Principal Team Report

Dear MC Community,

The final day of term has arrived and with it a special visitor today - the Easter Bunny made an appearance, distributing chocolate eggs to our students in their classrooms. Special thanks to Ms E. Bunny for her visit, and also to her willing Year 12 helpers!

Today’s Bradman House out-of-uniform day raised $758.95 for the Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal, and at lunch it was time for the Staff vs Year 12 Student match #2. This time it was netball, with the final score being the slim margin of: ‘a lot’ to ‘zero’ ... let’s just say the staff will be looking for revenge in Term 2.

We wish you all a happy Easter and a pleasant fours days ahead – the weather looks perfect for the long weekend, especially as it’s not going to be too hot for the chocolate eggs hidden in the garden!

Stay safe and healthy and see you all in Term 2, when we look forward to our ANZAC Assembly, Open Night, more debating, lots of SkillZ excursions, the Debut and Mid-Year Music Concert, and lots more.

Term 2

We start back on Monday 15th April, and have two key events in the first two weeks:

The whole-school athletics carnival on Thursday 18th April;
The whole-school ANZAC assembly on Wednesday 24th April, followed by the ANZAC Day public holiday and Dawn Service in Halliday Park on Thursday 25th April.

Covid and RATs

We have just had another delivery of Rapid Covid tests as we have not had any for some time. Please feel free to pick up a box of five from the office at the start of next term.

Staffing changes and the Timetable

As mentioned in previous Newsfeeds, today we farewell Ursula Cettolin from our Instrumental Music team, and Meredith Harding from the Maths and Science teams. Meredith commences a period of leave before retiring at the end of the year. We will formally farewell her from the college and state education system in December.

We also wish Daniella Taglieri well as she commences three terms of leave.

And in late news, our congratulations go to Nathan Hughes, who has successfully gained an EIL position (Education Improvement Leader) in the Outer East Area of schools, to commence early next term. Nathan will work with Area, Network and Regional leaders in developing and delivering school improvement initiatives across the Outer East. We are currently seeking his replacement.

Our two new Maths / Science teachers, Eric Yeap and Ana Ruuska, have commenced their induction and we look forward to them joining us at the start of Term 2.

A reminder to all students and families to check Compass as, due to the number of staff changes, there will be many changes to classroom teacher allocations in the timetable for the start of Term 2.

Mitcham High School alumni

We were visited this week by Wendy Linney and Paul Vella, two alumni of Mitcham High School. Their group is looking to establish closer ties with the college, starting with a special tour for former staff and students at 5pm on the Open Night in May.

They also made a $320 donation to the college for use as a student bursary and hope to make this an annual contribution. We thank them for their school spirit and generosity!

Progress Reports & Student Learning Conferences -thanks for your active and positive participation

Almost 900 bookings were made for the on-site and on-line conferences held on Tuesday 26th March.

These conferences are an opportunity for parents (with their child) to meet with teachers and discuss learning progress as well as identify any issues or concerns that may impact on learning and wellbeing at school. Of course, you don’t need to wait until Learning Conferences to communicate with a teacher. We encourage parents and carers to contact a teacher, or Year Level Coordinator, to share information and discuss issues that you feel we should be aware of at any time.

We also hope that all students and their parents/carers take the time to review the reports and the feedback provided at the conferences to make the necessary adjustments to achieve improved learning outcomes in Term 2.

Taking a break – the holidays and learning

We hope all of our students enjoy their two-week break. However, breaks from school can have a negative impact on learning, especially on the retention of material studied over the course of the term. For this reason, while it is important that all students have a break from schoolwork and recharge their ‘batteries’, it is also important that some time be given over to revision and study, especially for students in the Senior School (Years 10 to 12).

We recommend that Junior School students take the opportunity to exercise, connect with friends and pursue hobbies etc., but also to ensure they read a book.

Our Year 9s, however, have a big term looming with a SkillZ focus on your Pathway, leading up to the Subject Expo in early Term 3. Their academic outcomes this semester and particularly in Term 2 will have quite some bearing on course selection for year 10, particularly for access to an Advanced Placement Unit 1 & 2 VCE study in 2025, but also for the level of English, Maths and Science they have access to. With this in mind, we suggest Year 9 students use the break to set themselves up for the best possible achievement outcomes in Term 2.

For our Senior School students in Years 10, 11 and 12, we recommend a balance of a restful break with exercise and fun, alongside some structured reflection and study of the work covered in Term 1 and preparation for Term 2. Obviously, the amount of time and effort should be proportional to the year level. Senior Students should develop a study plan for the two-week break, to ensure they complete all tasks set by their classroom teachers, to revise key materials, and then to prepare for the return to classes on Monday 15th April.

Year 12 – set tasks in English

Year 12 students need to complete set revision tasks and make good use of their Edrolo. For English, they must:

complete the set language analysis task;
familiarise themselves with the VCAA text for the ‘protest’ framework in preparation for this, as it is first up in Term 2.

All tasks were set and discussed in class, and all resources required are in their Compass Class Resources.

Buildings & Grounds

It has been a very busy time at the college this term. We are pleased to have shifted into new F Wing Learning Centre and have had to ensure all finishing touches have been completed. This includes new concrete pathways, sun block blinds in classrooms, external fencing to school grounds and locker bays, extra CCTV and external lighting. Hydro-seeding has occurred to areas surrounding the building and we look forward to this adding to the natural landscape of the new build.

