Principal Report
Koonung Secondary College
Welcome Back
Welcome back to all students, staff and families, and a warm welcome to the Koonung Secondary College community to all new students and families. We hope you have settled into the new school year, whether your child has just begun their time at High School as a new Year 7 student, or as one of the over 50 new families who are starting their time at Koonung with children in Years 8-12.
I will begin by thanking all staff, students and families for your support of each other and the students as they have returned to learning in 2024. It has been fantastic to walk through the College and meet the students these past two weeks as they returned for the 2024 academic year. The genuine warmth and openness of the welcomes from staff, students and parents as we have returned for 2024 clearly demonstrate to me that Koonung Secondary College is a friendly, vibrant, dynamic and exceptional centre of learning and achievement. It is a College that supports and promotes students and staff to always be learning and striving to achieve excellence. I am privileged to be in my position and inspired to ensure that Koonung Secondary College remains a College of choice that focuses on ensuring students are successful- academically, socially and emotionally.
VCE Results
Congratulations to the VCE class of 2023 for their outstanding results.
Before I outline the exceptional achievement of our 2023 cohort of students, I would like to remind all families that the ATAR and scored VCE is just one of the pathways available for students at Koonung. Together with scored VCE, some students undertake a non-scored VCE and in 2023 we introduced the Vocational Major VCE, in which students can undertake VET and School-based Apprenticeships and Traineeships to achieve the VCE VM. However, the vast majority (over 87% of students) undertake a scored VCE.
Much is spoken about the VCE, ATARS and the Median Study Score of a school. We are pleased to share that the achievement of the 2023 cohort of students has been exceptional. You may be aware of the dux of the College, James Lonnen and his outstanding ATAR of 99.35, but there were also 36 other students who achieved an ATAR higher than 90 which constituted 26% of all students. 47% of our students achieved an ATAR higher that 80 with an overall average ATAR of 78.
We are also pleased to share that the high-level achievement of our students saw a Median study score of the College of 32. This sees the achievement of our Koonung students amongst the best of government schools in Victoria. Congratulations to our students for their hard work and achievement, a big thank you to our brilliant teachers and support staff for their work and thank you to you, our families for your support as we work together to see our Koonung students work hard to achieve their goals and aspirations.
College Council Elections
Please see the College Council Elections page in this newsletter regarding the process for nominating for College Council. College Council plays a vital role in supporting the governance of the College, so please reach out to me or Stace Kerr (Business Manager) if you have any questions.
PFA
Koonung is privileged to have a strong and supportive Parents and Friends Association. Please see the links to the different PFA groups (see the PFA page in this newsletter) available and the types of activities they undertake to support our students with their learning and achievement.
New Staff
I would like to welcome our new staff to the College. With over 140 staff in the College, we are excited to welcome the following staff to the Koonung community-
Nathan Fernado- English as an Additional Language (EAL) and English
Jaymee Allender- Food Studies and Health
J Zhang- Science
Sarah Ryan- Geography, Humanities and English
Sonia Abdallah- Science and Mathematics
Daniel Bogemann- History, Humanities and English
Luke Ewart- Health and Physical Education and Commerce
Hok Chan- Mathematics and Science
Greg Dickman- Mathematics and Science
Nisha Kaushal- Information Technology
Reuben Legge- Woodwind
Lauren Innes- Brass
Megan Anderson- College Nurse
Connections and Programs
We know that student connections are vital in the success of students when at school. These connections include to their peers, their teachers and to programs and subjects in which they have passion, interest and talent. It is why our Positive Classrooms program at Year 7 and 8 and the Live Life program at Year 9 are integral parts of our curriculum as they are designed to build both connections, but also resilience and well-being.
The College also operates a wide range of co-curricula and extra curricula programs designed to support connection, well-being, resilience and achievement. These programs include-
VHAP- Victorian High Ability Program- Extension in Literacy and Numeracy- organised by the Department of Education and run each term in the College
MHAP- Maths High Achievers Program- extension program organised by the College and run every term.
Quick Smart Literacy and Numeracy- Support program offered by the College. Run before school with small group and individual support provided by Quick Smart tutors.
TLI- tutor Learning Initiative- Ongoing program supporting students in Literacy and Numeracy
ESV- Emerging Science Victoria- Semester length virtual Science program for Year 9 and 10 students conducted through John Monash Science School
CHES- Centre for Higher Educational Studies. CHES run Year 10 Enrichment programs, VCE studies in Algorithmics and higher Education Studies for early start into University
Instrumental Music- Small group and individual music lessons for students in instruments including; Woodwind, Brass, Strings, Percussion, Guitar and Voice
Production- Every year the College runs a student led production. This year it is Shrek the Musical
Lunch-time Clubs- A wide range of student interest clubs conducted during lunchtimes. this includes STEM club, Table Top Gaming, Warhammer Club etc.
Inter-school Sport- Koonung is proud of the achievements of its students in all School Sport Victoria (SSV) Round Robins and carnivals. Students in Year 7 and 8 can participate in one of Koonung's many sporting teams through their weekly Sport Ed class, with students in Years 9-12 able to sign up for sporting teams. Students are encouraged to check Compass and Teams for information about Inter-school sport opportunities.
2024 Student Exchange
As part of our sister school arrangement with Matsudo Municipal high School in Japan, we will be hosting two exchange visits in 2024 as we plan our first trip back to Japan since COVID. Please see the 2024 Matsudo Japanese Student vist page in this newsletter for more details.
Facebook and Instagram
The College utilises social media to provide quick updates, interesting events, and lots of photos to our community.
We have one official Facebook page and three Instagram pages for members of our community to follow.
Facebook-
Koonung Secondary College | Melbourne VIC | Facebook
Instagram -
Official School Account- Koonung.secondary.college
Library Account- KSC Library
Student Leaders- Koonung_secondary_college
Andrew McNeil
Principal