Principal Team's Message

Start to the 2026 year.

Welcome back to our students and staff after the summer holidays, and a special welcome to our Year 7 students, and those joining us in Years 8-12 as new students to the College. It’s been wonderful to see everyone back, eager to catch up with their friends and teachers and settle back into school life once more. The annual swimming carnival was well attended, and even though the Principal team didn’t quite beat the staff team in the students vs teacher race, it was a very closely swum race.

Over the next few weeks, students will notice our new Out of Classroom Matrices going up around the school grounds. Each of these matrices outline the behaviours associated with our College values Responsibility, Respect, Resilience, and Endeavour and how these are modelled in different areas of the school. In Term 4 last year, students redeveloped the positively framed statements during PC classes, and we’re looking forward to seeing these displayed as reminders of our positive behaviour expectations.

Prepared for Learning 

Thank you to the majority of our students who are regularly demonstrating both Endeavour and Responsibility by being on time to class with all the equipment required for learning. Arriving to class ready to learn with books, stationery, a charged device, and a water bottle supports students to achieve goals and success. 

Booklists are available on the College website for families wishing to confirm the resources needed. 

Pedestrian Safety 

We are very fortunate to have a school campus that is centrally located, close to the middle of town and with public transport nearby. Riddell Rd, Horne St and Racecourse Rd act as main arterials around the school; during pick up and drop off time they can become quite busy. These roads in particular are well supported by a number of pedestrian crossings and an underpass. We have communicated expectations around safe pedestrian access a number of times in recent years and we would like to thank a vast majority of our students and their parents/carers who make safe use of these crossings. Unfortunately, a small number of students are still walking across Racecourse and Riddell Rd without using a crossing.

The risks are obvious and we ask that parents/carers reinforce messaging to their child/children regarding their child’s safe passage home. Students must use a designated crossing to cross Riddell Rd, Horne St or Racecourse Rd.

Attendance

Daily school attendance is important for all children and young people to succeed in education and to ensure they don't fall behind both socially and developmentally.

Children and young people who regularly attend school and complete Year 12 or an equivalent qualification have better health outcomes, better employment outcomes, and higher incomes across their lives.

School is better when our students are here!

Student Pick Up and Drop Off

Thank you to the vast majority of parents and carers who adhere to and support the school’s expectations around parents and carers not driving through the school gate for pick up and drop off. The Sunbury College Traffic Management Plan dictates that access to the College Bus lane and carpark is for Sunbury College staff and volunteers, deliveries and school buses only. The space is not designed for parents/carers to undertake a drop off or pick up. 

Our wonderful teachers supervise students coming and going in the morning and afternoon and continue to report a small number of parents and carers dropping students off inside the school gate in the morning prior to 9:00am. This presents an unexpected safety risk to pedestrians and an interruption to the flow of buses. Please plan ahead and drop off and pick up in the surrounding area, not inside the school gate.

Out of Class Log 

This year, we have introduced an ‘Out of Class Log’ on Compass for when students leave the classroom with the permission of the subject teacher. Reasons might include:

• To go to Sick Bay
• To go to the Sub School office
• To visit the toilet
• To get a drink 
• To go to IT
• To go to their locker

With a view to maximise learning time and decrease unnecessary time spent out of the classroom, students are encouraged to plan ahead, bringing the correct equipment to each class, including their charged device and a water bottle. 

We also have two break times (11:00am and 1:40pm) where students can visit the toilet and the Sub School offices. 

The Out of Class log is visible to parents and carers on their child’s Compass profile. Parents and carers are encouraged to monitor the frequency of Out of Class logs and work with their child and child’s teachers to maximise student attendance in class.