Principal’s report for newsletter – October

Term 4 is always one of the busiest periods in the school calendar with lots of celebrations and activities occurring, the days getting longer and the weather heating up. It has been, and will continue to be, a bit of a whirlwind right up until the final days of term. It is, however my favourite term of the year as there is so much happening and so much fun, joy and light and it goes so quickly!

So far this term, there have been many excursions and sporting events and activities, we hosted a meet and greet with our incoming year 7 students for 2025 and their families, have also hosted a network transition day in the HOPE centre. With many events scheduled for the rest of the term, exams and step up programs for each of the senior cohorts, camps and excursions, the end of 2024 is going to be a busy time indeed!

Student achievement

This week, our Year 12 cohort finished up their formal classes and engaged in a number of events to celebrate the end of their school journey. The celebration day on Tuesday was a fantastic and positive day in which they were able to come together as a group and with their teachers to celebrate all that they have achieved in their time at Heathmont College. Students were treated to a celebratory breakfast by the senior team, then an assembly and then finished the day with a bit of a splash and colour run on the oval.

The assembly provided an opportunity for them to share their experiences with the students coming behind them and highlight that things that have had meaning for them across the years. We has some fun costumes and some very creative and amusing pranks such as the wrapping of Ms MacDonald’s office (they literally wrapped everything in the office – every book on the shelf, every ornament and photo frame, the desk, computers, walls, everything!), real estate flyers selling the schools most memorable features (the missing goal posts may have received a mention) and the freezing of the staff cutlery in a huge block of ice. All in all, it was a whole lot of fun and it was great for them to include all of us in it.

We want to congratulate the cohort of 2024 for finishing their schooling in such a positive way. They now make their way through the final stages of their studies either sitting their final exams, beginning their apprenticeships or starting new employment. We will see them again at Valedictory which will be another celebration as, by them, exams will be over but in the meantime, we wish them all the very best for this next period of study for many and work for others.

School / staff achievement

Another key thing to celebrate this term is Heathmont College being named as a finalist in the Victorian Education Excellence Awards for their work in global learning and engagement. Ms Prema Devathas was asked to nominate for the Lawrie Shears Outstanding Global Teaching and Learning Award and is a finalist in this award. This is fabulous recognition of the work that Ms Devathas has done over the many years at the college to build such a strong and engaging Indonesian language program including the many excursions and activities like the Indonesian Culture and Study tour that I had the honour of attending this year. The award winners will be announced at the end of this week but just having been nominated and then included as a finalist is certainly an exceptional achievement that we are extremely proud of. Fingers crossed we will win the award which will support the college to further build upon this amazing program into the future.

The right to disconnect

On Monday the 26th of August, an amendment to the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Act 2023 came into effect. The legislation makes explicit that all employees have the right to refuse contact from their employer or a third party (such as a student or a parent) outside of their normal working hours, unless that refusal is unreasonable. This means an employee can refuse to monitor, read or respond to contact that occurs outside their normal working hours.

For teachers and support staff in schools, this new legislation protects their personal time and their right to be able to disconnect from their work life to spend time with their own families and on their own wellbeing. It is important legislation to have given the 24 hour / seven days a week nature of communication systems these days.

The new legislation does not mean that staff will not communicate with families or students outside of regular working hours but it does specify that staff have the right not to, if that is their choosing. We know and recognise that many education staff work outside of hours preparing lessons, marking work or organising excursions. Much of this extra work is unpaid and it is important to recognise this.

If you do need to contact teachers or support staff outside of hours, please be aware that they may not respond to your communication until the next work day. We recognise that for working families, sometimes communication during the school day is difficult and emails after hours are the only way to make contact in a timely way. You are still able to send through emails after hours, although I would request that when doing so, you are mindful of the hour you send your communication and the likely impact of sending at that time on the person receiving the email. If you have a concern or a complaint, for example, please try not to send that across late at night as the staff member may read that prior to heading off to bed for the evening and this will, very likely, impact on the quality of their sleep and mental wellbeing.

We recognise that sometimes there are emergencies that do need to be responded to outside of hours. In the instance of such emergencies, I encourage all parents and students to reach out to those of us in leadership who will be able to respond most urgently. If the matter is time sensitive, I strongly encourage you to send an email to myself and the relevant Assistant principals, coordinators and wellbeing staff. You can email all staff through the Compass App. If you are not sure as to how to do this, please contact our office staff during school hours and they can walk you through the process.

Regular school hours are from 8am until 4pm Monday to Friday and the campus is staffed until 5pm Monday to Thursday.

Kerryn Sandford

College Principal

Thank you from the RSPCA