Principal's Report
An amazing start to the year!
It is nearly a year ago that I was appointed Principal of what was then known as Truganina North Secondary school (interim name). It has been a privilege to begin the year with your children at Bemin Secondary College. The two campuses provide not only new facilities but a vast array of opportunities for the young people of the suburb. I want to thank our families and students for such an ordered start to the year. Our Year 7 students have had a very smooth beginning to high school and the majority of our Year 10 students have transitioned well from our local schools. We will continue to work with all our students to maintain our high expectations of coming to school in correct school uniform, with equipment ready to learn and displaying our school values of respect, excellence, community and innovation.
Term Highlights
There is no doubt that one of many highlights for me as the College Principal was our opening event at the Morris Road, Senior school campus. All our students, staff and key stakeholders were in attendance. Our students sat respectfully and proudly as Student leaders introduced the Minster for Education, Mr. Ben Carroll. The chosen student guides were well informed and engaged confidently with a wide range of visitors.
It was wonderful for many of our students to see some of their previous Principals who were able to attend on the day. A thank you to Ms. Nicole O'Brien and her team from Truganina P-9 College; Ms. Nadia Bettio from Tarneit Rise Primary school and a large team of staff from Garrang Wilum Primary school for accepting our invitation to attend the opening event.
As you read through the newsletter you will see the breadth of work that has occurred in the key areas of the school in only 9 weeks. We understand our role as a College is to engage students in learning, culture and sport/wellbeing activities while providing opportunities for our families to be part of our new school community. Across the College our students have engaged in student choice electives; NAPLAN; Common Assessment tasks; Wyndham Tech School - Esports, Business & Gaming design; Interschool sport in Volleyball & Netball; a week long celebration of cultural diversity; lunchtime activities; White card training, early VCE units; student leadership selection processes; and celebration assemblies.
I encourage all families to book in for Parent Teacher interviews which will be running from 12.00 - 7.00 pm on Wednesday, 17 April. All bookings can be done via Compass. This event will be held at the Morris Road, Senior school campus VCE Library centre for both Year 7 and Year 10 students. It is by providing feedback to young people on their learning and working in partnership with families that we can achieve improvement for all students.
Parent & Community Engagement
Our Year 7 Welcome BBQ was a very successful evening. We had over 200 bookings for the night and despite having to reschedule two times due to heat, we were fortunate to have perfect weather for the event. Our College staff began cooking 100s of sausages in the late afternoon ready for our Year 7 families. It was a relaxed opportunity to explore the buildings, the grounds, meet key teaching and education support staff and play in the gym!
I also thank our parents who were able to attend our Multicultural Celebration Morning tea at the Senior School VCE Library Centre. I understand that many parents/carers work during the morning but my aim is to provide a variety of informal events across the year that are open to families where they are welcome to pop into the College and meet some of the School community leaders - both students and staff.
School Council
A positive school council is an asset for every school. I would like to thank the following members of our school community for committing to being a member of the School council across the following 1-2 years:
Mrs. Meeta Vyas (Parent)
Dr. Mohammad Rashid (Parent)
Mr. Mo Sadique (Parent)
Mr. Ignatius Zanetidis (Department of Education staff)
Ms. Sandale Ambegoda (Department of Education staff)
Ms. Joanne Camozzato (Department of Education staff)
Miss. Komal Jammu (Year 10 student)
Miss. Eleanor Sanders (Year 10 student)
Mr. Nick. Ladbrooke (Community member)
I would like to congratulate Meeta Vyas who will be our School Council President for 2024 and Mr. Ignatius Zanetidis who will be our Treasurer.
Staffing and Recruitment
As many of you are aware the teacher workforce shortage has impacted staffing across many schools in Victoria and this includes the Wyndham region. I am pleased to announce that with Mr. Satish Prasad who has recently joined us and Ms. Vidana Appuhami who will begin as a Science/Maths teacher next term, we will be fully staffed for Term 2. I apologise for any disruption this has caused some students but please know our Leaders and teaching staff have taken these classes where possible, continued to track work and the progress of students.
Uniform & Mobile Phone Ban - Keep up the great work
Making sure teenagers are in correct school uniform is not easy especially if you have already left the house for work in the morning or are helping younger children to get ready for school. We are very proud of our uniform and that students have a choice of the designed pieces to wear with the understanding that sports uniform is only been worn on the day there is Physical Education. However, the uniform does NOT include cargo pants grabbed from the clothing pile; or an assortment of t-shirts worn under the College vest or jacket. The College will continue to follow the uniform guidelines in Term 2 and where needed issue consequences for being out of uniform or wearing the uniform disrespectfully. I am very passionate about this as I am very aware of the money that families have spent to provide the correct uniform and therefore we expect the students to wear it.
I do wish to congratulate the majority of students for following the state wide ban on Mobile phones in schools. On the odd occasion that a Year 10 student is seen with a mobile phone the majority of students hand the phone over immediately when asked. We all agree that the banning of the mobile phone in the classroom and yard produces a calmer and safer learning environment. We will continue to follow our mobile phone policy and I thank you for your support with this matter.
In Final:
I would like to thank all the foundation Bemin Secondary College staff for their tremendous efforts this term. To be part of a new school requires dedication, resilience and a high level of positivity. Both the Education support and Teaching staff have worked tirelessly this term to build a safe and orderly work environment. Our work is never finished but I thank them for a great start.
I hope all families are able to enjoy the April holiday break. See you at Parent Teacher interview day!
Joanne Camozzato
College Principal