Principal's Report
End of Term 1: Report Newsletter
As the term draws to a close, we are grateful for the work that all members of our community do to make South Oakleigh College a school where our values ‘High Expectations Respect Responsibility Resilience Teamwork’ are at the centre of all we do.
Schools are always busy during term one and we have accomplished a great deal in a relatively short period. Our Swimming Carnival was a highlight this month. It was a warm day but students completed with high levels of enthusiasm.
What must be commended is the resilience of all staff and students when presented with the challenges of reduced learning spaces and staff rooms due to damage caused by flooding. In true SOC spirit, we all rallied around and continued to ‘get on with the job’. As a Leadership Team, we are incredibly proud of everyone’s collective efforts to ensure that quality learning experiences continue to be shared with our students.
Needless, to say a big thank you to our parents for your support and commitment to the school and your child’s education.
I would also like to congratulate all of our Year 7 and Year 9 students for their engagement with the recent NAPLAN tests – with close to a 98% participation rate across the two-year levels, we continue to challenge ourselves with learning opportunities and this is reflective of positive engagement with learning more generally.
Open Night
This week the College was open to the public as we showcased our school and demonstrated our College’s strengths, values and potential it offers to prospective students and their families. It was pleasing to see all our faculties represented and highlighting the breadth and depth of educational offerings available while highlighting teaching and learning excellence reinforces the commitment to academic quality. Thank you to our dedicated staff; including the teaching, Education Support and Facilities team, as well as all our students for their support of and in preparation for the night.
Student-Led conferences
This is a further reminder that our Semester 1 Student-Led Conferences are to be held on Wednesday 17 April via Microsoft Teams.
We encourage parents to avail themselves of this important opportunity to meet our teachers virtually to discuss student progress. All bookings must be made via Compass.
Interview Times are:
Interviews 11.00 am – 6.00 pm
I would encourage parents to contact any teacher if they have specific concerns/queries regarding the education of their child. Alternatively, parents may contact Year Level Coordinators or the Director of Students to arrange meetings and discuss overall performance or other issues.
Walkathon – Community Action Day
Congratulations and thank you to all those who have contributed to the fundraising for our annual walkathon for the Monash Children’s Hospital School. It is always a pleasure to see our young people and community coming together to raise funds for such a worthy cause.
Our ultimate goal is to raise $25,000 and we thank those who have already supported both students and staff – in particular those who have gone above and beyond by contributing and raising additional financial support to this great cause.
Fundraising will remain open during the school holidays and through to the end of May. Please continue the fantastic effort to help us reach the goal of $25,000. All money raised goes to Monash Children’s Hospital School.
The monies raised over the last few years by our community has helped for Monash Children’s Hospital School help employ an artist in residence to work with patients in the hospital- supporting the young people involved in mental health programs and with eating disorders; to continue to build STEM and Library Resources as well as providing communicative resources for young people that help with communication.
On behalf of the staff at South Oakleigh College, I wish all students and their families a safe and enjoyable term 1 break.
Mark Picone
Acting-College Principal