Principal's Update

Staffing Shortages

Although things are going very well at school, we have been challenged by staff illness this term with hospitalisations and unexpected surgeries. We apologise that some classes have had replacement staff this term. We have been relatively lucky in recent years with our staff being very stable, but the teacher shortage is continuing to worsen. This affects us in that it is hard to find CRTs (replacement staff), and those that live locally are in great demand across several schools. We appreciate everyone’s patience; until the teacher shortage situation eases across the nation, we can only do our best.

What the teacher shortage means for our community – with staff illness, our regular staff will be teaching more as they cover classes for their colleagues. Our Principal Team also all teach. This means we might be slow to return calls or respond to your emails. Again, we endeavour to do our best within school hours. Although we do our best not to send emails after hours, sometimes, in order to be prepared for the following day. Parents and carers can also help us by making appointments when you need to speak with staff.

Fabulous work by our students

If you don’t follow our Facebook page, I would encourage you to do so. We regularly post all the cool, awesome, and wonderful things our students do every day. Of particular note this term, are the students who have been undertaking “Strive to Serve” projects. Our school motto is “Strive to Serve.” These projects are designed by the students with the purpose of giving back to our community. Cooking has been very popular this term, and students have made food for our Wellbeing Team to distribute to students at break times, and also for staff in a Strive to Serve Project, Random Acts of Kindness. 

Our goals for this year

This year we are working on the backward mapping of our curriculum. This means we want a gradual increase in students understanding of concepts from Year 7 – 12. To do this, we work backward from either the VCE or VCE/VM study designs. 

We are also continuing to develop our XSEL (Social Emotional Program) to include Careers and other related curriculum.

We are developing our skills in inclusive practices (catering for neurodiversity and disability).

Staff undertake coaching at MNSC and we are currently working on a standard Lesson Plan template.

Lastly, it was announced recently that we will receive $240,000. This is for planned maintenance – so nothing big ticket or exciting but still important in maintaining our buildings and grounds.

Vaya Dauphin

College Principal