. 

Year 12 practice exams

As we near the end of the coursework for each Year 12 study, exam preparation begins. We have scheduled a practice exam for each Year 12 subject in the first week of the term break. To better prepare students for their final exams, the practice exams will be held in our exam room, supervised by an external examiner. This will assist our students to ‘practice’ their examination skills in a supported environment. Further information and a structured timetable will be provided by the end of term. It is expected that all students undertaking a Unit 3-4 study will attend the relevant exams, in order to gain both the critical experience and the valuable feedback they provide.

Student Representative Council – the SRC

The Student Representative Committee or ‘the SRC’ is the representative body of students for Mullauna College. In the SRC, we discuss matters pertaining to students, the school environment, and upcoming changes. This is a forum in which student leaders may express the student voice. Matters brought before the SRC are discussed, and where appropriate, may be acted upon. The SRC is a congregation of healthy discussion amongst students. The SRC consists of all captains and student leaders at Mullauna.

From this time on, Mullauna Links will include a student report. This will discuss the matters brought before the SRC and provide updates on any developments resulting from these matters. It is important that the student voice is broadcast to the wider Mullauna community. Students and parents will now be able to view a report on the happenings of SRC written by students. This will assist in promoting the SRC to other students and informing them that they may approach their SRC members with any issues or suggestions that they may have.

Andrew Fankhauser - Student Representative to School Council 

The School Review

Last Wednesday, we completed the third and final day of our review, and have subsequently developed a draft set of goals for the new School Strategic Plan, outlining our possible strategies and targets for the next four years.

Our Leadership team has held initial discussions around the document, with recommendations flowing back to our Reviewer, who is currently completing a full written report, based on the findings made by the core panel team. The two overarching goals are:

1. Maximise the achievement and learning growth of all students.
2. Maximise all the wellbeing and engagement of all students.

Our work now is to establish the strategies we will employ to achieve these goals, and the targets we will set to measure the progress and outcomes.

We presented the draft overview to school council on Tuesday evening and to our teaching staff on Wednesday afternoon. We will present further details to the wider college community as we develop and finalise them.

Term 3 Camps

This term we have two camp experiences for our students. 

Mid-term, we had our successful Music Camp, which saw over 70 students and staff at Oasis Youth Camp in Mt Evelyn, working together to build their instrumental and performance skills. We look forward to seeing the fruits of their hard work at the next Music Performance Evening on Thursday 8th September.

The second camp for Term 3 is the Summit Adventure Camp in Trafalgar for Year 10 and 11 students. Held over the last three days of term, our students will push themselves through a series of outdoor adventure activities designed to challenge and promote perseverance and teamwork in a fun a supportive environment. What a great way to finish off the academic term!

In Term 4, we are also pleased to be able to offer our Year 8 and Year 9 students the opportunity to attend their own camps. Please look out for information on these via Compass events.

Interim Progress Reports and Learning Conferences

Interim Progress Reports are currently being prepared and will be published by Thursday 8th September. These reports will give parents and caregivers feedback on the learning progress and work habits that each student has displayed throughout the term. 

On Monday 12th September, we will conduct learning conferences to enable further discussion and elaboration on the feedback provided in the interim progress report.

The Learning Conferences will again be held onsite for the first session and then via Webex video conferencing for the second session. This model allows those that cannot readily make it on-site to still participate in a face-to-face discussion, albeit over a computer screen. 

The details for the Learning Conferences will be provided with the Interim Progress Reports.

Reminder: Staff Professional Practice Day - Wednesday 31st August (student free)

A reminder that Wednesday 31st August will be a student-free day - no scheduled classes will run.Staff will be engaging in a range of activities, including engaging with the outcomes of the School Review and the draft Strategic Plan, working on faculty tasks, and developing curriculum for 2023.

Michael Bray

Assistant Principal

For the MC Principal Team

Coming key dates:

• Wednesday 31st August – whole staff Professional Practice Day – student-free (no scheduled classes)
• Wednesday 7th September – General Achievement Test (GAT) for all Unit 3-4 students (no VCE classes scheduled)
• Thursday 8th September – Music ‘Spooktacular’ Concert evening
• Monday 12th September – Learning Conferences - student-free (no scheduled classes)
• Friday 16th September – final day of Term 3
• Term 4 – the annual MC Art Show – more details soon!