Principal's Report

From the Principal

The last two weeks of College life here at East Doncaster Secondary College have reflected the many dimensions that are evident in the fabric of a vibrant, supportive learning community. Just as we all gained our collective breaths after the busy and super-successful week of our College Production – ‘Little Shop of Horrors’, our student leaders reminded us all of their energy, vision and community spirit by embarking on a number of highly visible, highly productive and highly worthwhile fund raising activities (please see below). Both of these activities were embraced and well supported by our student community. It is a credit to our student leaders and our students in general that their focus has been on giving back to those in real need. Of course, these events have been undertaken in the backdrop of our Senior School examination period that commenced this week and in what is arguably our busiest assessment period for our Middle School students. I believe it says a lot about the focus and values of our students that they are willing and able to ensure that purposeful learning and community spirit and service can be mutually compatible – they, in fact, can operate in harmony to produce better 21st century learners, better leaders and better citizens within our community.

EDSC supporting the Big Freeze

East Doncaster Secondary College has been proud to make our small contribution to the fight to find a cure for Motor Neurone Disease in the past week.

There is a close link between our College and the Daniher family. The owner of the cleaning company employed by our school is Terry Daniher. Terry is often seen walking around before school doing a general clean-up and inspecting the quality of our cleaning services

Terry is also a 300+ game AFL legend, a former Essendon FC captain and part of a famous footballing family. Together the four brothers, Terry, Anthony, Chris and Neale played a total of 752 games of VFL/AFL footy. In 2013, Neale Daniher was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease. Since then, the family has led a passionate pursuit of finding a cure for MND. An article on the Essendon FC website outlines the magnitude of the challenge in finding a cure for this terrible disease-

“More than 2,000 Australians are currently living with MND. The disease causes the nerve cells controlling movement, speech, breathing and swallowing to slowly die. Thanks to the (fundraising) work of the Danihers, two new drug trials have commenced and another two are scheduled to begin later this year. The Danihers are calling on all Australians to continue to support the cause, so enough funds can be raised as quickly as possible, so that every Australian MND patient can access a new drug trial.”

The Big Freeze 4 will be held on Monday June 11 (Queen’s Birthday Public Holiday) at the MCG before the AFL game between Melbourne and Collingwood.  The EDSC community can support Neale and Terry by going to https://fightmnd.org.au/ and doing your bit.

As an initiative led by our student leaders, today we conducted our own ‘Big Freeze’ ice-bucket challenge at the College during our lunch break. A number of staff and students braved the chilly conditions to be drenched by ice buckets to raise money for this great cause.

A warm congratulations to those involved in the planning and delivery of a busy ‘Big Freeze’ week at our College.

Wheelchairs for Kids - Congratulations EDSC!

After a week full of frenetic activity in and around our sports oval, our students raised over $2000 for Wheelchairs for Kids last week.

Those funds will ensure that at least 12 wheelchairs can be purchased and sent overseas to young children in need. A huge note of thanks to all of the student leaders involved in the planning and implementation of the races and activities during the week. Thanks also to the many students who participated in the wheelchair races and offered gold coin donations on our out of uniform day.

Wheelchairs for Kids is a charity where volunteers make wheelchairs and give them to young people in developing countries. All funds raised go to the materials, construction and shipping of wheelchairs to needy children!

A great cause that was brilliantly supported by our students.

Student Representation on School Council

A timeline has been set in place to undertake student elections for positions on the College’s School Council. As mentioned in our last Newsletter, all Victorian government Secondary School Councils with students in Year 7 and above must conduct a student School Council election process to elect two students for Council membership during the course of 2018.

Student members of School Council will have the same role and responsibilities as other Council members, including full voting rights. Student members will be expected to prepare for and attend all council meetings, in line with the requirements for school councillors.

To be eligible to run in the Student member category, that person must be a student enrolled in Year 7 or above at the school where they are seeking to be on council. There is no minimum age requirement.

Information on this process has been available on the Compass system for the past two weeks.

In the last week of this term on Wednesday 28 June we will hold sub-school assemblies to enable our nominating student representatives to address their peer group and outline their goals as elected student representatives. Following these assemblies, we will conduct an election process that will enable all students to cast their vote.

The successful student representatives will be announced to the College community in the first week of term 3.

Volunteers Needed! – PFA Bunnings Sausage Sizzle Fundraiser

The PFA are running a sausage sizzle at Bunnings Nunawading on Saturday 30 June 2018. 

This is the major fund-raising event for the PFA this year.

We are calling on our EDSC community to come and help us cook and sell.

If you are able to help out at any of the sessions below, please email the PFA Communications Officer, Harveen on harveens19@yahoo.com.au

The roster for the day has been divided into the following times;

8:00 am – 10:00 am

10:00 am – 12:00 pm

12:00 pm – 2:00 pm

2:00 pm – 4.00pm

4:00 pm – 5:00 pm

For those unable to help out on the day, please do come down to Bunnings at some stage during the day and taste one of our famous EDSC sausages.

Visitors to the school – a reminder of our College policies.

East Doncaster Secondary College seeks to provide the community with an open and friendly learning environment. At the same time, one of our highest priorities is to ensure the safety of our students, staff and resources. We thank you for your cooperation in adhering to the following visitation policies and procedures:

• All visitors must report to the General Office upon arrival.
• If you are a parent or guardian who needs to contact your child, the reception staff will provide assistance.
• Only people attending on official school business will be permitted to enter the school grounds.
• Visitors are not permitted to enter the school grounds unless supervised by a member of staff.
• As our teaching staff have timetabled commitments, it is important that prior appointments are made.
• Upon arrival, all official visitors and contractors must log their presence by signing in at the touch screen kiosk located in the General Office.

Visitors must also sign out using their visitor pass on departure.

Census Data Collection

Every year the Department of Education and Training conduct a census which helps determine the level of our schools student-based funding.

To ensure that the College is able continue to provide quality programs and an efficient learning environment for our students it relies on being supported by Department funding. Student Family Occupation details are an important component used by the DET to formulate our correct level of funding.  Please find attached important information regarding ensuring your details are up to date and how this impacts on school funding.

John Roberts

Principal

Creating a Culture of Curiosity

Our school’s purpose is to develop passionate learners who are critical thinkers with the confidence and capability to engage in the global community.

Care and Compassion, Curiosity, Excellence, Fairness, Resilience, Respect and Teamwork are the core values that underpin the culture of our school as we embrace the challenges of 21st Century learning.