Planning works continue in Term 2 for the Stage 2 building program (two storey STEM Centre, new Food Technology Centre with adjoining Canteen). There are many discussions to be had with architects and the VSBA (Victorian School Building Authority) before the tender documents are released to potential builders. We are hopeful that building works will commence on the double storey STEM Centre in Term 4 with an anticipated 18 month build time.

In the meantime, our facilities manager, Luke Handley, will have a busy first week of the break seeing to a long list of improvement tasks around the site.

Annual Reporting to the School Community meeting – a change for 2024

The Annual Report to the Community has previously been presented online in April. This year, following department recommendation, we will present the report in early Term 3 as part of our on-site school council meeting. This part of the meeting will be open to all community members. We will forward a copy of the report and further details closer to the date.

School Council AGM – election of office bearers

Our congratulations to Liesl Coulthard, who was re-elected as council president, and to Elisabeth Waycott, our newly elected vice-president. Elisabeth is currently also president of the Parent & Community Association. Jeff McMillin will continue in the role of Treasurer.

March School Council report from Community Member Rebecca Reed

The School Council came together for our second meeting for Term 1 on Tuesday 19 March 2024 which followed the Annual General Meeting.

Key outcomes of the Annual General meeting included the appointment of the various roles and membership of School Council including – office bearers, parent and community members, and staff and student members. In addition to establishing council membership, the 2023 Annual Report was tabled and opened for feedback to the school council. The 2023 Annual Report will be presented at the Community Reporting and Council Meeting on Tuesday 23 July 2024.

Highlights from council included:

Student Representative Report: Students are pleased the ground works have advanced and access and movement around the school is much easier. The start of the year has kicked off with a broad range of student activities including excursions to Pentridge Prison, select students attending the International Women’s Breakfast, senior students preparing for their presentation ball, all of school swimming carnival and our strong history of debating holding fast with recent wins and best speaker awards being received by Mullauna students. Of note also was how well the Year 7 students are settling into school life, including actively seeking opportunities to engage in SRC.
Building Works – The School Council are delighted to be spoilt and have the benefit of utilising the new building spaces when we come together. The work has been immense as stage 1 draws to a close and stage 2 very much underway and the council are looking forward to the upcoming VSBA / Architectus presentation on stage 2 design.
A good step forward in student reporting with new learning habits and student progress reports expanding focus from effort and behaviour to five areas, including effort and readiness to learn, classroom expectations, and persisting with learning.
There continues to be a dedicated effort in managing staffing changes and the recent appointment of Eric Yeap and Ana Ruuska seeing the school return to a full staffing status.

Upcoming Events: The Mullauna College Open Night will take place on Thursday 2nd May 2024, between 6 and 8pm. Students are being invited to express interest in supporting open night tours and should reach out to their respective year level coordinators or Mr McMillin if they want to get involved.

Our next council meeting is on Tuesday 14 May at 6:00pm .

Family Curriculum Contributions - $495 for 2024

Our thanks to the many families that already made their financial contribution to support the school. Recent items in the media have again clarified the disadvantage state schools face in the funding stakes. The school continues to rely heavily on your financial contributions and ask all families to consider carefully their ability to support the school through this payment. Every dollar received allows us to improve the educational experience of our students.

To pay your full contribution, log in to Compass and select the appropriate green box in the upper right-hand quadrant. Once in the Payments section, you can see the various contribution amounts and what they provide for.

To arrange a payment plan or part contribution, please contact Laura Steel in our General Office.

Building program – optional tax-deductible donations

With the construction of our new building complete, and design of the two new buildings well underway, it seems a good time to remind all MC community members that all contributions to the Mullauna College Building Fund are tax-deductible. The School Council, staff and the wider Mullauna College community are sincerely appreciative of all donations to the Building Fund. With your continued support, we can ensure Mullauna College continues its tradition of excellence, in facilities that are well-maintained and well-equipped.

You can make your optional (tax deductible!) building program contribution via the Compass payment portal. For any further queries, please contact our General Office on 9874 3422.

Student Wellbeing support - Term 1 school holidays

Some students may feel stressed or anxious over the upcoming school holiday period. If you are experiencing distress, we encourage you to reach out to trusted adults in your world. If you are struggling to talk to a trusted adult at home there are a number of community supports available via phone services and online chats. Please refer to Erin's Compass Post today.

We hope you all find some time for rest and relaxation during the break, ready to come back refreshed and ready for Term 2.

Harry Ruff, Jeff McMillin and Michael Bray

The MC Principal Team

Coming 2024 key dates:

Thursday 28th March – last day of Term 1 – student out-of-uniform day and normal 3pm dismissal

Monday 15th April – first day of Term 2

Thursday 18th April – school athletics carnival – no scheduled classes

Wednesday 24th April – school Anzac assembly

Thursday 25th April – Anzac Day public holiday and Halliday Park Dawn Service

Thursday 2nd May – MC Open Night 6-8pm

2024 Term Dates

Term 1 - 29 January to 28 March

Term 2 – 15 April to 28 June

Term 3 – 15 July to 20 September

Term 4 – 7 October to 20 December

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