This will be my last Principal’s reflection as Eamon Buckley will have the pleasure of compiling the next one. Eamon is currently the Deputy Principal at Xavier High School in Albury. He has a long experience in Catholic education with a focus on Student Wellbeing. I am very confident that he will be an excellent fit for Borinya and I feel comfortable leaving you with a safe pair of hands.

My colleague from DOXA school in Bendigo and I have met with the new Executive Director, Kate Fogarty to apprise her of our communities and to seek clarification around some funding concerns. Kate has undertaken to provide us with a response to these questions.

L-R Kate Fogarty: CESL Executive Director, Janet Ludeman: Borinya Friend and Supporter and yours truly.

Learning Community

We were very chuffed with our achievements in reading at the end of last year and we are committed to develop this success further this year. Our Numeracy data is also developing well and we have implemented a number of explicit teaching strategies to further embed our desired outcomes. These have been set out in our school improvement plan which will be shared with you.

Students

Enrolments: 49. We are currently carrying a fairly long waiting list. Please be patient with us as we are limited to 50 places.

We are currently developing our new student leaders for 2024. We were overwhelmed by the number of students who expressed an interest in becoming a student leader. This speaks volumes for the work we do here in building confidence and capacity. We have decided to divide the student leadership into areas of interest so they can pursue a passion in that space.

Our new Student Leaders for 2024 are:

Dylan Graham - Coordinating the care of the chooks and fish

Patty Dobbyn - OHS

Serenity De Bear - OHS

George Fisher - Sustainability/Mentoring

Jason Fisher - Student Mentor/Engagement support

Malachy Allen - Footy Tipping

Ruby Holland - Student Suggestions

Cayden Jackson - Student Mentor

Ryan Berry - Mentoring/WALK behaviour Support

Lucas Ryder - Sports equipment and games.

We have been working with ACF (Australian Childhood Foundation) again this year on ‘Finding the Path Forward’ with our young men. The initial indications are that these young men are engaging very positively in this program and we are extremely grateful for the support we receive from ACF. They are also sponsoring one of our students with Boys to the Bush and looking into funding a punching bag to complement our gym equipment.

Community Connections

We have developed a new community connection through Open Neighbourhood. In partnership we are running a carer’s café weekly. The purpose of this is to connect carers and provide them with information regarding support and assistance available. It also gives our VPC students valuable experience in providing refreshments and participating in conversations.

Other community connections include working with Wangaratta Landcare and Sustainability on projects around our billabong; for example aquatic rafts and electrofishing to cull carp.

NESAY and Borinya work together to provide wellbeing support for our students. This term we welcomed Kirsty Hawkins as our new school engagement worker. Kirsty is tasked with getting those reluctant to attend, up and ready to go. Our lovely Sophie still provides much needed welfare support to a number of students. NESAY are very generous to us in supporting the many programs that we are able to provide our young people.

Masterplanning

Bickerton Architects have been engaged to undertake developing a masterplan for future development of the Borinya site. This will commence in Term 2 and will include consultation with staff, students and community members regarding your vision for the future.

It has been my great pleasure to lead this terrific community. We have seen a number of changes and innovations in the time I’ve been here. I know I’ve left some people breathless with my pace but I believe if you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much space. You will know that I am extremely proud of this community and what we achieve. This is due in no small part to our unwavering commitment to never seeing a need without doing something about it. Don’t make yourself a stranger and call in before I leave.

Genevieve