Dear Parents, Carers, Families and Students,

Welcome to the final term of 2023. I hope it has been a smooth start for you all and I would like to thank you for your support in making it a successful start here at the College.

Farewell to the graduating class of 2023

There is always a mix of emotions from students and staff at this time of the year as our Year 12 students reach the end of their time with us. We recently farewelled our Year 12 students during a whole school assembly. There was a mix of excitement, celebration and recognition of their achievements as well as some sadness as they move from the familiarity of schooling into the variety of pathways ahead. Students also participated in a Year 12 celebration day at Gumbuya World where they enjoyed some warm weather and fun with friends and staff. I am looking forward to celebrating with students and parents at the Valedictory dinner in December. For students undertaking Year 12 examinations, I hope that you are able to meet your goals and that you are rewarded for the effort that you have demonstrated throughout Year 12.

For all Year 12 students, I would like to wish you all the best for the future.

Farewell Michelle Lynch and welcome Michelle Colette

As many parents and students are aware, Michelle Lynch will be leaving the College in the coming weeks to take up a position at Sandringham College. I would like to thank Michelle for the energy, dedication and enthusiasm she has demonstrated in her role as Year 7 to 9 Assistant Principal. In a short time at the College, she has built many positive relationships with all members of the school community.

Michelle Colette has recently begun at the College as the Year 7 to 9 Assistant Principal and brings with her a wealth of experience in educational leadership. I look forward to the excellent work that she will bring to our year 7 to 9 students.

School events

There have been some excellent student events that have occurred since our last newsletter. Some personal highlights have included:

Senior Arts exhibition - the standard of the work from students was exceptional. It was especially great to see Visual Arts exhibited along with Design and Technology pieces as well as Media productions, Dance and music performances.

The staff across our Arts areas have done excellent work with many of these students in building their skills and confidence as artists over multiple years. The exhibition was a credit to them as well as the students. Congratulations to all students who participated and many thanks to the parents and family members for your support of this work.

Literacy and the Premiers Reaching Challenge (PRC) events – It was wonderful to celebrate both of these events with our students and to also share the PRC assembly with many proud parents. Our students in Years 7 to 10 are to be commended for demonstrating their love of reading as part of the challenge. The PRC event featured student speakers, presentations and an afternoon tea.

Polyhood and the 4C’s performance at Bunjil place – 4C’s is an event that has been grown and developed in the outer southeast of Melbourne over many years. It stands for ‘Cultivating Creative Cultures with Communities’ Our students across a variety of year levels and cultural backgrounds worked tirelessly to prepare performances to share with both the local and broader school community. During 4C’s at Bunjil place our students finished the show with an outstanding performance that was a fitting end to three nights of performances and cultural celebration.

Awards and recognition

Division and state athletics – Congratulations to our students who recently competed at these events. Please see the article in this newsletter for student names and individual achievements. Our students are also to be commended on representing themselves at the College in a respectful and responsible way.

Training Awards – A huge congratulations to Joachim Lopez-Valoa who was awarded the Victorian School Based Apprentice / Trainee (SBAT) student of the year. As you may have seen through previous newsletters and Facebook posts, Joachim is undertaking an SBAT as part of the College Head Start program. In this program, he is supported to successfully manage his VCE studies with training and work placement in the field of Marine Engineering at Kangan Institute and Mercury Marine respectively. He is now in contention for the National SBAT Student of the Year. Congratulations to Joachim, the Head Start team and his teachers for supporting his success.

Victorian Education Excellence Awards - Congratulations to our Student Wellbeing Team (SWT) who have been nominated for a state-wide award in the category of ‘Outstanding Education Support Team. The SWT are an essential part of our school program and work incredibly hard to support wellbeing education, awareness and strategies for students. The diversity of approaches and programs implemented by the SWT is excellent.

Lyrebird Awards - Once again our staff and students have been nominated for multiple awards for the College production. The nominations include Outstanding Acting Partnership, Highly Commended Performer, Best Cameo Performer, Best Costume as well as a further two awards that recognise the uniqueness of the play and the theatrical styles and set design used to communicate the story. The teamwork and partnerships that are developed between staff and students as part of the production is something that is well and truly worth recognising and celebrating.

Uniform

Thanks to all parents, carers and families for their support of our processes and expectations regarding student school uniform. There continues to be a noticeable improvement in our students arriving for school in full school uniform ready to learn. I would like to remind everyone again that if families are experiencing any barriers or challenges regarding uniform, they are encouraged to contact the school so we can provide support.

New uniform items have been developed and will be available via our supplier before the end of 2023. This process has been a lengthy one and has included multiple opportunities for student and parent input. This process has been a valuable one for the College resulting in a general ‘upgrade’ of materials while still remaining faithful to the College colours and existing uniform. The integration of new and existing uniform will occur over an extended duration to ensure students and families are not disadvantaged by this change. The students we have met with have been pleased with the final outcome. The final designs of the new items will be shared via Compass and the college website very soon.

Many thanks again for your ongoing support of the College and our students in Term 4 and I am looking forward to a successful remainder of the year.

David Caughey

College Principal

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