GEC College News

From the Principal Team

Glen Eira College is the Victorian Education Excellence Awards winner of the Dr Lawrie Shears Outstanding Global Teaching and Learning

The Japanese Immersion Team at Glen Eira College strongly believe that embedding language in a defined context is crucial for language acquisition. The team’s unique immersion program implements Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) to teach science through Japanese, using content relevant to the Victorian Curriculum.

 

Students explore a range of science topics through the lens of Japanese language and culture to provide new perspectives and challenges to learning. Drawing comparisons to their own languages and cultures, students reflect on how their ideas and values are shaped by their cultural backgrounds.

Networking with other CLIL practitioners in a University of Melbourne project titled ‘Integrating Indigenous Australian Knowledge and Japanese Language Learning’, the team and their students have developed resources to embed Indigenous ways of knowing into their curriculum.

 

The Japanese Immersion Science Program is empowering students to challenge the monolingual mindset and apply their learning in ways that enrich content with globally relevant language and understanding.

 

Congratulations to our wonderful teachers and support staff.

 

 

Class of 2024

What a joyful start to the week we had celebrating the end of formal classes with our wonderful Year 12 students – the class of 2024. The final assembly on Monday was well attended by Year 12 families.  Our class of 2024 entered to ‘Viva La Vida’ and huge applause by our students and the Year 12 families. 

 

As is our tradition our entire school community formed a guard of honour as our colourfully and creatively dressed class of 2024 made their way to the buses for their celebration day on Tuesday.

 

Lovely Feedback

I was delighted to receive this lovely feedback.  Thank you to the student that this note is referring to.  I am always so proud of our student body as there are so many examples every day of the kindness they show in and out of school.

 

To the Principal,

I would like to pass on thanks to a young Glen Eira student, who on her way home from school one day last term, stopped to offer assistance at St Agnes Church in Booran Rd Glen Huntly. St Agnes works in conjunction with the Glen Eira Community Information Service in providing food parcels to those in need during weekends when the GECIS is shut. The bags are collected and taken to St Agnes and then carried into the church porch. They are quite heavy to lift.

 

My husband and I were making the many trips from the car to the church door when a lovely young Glen Eira College student stopped and asked if she could help us. We were very grateful and sorry we did not get her name. However she will know who she is if this letter is shared with the students.

Random acts of kindness are always appreciated and should be made acknowledged.

 

Thank you,

 

Eleanor Newcombe

(St Agnes Church)

Congratulations to Clara Mason

Year 7 student Clara Mason won 1st prize for the Berthe Mouchette video competition.  This is an absolutely outstanding achievement. 

The Berthe Mouchette Competition takes its name from the first president of the Alliance Française in Melbourne.

 

Social Media Safety

Parents and carers play an important role in supporting their children to be safe online and on social media. You can help your children safely navigate their digital world and educate them to avoid harmful online experiences. You can explore websites, games, apps and social media together and set some rules and boundaries.

 

Your support and guidance can give your children the knowledge to make sound decisions online and confidence to ask for help when they need it. It is also important to stay informed about online safety.

 

The Department of Education recognises this important issue and has developed fact sheets about supports to help keep students safe online and what to do if they are involved in an online incident.

 

The fact sheets contain links to evidence-based information on supporting positive and safe online experiences, signs a child or young person might need support, what to do if something unsafe happens online, and where to reach out to for more support.

 

To access the fact sheets, refer to the Safe Socials webpage https://www.vic.gov.au/safe-socials

 

The fact sheets are available in 19 community languages.

 

The government is also launching public consultation on age limits for social media. You and your children can share your experiences to inform proposed changes via an online survey, before 5 pm on Friday 1 November 2024. For more information on the survey and to take part, refer to Proposed changes to social media age limits on the Engage Victoria website https://engage.vic.gov.au/safesocials

 

If you have any queries about this information, you can contact the department by email: bullystoppers@education.vic.gov.au

State Track and Field Championships

Congratulations to all students who have been competing in a range of sporting events achieving outstanding results. 

 

Beachside division winners:

  • Year 8 Girls for Tennis
  • Year 8 Boys for Volleyball
  • Year 7 Boys for Tennis
  • Senior Girls for Netball
  • Year 8 Boys for Badminton

SMR Athletics

  • Seif El Shorbagy 1st in shot put, discus and javelin
  • Samantha Fardell 1st in triple jump and long jump
  • Liam Mishel 1st in 1500m
  • Angus Murrie 1st in MC 800m

State cross country:

  • Gaby Duieb - 26th place
  • Lily Skinner – 18th place

Division Champions for Swimming:

  • Gabe Merl
  • Felix Dressel-de Bruyn

Scholarships

There are a number of scholarships available for students.  For information about scholarships offered at Glen Eira College please go to the Scholarships page under Community on our website. 

https://gec.vic.edu.au/about-us/scholarships/

The closing date for applications for 2025 scholarships is Friday 22nd November 2024.

Transition

We will commence our 2025 timetable on Monday 2nd December.  Students going into Years 11 and 12 in 2025 will have one week of transition classes. They will receive documents relating to each subject and the expectations and also preparation that should be completed prior to returning next year.

 

Students going into Years 8 – 10 in 2025 will have two weeks of transition classes, concluding on Friday 13th December. 

 

Dealing with Distressing Online Content

With the tragic and distressing events unfolding in the Middle East, Australia's independent regulator for online safety, eSafety, has issued guidance to help parents and carers support their children in dealing with distressing online content.

 

The eSafety website has resources for parents and carers about online safety. These include information on extra precautions you can take to protect your children from seeing disturbing content online.

 

eSafety encourage parents and carers supporting young people who may be more vulnerable to check in with them. If they are presenting with signs of distress, support is available through external services including:

Protecting Against Mosquito-Borne Diseases

Victoria’s mosquito season started this month and will extend to late April 2025.

 

Warm and wet weather can result in greater numbers of mosquitoes and increased risk of illnesses from mosquito bites. While the overall risk is low, some mosquitoes carry diseases that make people sick.

 

The best protection against mosquito-borne illness is to avoid mosquito bites.

 

Families can protect against mosquito bites by:

  • covering up as much as possible with long, loose-fitting, light-coloured clothing
  • applying insect repellent that contains picaridin or DEET on exposed skin when leaving home
  • limiting outdoor activity if lots of mosquitoes are active.

To reduce the risk of illness linked to mosquitos, such as Buruli ulcer, promptly wash any new scratches or cuts with soap and clean water and apply a topical antiseptic and dressing. Families with any health concerns should see their doctor or phone NURSE-ON-CALL: 1300 606 024 (available 24 hours). 

 

Japanese encephalitis virus is spread to humans through bites from infected mosquitoes and can cause a rare but potentially serious infection of the brain.

Free Japanese encephalitis vaccines are available to protect Victorians at higher risk of the virus.

 

The Victorian Department of Health encourages eligible people who live or work in high-risk local government areas to get vaccinated ahead of summer, which brings an increased mosquito presence.

 

For more information, including what is considered a high risk area and eligibility for a free vaccine, refer to the Department of Health’s Japanese encephalitis webpage. 

 

For more information on protecting against mosquito-borne diseases, families can refer to the following Better Health Channel pages:

 

If you have any wonderings or feedback, please do not hesitate to call me at the school to talk or arrange a time to meet.

 

Sheereen Kindler

Principal