Pakenham Secondary College News

Principal's Message

‘We Grow Through Connection’

 

Dear Students, Parents and Carers,

 

Our last Newsletter for the year – 2022 has flown by so quickly!

 

It has been an incredibly successful year at Pakenham Secondary College.  We have achieved so much as a community.  Our students continue to grow in terms of their learning and wellbeing, and we have provided so many opportunities for our students as part of our extensive co-curricular programs.

 

Our excellent reputation in the community continues to strengthen.  We are seen as the secondary school of choice by the local community because of our caring, supportive and successful approach to learning and wellbeing.  Our ‘footprint’ within the broader community is becoming more and more visible given our regular and effective communications using a number of platforms to keep people informed of what is happening at our great school.  Our Buildings and Grounds continue to improve, our committed and dedicated staff continue to have a positive impact on students through their work and we are developing more connections with the broader College Community.  The support we receive from our families is outstanding.

 

We are a great school that is on the move.  Our standing in the Community has always been strong and it is getting stronger. There is a very strong spirit of community amongst students, families and staff.  This strong sense of team work is important to furthering the learning and wellbeing outcomes of our students.  The positive connections that our students have with others helps them grow and improve – our new College Motto of ‘We Grow Through Connection’ will serve our school community well for the years to come.

 

The result of the recent Victorian State Election (26 11 22) means that our College can expect a significant amount of funding to upgrade our facilities.  Please see a record below of what I sent our College Community via our website and social media platform recently: 

 

Dear Students, Parents and Carers,

 

Given the result in recent Victorian State Election (Saturday 26 11 22), I would like to highlight to our College Community that we can expect an investment of $11.3 million from the Andrews Labor Government to deliver a Major Upgrade to our facilities.

 

I am thrilled with this investment in our great school. An investment of this magnitude is a huge confidence boost for our College Community. The funding expected will go a long way to further improving our facilities and to support our high quality teaching and learning program. 

 

We will now wait and see on next steps - let's hope that the Upgrade begins soon. I will keep our College Community fully informed of developments as they come to hand. 

 

This is great news for our school and we look forward to understanding what the next steps will be in respect to the Major Upgrade. 

 

There has been so much happening at our great school to round out the year:

  • Our Activities Week (12 – 16/12) concluded today and we thank staff for developing and implementing a range of activities for students (please be reminded that students in attendance for the last two days of the school year, 19 and 20/12, can expect to complete some environmental clean – up type activities). 
     
  • Our successful Headstart Program concluded last week (9/12) and it provided an excellent opportunity for students and staff to make a ‘head start’ on some of the learning across subject areas in 2023.
     
  • Our recent Year 12 Valedictory Dinner (25/11) was a huge success with families enjoying the sense of occasion that comes with such an important event.  It was great to see so many students, families and staff in attendance.
     
  • We staged our Presentation Evening last night (15/11) with so many students recognised for their wonderful achievements across a number of areas throughout the year.  We thank students, families, staff and guests for their attendance – it was a wonderful night showcasing the wonderful achievements of our students in 2023.
     
  • Our Orientation Program supporting Year 6 into 7 students with their transition moving into next year was held earlier in the week (12, 13/12).  It was a very successful Program with our new Year 7 students finding out more about their new school and getting to know peers and staff. We welcome our new Year 7 students and their families to Pakenham Secondary College and wish them well in 2023.
     
  • Other activities such as the Global Youth Forum and the Arts and Technology Show have also featured prominently this term.  Both events allowed students to participate in a creative and innovative manner with the curriculum provided, and they were hugely successful – well done to all involved.

The recent Presentation Evening (15/12) also allowed us to formally introduce our new College Captains for 2023: 

  • Arshdeep Singh 
  • Abigail Delia 

We were also pleased to announce our new Student Representative Council (SRC) President for 2023 in Tara Cudmore.  Arshdeep, Abigail and Tara will be outstanding representatives of our great school in 2023 and we wish them well as they help to lead our College Community next year. 

 

The 2022 Year 12 VCE results were made available to our students earlier in the week (12/12), and we hope that our students received the results that they expected. As a College, we were very pleased with many of the Year 12 VCE results this year.  Some summary points are provided below:

  • Our Median Study Score increased by 2 points to 28 from 2021
  • The average ATAR for our Year 12 VCE students increased 
  • Approximately 20% of our Year 12 cohort received an ATAR of over 80
  • More subjects with a study score above 30 than in recent years
  • 100% VCE completion    

We wish the Class of 2022 all the very best for the future.

 

We must make mention of our 2022 College Dux in Aleisha Lippis.  We congratulate Aleisha on this wonderful achievement! Aleisha has worked incredibly hard throughout 2022 to achieve outstanding results.  Well done Aleisha on being the Pakenham Secondary College Dux in 2022. 

 

We are proud of the Class of 2022. We congratulate all students on all of their endeavours this year given their involvement in the VCE, VCAL and /or VET studies. Furthermore, those students who went on to employment prior to the end of the year, we too recognise your efforts. We wish the Class of 2022 all the very best for the future. Also, we congratulate all of our Year 12 teachers and the wider staff for the outstanding level of teaching, guidance and care of our Year 12 students from their enrolment to the completion of their final year of studies. We thank our families for their wonderful support along the journey.

 

The Summer School Holiday Period is an opportunity to further improve our Buildings and Grounds over this time with some further projects and maintenance to take place.

 

The Semester Two Reports for 2022 will be made available to families via Compass on Tuesday 20 December.  Families are encouraged to read through their child’s report to review the learning progress and achievement across the subject areas provided. 

 

In closing, I thank our students for their hardworking and committed approach to their studies in 2022.  I also thank our caring and dedicated teaching and support staff for everything that they have done to best support our students throughout this year.  Furthermore, I thank our families for their wonderful support of our great school in 2022.

 

Thank you everyone for a successful year at Pakenham Secondary College.  Moving forward, we will continue to provide a quality education program, wellbeing support and pathways opportunities to our students that are of interest to them. 

 

Please be informed that students return on January 31, 2023.  I wish you all well for the festive season; stay safe and be sure to enjoy this time as best you can with friends and family, 

 

 

Regards

 

Aaron Smith

College Principal – Pakenham Secondary College