Principal's Report

From the Acting Principal

The start of a new term has commenced in a highly positive fashion. It has been rewarding to see our students contributing to our wider community, growing as young people and visibly learning. The energy, passion and engagement our students bring to College life can be inspirational on many levels.

For evidence of this, you do not have to look further than the first weeks of this new term at our College.

Student Achievement – ANZAC Day commemorations

Last Thursday the College Captains Elliott Fong and Amrita Kohli, along with Assistant Principal Cameron Campbell, attended the Rotary Club of Templestowe Schools Anzac Day Service at the Templestowe Memorial Reserve. Elliot and Amrita were given the immense honour of reading the ANZAC Requiem during this ceremony attended by over 200 students from local Manningham Schools. While the numbers had to be capped this year due to COVID restrictions, it was wonderful that this year the young people of our community could come together to commemorate those who have served and died in war and military operations and to honour the contribution of returned servicemen and women.

We conducted College assemblies last Friday to commemorate ANZAC DAY. At the Senior School assembly a very moving tribute was presented beautifully by Year 11 History student Ashleigh Gacheche-Mazzon. Each sub-school assembly culminated with readings of the poem ‘In Flanders Field’ and ‘The Ode for the Fallen’ and a minutes silence following the ‘Last Post’ played briantly by Year 10 student Henry Gu. Finally, our students joined together for a rendition of the National Anthem led by the Combined Vocals Group and the Symphonic Band.

I am incredibly proud of our students for the preparation they undertook in order to present at this assembly and the attention and respect shown during the course of this moving assembly by all students in attendance. 

Student Achievement – State Swimming  Finals

Our Swimming Team's performances in last week’s SSV State Finals were outstanding. The EDSC Swimming team achieved its best result in school history, finishing 7th at the 2021 SSV Swimming Championship held at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre.

I would like to take this opportunity to highlight the outstanding achievements of our students: 

Logan C

1st - Boys 15 50m Breaststroke

1st - Boys 15 50m Butterfly

1st - Boys 12-15 100m Freestyle

5th - Boys 15 50m Freestyle

1st - Boys 12-15 200m Individual Medley

Farida T

5th - Girls 12-18 100m Breaststroke

1st - Girls 14 50m Breaststroke

2nd - Girls 12-15 100m Freestyle

3rd - Girls 14 50m Freestyle 

Victoria M

4th - 12-13 50m Freestyle 

Courtney M

1st - Girls 14 50m Butterfly

Charlie M

2nd - Boys 12-18 100m Breaststroke

Daniel B

3rd - Boys 18-20 50m Butterfly

Cady Y

Courtney M

Farida T

Victoria M

1st - Girls 12-14 Medley Relay

Yet again, a great effort and outcome from our very talented students.

Congratulations to them all!  

For a more detailed summary of events within this Newsletter can I refer you to the report from our Coordinator of Sporting Carnivals, Michael James.

City Experience

This week has seen a great deal of excitement for our Year 9 cohort as students in 9A-9E have embarked upon what is always a highlight for our students, City Experience. 

Throughout the week our students have engaged in the urban landscape of Melbourne and have experienced a range of cultural activities that are on offer in our city. Students have delved into Melbourne's historical past by visiting locations such as the Old Melbourne Goal and have experienced historical locations that are still thriving today such as the Queen Victoria Market. 

On top of all of this, students will no doubt have developed or strengthened other life skills ranging from navigating our public transport system, problem solving and team work.

We look forward to having them back at school next week and hearing out their experiences. The remainder of our Year 9 cohort will embark upon their City Experience journey in week 5.

NAPLAN

All students in Years 7 and 9 will soon be completing the NAPLAN tests in the areas of reading, writing and numeracy. Tests will be conducted on the mornings of Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 11 - 13 May.  Over time, the NAPLAN tests provide parents, teachers and the school with a rich source of information on how students are progressing in literacy and numeracy as they advance through their schooling. Individual student results will be provided to parents and students later in the year. 

Further details and a parent information brochure can be found in the Middle School section of this newsletter.

Staffing

We welcome back Meihui Wang who has returned from family leave this term. 

We also welcome to the College our new school nurse Belinda Harper. She will be working at the College on Tuesdays and Fridays.

We congratulate Liz Reeder on the birth of her son Jude, Tegan Pohl on the arrival of her son Max and Angela Dallinger on the birth of her son Theodore. We wish them all the best at this very special time.

Karen Boyle

Acting Principal

College Philosophy

At East Doncaster Secondary College we have a strong tradition of academic excellence and we aim to promote and sustain a reflective learning culture. We want students to experience a sense of achievement and growth in their academic, personal, social and emotional development. We have high expectations of our students’ commitment to being mutually supportive and striving for success as learners. We are proudly multicultural with a student population from 43 nationalities including a number of International Students. 68% of our students speak a language other than English at home.

A student’s life at school is full of opportunities, being rich and varied with a range of co-curricular activities in music, sport, productions, debating, clubs as well as camps and international experiences for the educational and personal development of students. Our students are vibrant, energetic, and talented young people. There are many student leadership opportunities and we aim to continue to increase student access to decision-making and self-determination as learners.

We endeavour to create a "Culture of Curiosity" with goals of ensuring learning improvement for every student – every student, every period, every day.

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.

We aim to sustain a learning culture that provides every student with a sense of achievement and of being their best in their academic, personal, social and emotional development.

Privacy and Data at East Doncaster Secondary College

East Doncaster Secondary College uses a number of digital platforms to support your child’s education, such as Compass, Google Drive and Office 365. 

The College has an Information Security Policy and complies with the Department of Education and Training Privacy Policy. The attached documents provide further information about these services, privacy and how data is managed.