Donald High School Newsletter

From the Principal

Mr. Paul Aikman

SCHOOL VALUES

Respect, Responsibility, Resilience and Learning. 

Staff, students and parents are encouraged to ensure we all operate and conduct our business at school according to these core values that were established by various members of our school community for the school community throughout the school review process in 2019.

 

Key focus areas for Donald High School in 2025

As part of our new Annual Implementation Plan for 2025, and as part of the findings from our school review at the end of 2023, our school has identified a number of key priorities we will be focussing on this year in 2025. These include:

  1. Striving for improvements in Literacy and Numeracy with a particular focus on Writing.
  2. Continuing to get our teaching staff to teach according to our Donald High School Instructional Model, focussing on explicit teaching and learning, and re-focussing classroom behavioural and learning expectations.
  3. Using data to inform our teaching and learning for improved student outcomes with a focus on teaching students to their point of need.
  4. Using student voice as a source of feedback inside and outside the classroom with a view to improving student engagement and connectedness throughout the school; and
  5. Striving for improvements in student mental health and wellbeing, and engagement and connectedness at school through specialist programs and support.

There is also an expectation of all students to ensure they continue to grow and develop as learners, and for staff to continue to strive for improvement in themselves and the students.

 

NEW WEBPAGE TO HELP FAMILIES AND STUDENTS PREPARE FOR A NEW SCHOOL YEAR

A new school year is an exciting time for students and families, but it can be a big step – particularly for those starting Prep or moving to secondary school.

The Department of Education has published a webpage with resources and information to help you prepare for the new school year.

During the school holidays, please consider reading through the resources, which include:

· tips to help transition between kinder and Prep and primary to secondary school

· what to expect at school

· help with school costs and fees

· health and wellbeing guidance to support children’s mental health. Please refer to the New year of learning webpage A new year of learning | vic.gov.au

 

NEW STUDENT LEADERS FOR 2025

Congratulations and thank you to the following senior students who have been appointed as School Captains and Year 12 SRC members for this year:

Texas Davis & Abby Griffiths (School Captains);

Indy Gill & Tiarnah Hepworth (School Vice-Captains);

Curtis Rice, Ben Perry & Charlotte Bickett (Year 12 SRC Members).

All of these senior student leaders were recognised and celebrated (as well as some other student leaders – House Captains, junior SRC reps., and Year 12 students) at our School Leader Induction Ceremony on Monday 24th February.

As part of this Induction Ceremony, the school heard from our guest speaker, Jodie Drake, who is a past student of our school and is now working back in the Donald community at Goodwin Village. Jodie spoke about her schooling, career and life in Melbourne, as well as her move back to Donald to her job at Goodwin Village. It was great that Jodie could come back to her old school to share some of her experiences with our school community at this formal occasion, and we thank her for her time in doing this.

I look forward to working with all of our student leaders throughout the course of this year.

 

YEAR 7 CAMP TO BOORT LAKE 

The Year 7 students and staff attended the Boort Camp from Wednesday 19th February – Friday 21st February. The students were involved in a variety of activities including playing some minor games, swimming, water skiing, knee boarding, water biscuit riding, nature walking and utilising the caravan park facilities such as the jumping pillow and the basketball ring throughout the 3 days of the camp. Our day trip to Bendigo enabled the students to participate in ten pin bowling, mini golf, laser force and roller skating / blading. Everyone involved appeared to have an enjoyable time and staff and students got to know each other better in a different setting away from school. Thanks to Mrs. Battersby, Ms. Cavenagh and Mr. Tatchell for their support in coordinating and running this camp and to our Year 7 students for getting actively involved in the camp. A big thank you also to our Year 11 & 12 Vocational Major students for engaging with the Year 7 students on the first day of the camp with setting up their tents, organising and running some minor games and assisting in preparing the students to ride the water biscuit, for knee boarding or for water-skiing activities. Another big thank you must also go to Kelvin Hepworth and Tony Fagan who as parents of our community that didn’t actually have any students actively involved in the camp, were still good enough to give up their time for the day to allow our students to have a fun afternoon doing water skiing activities by providing their ski boats, set up, skiing equipment, driving and pack up of the boats. Your time and effort must be acknowledged, hasn’t gone unnoticed and is very much appreciated!!

 

YEAR 11 WORK EXPERIENCE WEEK

All of our Year 11 students have ventured to Ballarat or Melbourne this week (Monday 3rd March – Friday 7th March) to complete work experience in their preferred field of work. We hope to hear of many positive experiences from our Year 11 students when they return. Thanks to Mr. Rigby and Mrs. Medlyn for their organisation, coordination and supervision of our students for this week.

 

NAPLAN TESTING 2024

NAPLAN Testing for our Year 7 & 9 students will be held from Wednesday March 12th at various times over Weeks 7 & 8 this Term. Please note the scheduled NAPLAN sessions table that has been sent out and be aware if your child is absent or late to a scheduled session, they will be required to complete a catch-up session(s) up until Monday 24th March.

 

SCHOOL COUNCIL NOMINATIONS FOR 2025

We have extended our call for nominations for School Council for 2025 as follows:- 

Vacancies – one (1) DoE staff position, three (3) Parent rep. positions, two (2) Student rep. positions and four (4) Community rep. positions are available – Nominations close Friday 7th March. Voting, if needed, up until Friday 14th March. 

 

REGULAR ATTENDANCE AT SCHOOL

At Donald High School, we’re excited to welcome your child back into the classroom................

Being at school is critical for your child’s learning and their mental health, physical and social wellbeing.

Every day counts.

You and your child / children are an important part of our school community, and we look forward to welcoming you back to school from the start of Term 1.

We want to support your child / children to have a positive start to the year. We will do this by working with you to help create positive school attendance routines from day 1.

We will also work with you to support your child’s / children's learning and wellbeing, and offer help when required.

We can provide a wide range of support for students................

We understand that the reasons for not attending school can be complex. Schools have access to a range of specialist staff and programs that can provide additional support for your child / children, depending on their needs. For example:

  • Tutor Learning Initiative – we have tutors at the school to provide targeted small group learning support for children identified as performing below their expected standard in literacy and numeracy for their age;

  • School Breakfast Club – our school breakfast club provides students with a free, healthy breakfast to positively impact on their learning and attendance, and access to a nutritious lunch if needed;

  • Specialist mental health and wellbeing teams can provide direct support to students or connect you with relevant external services for additional support;

  • Your child / children may need an Individual Education Plan which can help everyone involved to understand and implement the goals and strategies to help them with their learning;

  • Where intensive support is needed to improve your child’s / children's attendance, we can put in place a Student Support Group to work with you and assist with understanding their needs and developing a comprehensive support plan;

  • We can connect with the department’s Student Support Services who can respond to a range of student health and wellbeing needs; and

  • We can also help connect you to a range of services outside of school that can assist you and your child / children.

MORE INFORMATION ON ATTENDANCE AT SCHOOL 

Can parents and students please take note of the graphic below. Last year we had too many of our students missing over 15 days of school (some students over 20 days - half or full days). Everyone should be prioritising education and learning for all of our students. The more time students spend at school, the greater the outcomes for their learning. All Year 7 – 12 students are expected to be at school for the whole day on a ‘normal’ school day. The only exceptions are for illness, medical appointments, or a family bereavement. Parents are encouraged to adhere to these guidelines for their child’s attendance.

 

I am available to talk to people at the school to assist you with any enquiries if required and can be contacted to make an appointment or have a discussion on Ph. (03) 5497 1205.

 

Paul Aikman.