Principal's Message

We Grow Through Connection

Dear Students, Parents and Carers,

It has been an incredibly busy term at PSC.  Not only have students been working hard to complete various assessments across their subjects, they have also been accessing so many opportunities in our co-curricular program from Camps, Incursion and Excursions, to Sport, the Performing Arts and Student Leadership – there is just so much to do at our great school!

Term Two is quickly coming to an end with teaching staff finalising correction of some key assessments for the Semester One Reports.  Our Correction – Report Writing Day on Friday 7 June will further support teaching staff in this work.  Please be reminded that our Correction – Report Writing Day (Friday 7 June) is a Student Free Day.

Our exciting Capital Works Program continues to gain momentum.  I remind our College Community that we have received approximately $11.5 Million in funding to replace D Wing (currently used for general purpose teaching and learning and staff office areas) and further improve our existing Technology Centre.  We are very much in the design phase of our work with The Department of Education and Training (DET), The Victorian School Building Authority (VSBA) and architects as part of our Capital Works Program with construction expected to commence in late 2024 or early 2025.

Interest in our great school continues to grow.  Some preliminary figures relating to 2025 Year 7 Enrolment Data reveals that we are on track to welcome approximately 200 new Year 7 students next year.  Whilst this 2025 Year 7 Enrolment Data is preliminary and subject to change, this figure highlights the high level of interest in our College and the strong endorsement of the outstanding outcomes we are achieving for our students.

Student Growth and Achievement in Literacy and Numeracy is incredibly important to our students, their families and our College. We await the confirmed 2024 NAPLAN results from earlier in the year as a means of helping us a College understand the level of Student Growth and Achievement for our Year 7 and 9 Students. We also use Teacher Judgements and Progressive Adaptive Testing measure Student Growth with Students outside of Years 7 and 9.  Our Literacy (Mr. Travis Bhandari) and Numeracy (Ms. Amanda Peterson) Learning Specialists will be conducting some PAT Assessments.

We know that Attendance Matters – Every Day Counts, Every Lesson Counts.  We continue to work with families to support the highest levels of attendance we can across the College.  Higher levels of attendance helps support better outcomes for our students and we will continue to employ strategies that support even higher levels of attendance.  Parents and carers are asked to continue to encourage high levels of attendance, and to approve any unexplained absences where they are able to do so via Compass and / or by making contact with the General Office (pH – 5945 1433).

Voluntary Contributions from our families are vital in our ability as a College to best support our students.  We are dependent on Voluntary Contributions from parents and carers to help us achieve the best possible education and support for our students.  These contributions support the curriculum programs, school services and resources, together with ensuring the operation of the school’s extended learning and co-curricular programs.  Please visit your Compass portal – Course Confirmation / School Payments, to learn more about how you can make payment of Voluntary Contributions. Please contact the General Office on 5945 1433 should you have any queries. 

Reconciliation Week, 2024 (Monday 27 May to Friday 31 May) was this week and it was a chance for ‘all Australians to learn about shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia' (Reconciliation Australia website, Friday 24 May, 2024).  Reconciliation Week has allowed us all the opportunity to pause and reflect on above at this important time of the year.  As a College, we have been a part of Reconciliation Week in different ways from attending the Reconciliation Week Ceremony at the Cardinia Council (Monday 27 May), promoting Reconciliation through our Social Media platforms and continuing our learning of Indigenous culture and themes in the classroom. 

As we move into the final week of Term Two, we have our Exam Program coming up for several of our students.  Our Year 10 and 11 students will be involved in Exams from Tuesday 11 June to Tuesday 18 June inclusive, and we wish our Year 10 and 11 students all the very best with their Exams. 

Importantly, our Year 12 students (VCE and VCE VM) will be involved in the General Achievement Test (or the GAT) on Tuesday 18 June.  The General Achievement Test (GAT) ‘is a pen-and-paper test of general knowledge and skills taken by students in the course of completing their senior secondary studies.  The GAT plays an important role in the quality assurance of VCE assessments and also provides students with an opportunity to demonstrate they meet the Victorian Literacy and Numeracy Standards expected at a senior secondary level. No special study is needed. Past study of subjects like English, Mathematics, Science and History prepares students for the GAT by building their general knowledge and skills in writing, numeracy and reasoning’ (Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, or VCAA, Website 30 May, 2024).  We expect our Year 12 students to do the best that they can with the GAT on 18 June. Please note those Year 11 students currently studying a Year 12 subject (eg Unit 3) are also expected to complete the GAT.

The Year 10 Work Experience Program has been a staple of Pakenham Secondary College for an extended period of time.  We encourage our Year 10 students to secure a suitable Work Experience Placement in order to learn more about the work place and the skills required when working in industry.  Our Year 10 Work Experience Program will be held in the last week of Term Two (Monday 24 to Friday 28 June inclusive).  Year 10 students without a Work Experience Placement are required to attend school for this week (Monday 24 to Friday 28 June inclusive) where an alternative program will be provided.

Our College Motto continues to hold us in good stead – We Grow Through Connection. We really value strong and meaningful connections as a means of supporting our students.  The sense of community at our great school remains as strong as ever as we all work hard to help each other to further support students in areas important to them.  The interest in our great school is becoming stronger and stronger because of the outstanding outcomes being achieved for our students.

In closing, I would like to recognise the very sad and recent passing of Leonie McGinley, long serving staff member and Assistant Principal at Koo Wee Rup Secondary College.  Leonie was an incredibly important part of the Koo Wee Rup Secondary College Community over an extended period of time - her contribution to the Koo Wee Rup Secondary College Community was enormous.  Our thoughts go out to the Koo Wee Rup Secondary College Community, and Leonie’s family and friends at this difficult time.

Please remember to contact the College with any queries (pH – 5945 1433) as we are here to help.

Thank you everyone.

Regards,

Aaron

Aaron Smith

College Principal – Pakenham Secondary College