Principal's Message

We Grow Through Connection

Dear Students, Parents and Carers,

Another bumper edition of the College Newsletter with so much happening at our great school!  We are proud of our students and how they represent the College, and we are grateful for the wonderful support we receive from families – there continues to be a real sense of teamwork at Pakenham Secondary College.

Our College Motto, ‘We Grow Through Connection’, supports our students and broader College Community to continue to grow and improve through the positive connections we develop with others.  Underpinning our College Motto are our SOAR Values – our students demonstrate these Values on a consistent basis with their learning and participation:

Social and Personal Responsibility

Opportunities for All

Achieving Our Personal Best

Respectful Relationships

As a College, we continue to work with families to provide high quality opportunities in the areas important to our College Community:

Learning Growth and Pathways

Sport

The Performing Arts

Student Leadership and Our Community

Whilst Student Achievement is important, Student Learning Growth across all subject areas is our priority.

Our Teaching Staff are very busy finalising Semester One Reports.  Much work has gone into the assessment process so that we can provide you with an accurate reflection of your child’s progress. Due to recent industrial action, there may be some areas of your child’s report that are incomplete. This pertains particularly to the comments regarding Areas for Improvement. If you have any queries regarding this, please feel free to contact your child’s Team Leader.  The Semester One Reports will be distributed via Compass on the last day of Term Two, Friday 26 June. 

We have our Year 10 Work Experience Program in the last week of Term Two (22 to 26 June inclusive).  The Program allows Year 10 students the opportunity to learn more about the work place in an area of employment that is of interest to them.  We wish our Year 10 students all the best whilst on Work Experience, and we thank Lesley Mckay – Lovejoy (Careers Co-ordinator) for her co-ordination of the Program.

We have had several new staff appointed to the College recently:

Radha Gosai – Humanities Teacher

Micah Kiplagat – EAL English Teacher

Povannes Krishnan – Literacy Tutor

Yash Mudunkothge – Integration Aide / Disability Inclusion

Riley Herring - Integration Aide / Disability Inclusion 

Thomas May - Disability Inclusion Wellbeing Coordinator (starts 13th July)

We welcome our new colleagues to our great school.

Course Selection is important, allowing students to select subjects and programs of interest to them as they move from year to the next.  Our recent Course Selection Information Evening (Wednesday 17 June) for existing Year 9 and 10 students and their families was very successful with many families in attendance.  The data from Course Selections is carefully considered and used to help determine what our Curriculum Program may be for the year ahead. Existing Year 7 and 8 students will receive information relating to Course Selection in Term 3.  We thank Michelle Scheiwiller (Assistant Principal) for her work in leading our Course Selection Information Evening.

A new feature of our Curriculum in 2026 has been the introduction of Passion Projects. The Passion Project concept allows students in Year 7 and 8 to choose a subject that they are passionate about and want to learn more about whilst at school.  This important program has further engaged our students with their education.

Our Capital Works Program is near completion in what is an exciting time for the College.  In the coming weeks, we will take possession of the new build and D Wing will be demolished replaced with landscaping and outdoor seating.  Our College Community is reminded that this $11.3 Million Dollar Program will provide a modern and state of the art facility supporting areas such as Technology, Information Technology, Visual Communications, Multi Media and other Teaching and Learning areas at the College.  New break out spaces, staff work areas and passive recreation areas will also feature as part of the Program.  We thank our College Community for their patience in respect to the Program, and we thank Michelle Scheiwiller (Assistant Principal) for leading this important Program on behalf of the College.

We are expecting even more improvement to our Buildings and Grounds over the mid year break.  For example, we are planning a boardwalk through the College Grounds, more painting, the installation of more soccer goals and more general maintenance through the College more broadly – it will be a busy time through the mid year break.

Our International Student Program (or ISP) is an important part of our College.  We have several students from different countries accessing our school as part of our ISP.  Our ISP benefits our College Community by further improving our cultural understanding and awareness – our ISP further increases the cultural diversity of our school which is of benefit to all of us.  We thank Hanh Tran (ISP Co-ordinator) for leading the Program.

NAIDOC Week (5th July -12th July) is fast approaching and this is a special week on the annual calendar.  NAIDOC Week celebrates the history, culture, and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It provides an opportunity for all Australians to learn about First Nations cultures and to participate in celebrations of the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth.  We will be celebrating NAIDOC Week when we get back after the mid year break.

Interest in our College continues to grow with very strong numbers in reference to Year 7 Enrolment Applications for 2027.  More and more families are expressing an interest in PSC because we are a great school achieving great results for our students.

Please continue to read on in this Newsletter for everything that has been happening at PSC.  Please also refer to the Student Wellbeing contacts provided over the mid term break if required and as appropriate. 

I hope that everyone has a safe and enjoyable mid year break – I thank our families for their ongoing support of Pakenham Secondary College; we are proud of our students,

Regards

Aaron

Aaron Smith

College Principal – Pakenham Secondary College