Principal's Report

Welcome to Term One

All students are active participants in a learning culture that promotes academic excellence and personal development through a diversity of challenging experiences.  

VISION

“Working together, learning together” – Working together to enable all students to achieve their potential and become confident, effective learners who contribute productively to society.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY

Doncaster Secondary College acknowledges the traditional owners of the land on which our school is situated, the Wurundjeri Woiwurrung people of the Kulin Nation. We pay our respects to elder's past, present and emerging and extend that respect to any and all Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people. We value the ongoing contribution to the cultural heritage that the Wurundjeri Woiwurrung people provide to our school as well as the city of Manningham. We recognise that this land was never ceded and there is no treaty, and we commit to efforts towards reconciliation as a school community. We at Doncaster Secondary College are inclusive of individuals from all backgrounds including the LGBTQIA+, culturally and linguistically diverse as well as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

Welcome back to the beginning of the 2021 school year. I hope that the summer holiday period provided an opportunity to rest, recover and reconnect with family and friends. I am incredibly grateful for these opportunities, as well as being able to live and work in such a safe environment. However, the recent announcements from the Government regarding new statewide restrictions highlight the need for the community to respond to emerging directives. This means that unless there is a medical exception which has been provided to the Health Centre, all students must wear their face mask in indoor areas of the school. Staff must wear face masks in indoor areas of the school when not teaching or caring for a child. Visitors to school sites must also wear masks when indoors. Please support us to meet these new restrictions by providing your child with a face mask and ensuring that they bring it to school.

CELEBRATING OUR 2020 YEAR 12 COHORT

Whilst 2020 was an incredibly challenging year, our whole school community pulled together to ensure that our students were cared for and continued to learn. It fills me with pride to be able to share some of the achievements of our Year 12 student cohort of 2020. Doncaster Secondary College students achieved a median study score of 30. This is something that we have been striving towards for many years and one which speaks to the strengths of our whole community in the way that they came together to support our students. We also continued to improve our value-added results as measured by the General Achievement Test (GAT). The GAT is a test of general knowledge and skills across written communication, mathematics, science, technology, humanities, the arts and social sciences.

To be able to improve our academic outcomes in such a challenging year is also a testament to the hard work, intellect, care and resilience of all staff. We are also incredibly proud of our VCAL outcomes. Our VCAL students made an outstanding contribution to our school community in 2020. They developed their practical and organisational skills through a number of projects which have improved our College environment. They increased their unit completion rates by 11%, and have progressed into employment and/or further education. Our senior teachers will be reflecting on the student outcomes in an effort to continue to build their capacity to meet the needs of our students through their final year of school.

Congratulations to our Dux, Jerome Wong, who earned an ATAR of 97.95. When we spoke to him, he expressed a great deal of gratitude to his teachers.

13% of students achieved a score above 90

31% of students achieved a score above 80

51% of students achieved a score above 70

23% of International students achieved a score above 90

46% of International students achieved a score above 80

GRADE 6 TO YEAR 7 TRANSITION

As the class of 2020 leave us, we welcomed a new group of students and families to our College. The students participated in a program which has been designed to ensure that the new Year 7s feel welcome and connected to the College. Whilst there are a number of technical aspects to the transition, the priority is for our students to develop positive relationships with their peers and teachers, as well as understanding and demonstrating the College values of Respect, Responsibility, Resilience and Teamwork. Through this transition program, we are able to set the conditions under which our students are able to learn and grow to the best of their ability. I am looking forward to meeting our families at the Year 7 Social Evening next Tuesday night. This event will be held in our new building and the surrounding precinct.

LEARNING FROM 2020

All schools across the Victorian Government School sector have been asked to reflect on their learning from 2020, and use this learning to guide the development of the goals which form the basis of our Annual Implementation Plans (AIPs). These goals are focused on:

-          Learning catch up and extension

-          Happy, active and healthy kids

-          Connected schools

The AIP will be presented to College Council for endorsement on February 17. Our goals will then be communicated with students and families after this date. Some significant actions which are already taking place include:

• Training of staff involved in the Tutor Learning Initiative to provided targeted literacy and numeracy support
• Training of staff involved in Professional Learning Communities
• Development and implementation of a whole school communication plaN
• Continued development of online lesson plans which are published on Compass
• Provision of wellbeing support which is focussed on developing the Personal and Social Capabilities

E-LEARNING DAY – Wednesday, 10 March

Teachers across the Victorian Government School system are entitled to have one day per term called a Professional Practice Day (PPD). During this time they are released from all classes, so they can focus on the improved delivery of high-quality teaching and learning. This is a Departmental initiative which was introduced in 2018 to ensure that teachers have time to collaborate, plan units of work and common assessment tasks, moderate and assess. These days are in addition to existing pupil free days.

The impact of PPDs can be considerable for students as they have between 5 and 6 teachers across the week. When combined with staff absences for other school activities, this can impact on student classes. For this reason, we will be introducing two E-Learning days to ensure that there is less ad-hoc disruption to students over the course of the term. This will also provide greater opportunity for more staff to collaborate for improved student outcomes. The first E-Learning day will be held on Wednesday, March 10. This day has been chosen as it has the least impact on the whole school program and effects fewer classes. E-Learning days are held successfully at Auburn High School and Glen Waverley Secondary College.

On Wednesday March 10, students will study from home on tasks that teachers set on Compass. Regular teachers will not be available for students during the day. However, this day will promote skill development around being autonomous learners, an essential prerequisite for further learning and the promotion of effective study habits and routines.

If students are unable to study from home, we will need to know beforehand so we can employ casual relief teachers (CRTs) for the day. If your child is unable to study from home, please contact:

• Year 7-9 Keshia.Winter@education.vic.gov.au
• Year 10-12 Elizabeth.Podger@education.vic.gov.au

Further information regarding the first E-Learning day will be provided closer to the date.

On a personal note, I feel very privileged to be able to take on the role of Principal of Doncaster Secondary College. I spoke to the Senior School students at their assembly about the care that I have for this community, one which I have been a part of as a student, volunteer and staff member for nearly 30 years. I care about the education of all of our young people, as I know that education is closely linked to better health outcomes, relationships and careers. I look forward to leading our community as we strive to achieve our goals in 2021. 

Glenn Morris

Principal