Principal's Message
Welcome Back for Term Two!
Dear Students, Parents and Carers,
It is great to be back for Term Two with students and staff very much into ‘the swing of things’ with our teaching and learning program. It has been pleasing to see our students return to classes well prepared and with a positive and committed approach to their studies.
I would like to remind our College Community of our College Motto, ‘We Grow Through Connection’. Meaningful and positive connections with others allows us all to grow and thrive. Our SOAR College Values will continue to underpin our work helping us to get the best outcomes for our College Community:
S – Social and Personal Responsibility
O – Opportunities for All
A – Achieving Our Personal Best
R – Respectful Relationships
Despite only being two weeks into the new term there is already plenty happening at our great school. For example, we have staged successful Cross Country and Colour Run Events, there have been Excursions, Sub School Assemblies together with a Whole School Assembly commemorating Anzac Day. The weeks ahead are jam packed with so many co-curricular opportunities - we thank our staff for making these co-curricular opportunities available to our students.
The 2023 Year 7 Camp was staged this week (3 to 5/5 inclusive) at Camp Rumbug in Foster. Our students had a great time participating in the activities provided in a beautiful bushland setting that is Camp Rumbug. I thank all staff who attended the Year 7 Camp for without their efforts and attendance wonderful opportunities such as these do not occur. Please read on for some terrific photos of the 2023 Year 7 Camp.
I mentioned in my Family Update via Compass last week (28/4) that we are keen to continue to work with our families ‘to get the little things right’ with our students and their enrolment at PSC. We expect our students to adhere to the highest of standards with respect to their attendance, uniform and preparedness for class. We expect our students to be lining up out the front of classrooms at the beginning of each period, and we expect our students to adhere to the Department of Education and Training’s (DET) Mobile Phone Policy. ‘Getting the little things right’ helps our students to feel more organised, settled and connected with their school.
As a College, we want our students to continue to grow with their learning. We are committed to working with families to achieve learning growth for our students across their subject areas. Importantly, the further development of Numeracy and Literacy skills in our students is vital and we are working to best understand and monitor student learning growth in these important areas. Our 2023 Annual Implementation Plan (or AIP) has at its core the further development of Numeracy and Literacy skills in our students. We will continue to celebrate student learning growth as much as we can.
It is important that our families are reminded of some key contacts at the College at this time. Please see below a list of staff at the College and their respective roles:
Assistant Principals
Kate Logan
Kay Chandler
Michelle Scheiwiller (Acting)
Sub School Leaders
Susan Banfield (Yawa - Years 7-9)
Brad James (Warreeny - Years 7-9)
Nevicia Reynolds (Bunjil - Year 10)
Jo-Anne Duggan (Balam Balam - Years 11-12)
Team Leaders - Yawa
Matthew Carey (7.1 - 7.3)
Joanne Nadal (8.1 - 8.3)
Tim Kelly (9.1 - 9.4)
Team Leaders - Warreeny
Caera Moises (7.5 - 7.8)
Travis Bhandari (8.5 - 8.7)
Viesha Kosciuk (9.5 - 9.8)
Team Leaders - Bunjil
Evans Ndlovu (10.1 - 10.3)
Ally Bystersky (10.5 - 10.7)
Team Leaders - Balam Balam
Brad Matthews (11)
Dean Blight (12)
Wellbeing
Caroline Caparas (Mental Health Practitioner)
Brittany Starvaggi (Student Well-being Officer)
Neha Goyal (Student Well-being Officer)
Tara Birchall (Student Well-being Officer)
Please be reminded that our School Wide Positive Behaviour theme for Term Two is ‘Be The Best That You Can Be’. As a staff, we will be acknowledging our students and their ability to ‘Be The Best That You Can Be’ in their class and co-curricular endeavours throughout this term.
I again take the opportunity to welcome some new teaching staff to the College:
- Sharon Howe - English and Humanities
- Larissa Feng - Visual Arts and IT
- Sowmya Shivaprsad - Mathematics and Science
We have a Professional Practice Day on Monday 8 May. This will be a student free day allowing staff to complete some planning and assessment. Also, our 2023 PSC Open Night will be held Tuesday 9 May (5:00 to 6:30pm) at the College. Interest in our 2023 Open Night has been strong and we look forward to welcoming families to the College as part of this informative event.
We are very much looking forward to the term ahead. Alongside our outstanding Teaching and Learning Program, we will continue to offer so many co-curricular opportunities for our students in areas such as Sport and The Performing Arts, to Student Leadership and Connections with Our Community. We will continue to work in partnership with our families to try and get the best learning and wellbeing outcomes that we can for our students.
Staffing remains a challenge for a number of schools and we are are no exception here at Pakenham Secondary College. We are working as hard as we can to fill a small number of teaching vacancies. As a result of these current vacancies, we are currently using some Casual Relief Teachers and existing teaching staff to cover classes. Every effort is being made to leave suitable classroom work for students in classes that may be affected. I thank our hard working staff for their committed approach in best covering our Teaching and Learning Program at this time, and I thank our students and families for their understanding of the current circumstances. Parents and carers are asked to contact a member of the Principal Class Team (pH - 5945 1433) at the College to discuss any queries that they may have.
Please contact the College (pH - 5945 1433) should you have any questions and / or in need of assistance; we are here to help,
Thank you everyone.
Regards,
Aaron Smith
College Principal