School Principal 

School Production 

I had the pleasure of attending our school production - High School Musical - at PRACC on Thursday the 22nd of August with my family. It was a wonderful performance by all the cast members and a very polished performance by the backstage crew. It was obvious to all in attendance that an enormous amount of work had been dedicated to the show by staff and students, and I congratulate everyone who dedicated their time to produce such a wonderful event.

A huge thank you to Olivia Cirillo the shows director, who has guided all the people involved to produce the performance. It’s a huge undertaking that the school is very grateful for. 

Congratulations to everyone involved!

RUOK Day

RUOK Day is an annual event in Australia dedicated to encouraging people to check in with friends, family, and colleagues to see how they're really doing. RUOK day will be held on Thursday the 12th of September as part of the Mental Health Week, the day promotes conversations about mental health and aims to reduce stigma, offering support and helping people feel connected. The initiative encourages simple questions like “Are you okay?” to open discussions and support those who might be struggling.

All students will be involved in dialogue around this initiative through year level assemblies to discuss the importance of self-care and mental health during this week.

As a school we hope that RUOK Day helps to create a supportive environment where mental health is openly discussed and where people feel more comfortable seeking help when required.

School Visit

I had the pleasure of hosting our local state member – Bronwyn Halfpenny MP and several of our local Primary School Principals – Trevor Robinson – Lalor Primary School, Linda Richards – Lalor East Primary School and Jeremy Blaney – Thomastown East Primary School on Friday the 23rd of August.

Bronwyn has been a big supporter of the college and was active in providing support for the school’s recent capital works project. The group took a tour of the new facilities and were luckily enough to catch up with some students attending LSC from their primary schools.

It was great to discuss the wonderful work occurring across our school network and the wonderful partnership we have with our local primary schools.

I appreciate each of them taking the time to come and visit our college.

Student Attendance

Going to school every day is the single most important part of your child’s education. Students learn new things at school every day. Attending and participating in school will help your child develop:

• important skills and knowledge to help them learn
• social and emotional skills such as good communication, resilience and team work.

Children who attend school every day and complete year 12 have:

• better health
• better job opportunities
• higher income across their lives.

There is no safe number of days for missing school. Each day a student misses puts them behind.

What to do if your child can’t go to school

Let the school know as soon as possible and explain why your child can’t come to school. This can be by phone call, email or by Compass.

If you do not let the school know, we must contact you on the same day to make sure your child is safe. We may call your emergency contacts to ensure that a student is safe.

If your child needs to take an extended period of time away from school, please contact the college. There might be flexible options to keep your child from falling behind.

Tips to help improve your child’s attendance:

• Talk to your child about school and how important it is. You can ask them how they feel about school, what they liked and if there are any problems.
• Reward good behaviour and not bad behaviour. For example, if your child refuses to go to school, do not let them have access to their phones or the internet.
• Set a good example. Show them how you keep to your own commitments.
• Encourage your child to take on hobbies that your child enjoys such as sports and clubs. This will help them develop positive relationships outside of the classroom.
• Have a set time to do homework and go to bed.
• Leave all technology out of their bedroom.
• Pack their school bag the night before with everything they need.
• Have a set time for breakfast.
• Plan to meet up with a friend so they can travel to school together.
• Get advice

Speak to your school if you have concerns about your child’s attendance.

Subject Selection – 2025 School Program

A reminder to families in Years 8, 9, 10 and 11 that the subject selection process for 2025 has now concluded. As a result, we are now starting to plan for 2025. If your child has not involved themselves in this process, then they will be at a disadvantage when it comes to subject allocations for 2025. The later students involve themselves in this process the less choice they are offered.

Please check in with your child and ensure that the subject selection process has been completed on line and that their preferences and choices for 2025 will be considered in the coming weeks.

If there are any questions around the information above, please contact me via the details listed in this newsletter. 

Best regards,

Corey Jewell

College Principal