Acting Principal's Report

Report from Westall Acting Principal May 2023

Dear Westall Secondary College Community,

I would like to thank the Westall community for warmly welcoming and supporting me while I stepped into the acting Principal role this term.  It has been a pleasure getting to know staff, students and community members over the past month.  It has been a busy beginning to term 2 full of activities and events and I have very much enjoyed my time here thus far.

It has been pleasing to see students engaging positively in lessons as I have walked around the school.  General behaviour has been very good and the Care values clearly being displayed.  We had a renewed focus on students being in the correct uniform at the start of term and this will be a continuing theme. A uniform, whether it be a sporting team, workplace, community group or school, is an important part of belonging to that group and showing pride in the organisation.  As the weather turns colder and wetter, please support us in fostering pride and belonging in the school by ensuring students are wearing correct uniform.

It was pleasing to see so many parents coming into school for parent teacher interviews.  It has been difficult for parents to engage in school life in the past few years, so rebuilding that engagement through interviews focussed on student learning and progress is vital to that relationship to rebuild.  I trust parents found this useful and students were able reflect on this feedback.

The capital works project is progressing well given a range of challenges facing the construction industry.  Services work along the driveway were completed during the term break with additional services works along the front of the school planned for the coming week. Some delays have occurred due to difficulties in the supply of structural steel and the wet weather.  Framing began this week, so we will begin to see the structure take shape this month.  Remedial works have occurred to the sports ground, with goal posts planned to be installed in June. Further work will be undertaken with access planned for the beginning of term 3.

On Thursday 11 May, the CEO of This Is IT Andrew Simmons visited our school to drop off a donation of 50 laptops, donated by the City of Kingston. We cannot thank This Is IT and the City of Kingston enough for this amazing gesture. A number of dignitaries attended the handover of the computers including:

• Mr Meng Heang Tak, Local Member for Clarinda
• Mr Lee Tarlamis, Upper house Member for South Eastern Metropolitan
• Mayor Hadi Saab, Mayor of City of Kingston
• Mr Peter Bean, CEO City of Kingston
• Mr Tony Ljaskevic, City of Kingston,
• Mr Trevor Gosbell, City of Kingston
• Mr Simon Hamilton, Bayside and Peninsula Area Executive Director, Department of Education
• Mr Andrew Simmons, Founder of This Is IT and CEO of South East LLEN

I’d also like to acknowledge the following student contributions:

• Westall Café cooks
• Year 8 service staff
• Raymond Dang
• Jumaed Tereva
• Alexis Beredo
• Christian Pham
• Zoi Spiliopoulou
• Michael Fredericks

These students were very impressive and represented the college with pride.

Last week we held a number of big events.  Year 7 and 8 attended Camp Rumbug in Foster, while the Year 12 Vocational Major students had a camp in Wilsons Promontory.  Camps are a valuable learning and social experience for students, with many fond memories and shared experiences developed.  Thank you to the staff who attended these camps.  It is difficult to leave family and other commitments to go on camps and without committed staff students miss out on these opportunities. 

On Tuesday 16 May, the Careers team hosted the Westall Careers Expo. 28 institutions and organisations were present to discuss potential pathways with students. This was a fantastic opportunity for students to engage with information about future pathways and the options they have post-school.  Thank you to Ms Borghona and the team for their organisation.

It was a fantastic to also observe the 2023 Student Representative Council (SRC) productively working during the Workshop Monday 22 May.  Having an active and invested SRC adds so much value and energy to a school culture.  To see so many young people articulately advocating for student voice in the running of the school was pleasing.  The contribution this group will make to student life at Westall SC is bound to be positive this year based on the impressive discussions I witnessed. Thank you to the students who have taken on this responsibility.

The curriculum day scheduled for Wednesday 24 May (student free day) will be an opportunity for staff to engage in professional learning focussed on student engagement and the Explicit Direct Instruction model.  The intention is to build staff capacity in structuring lessons to increase learning.

I am looking forward to continuing to work with students, staff and parents for the remainder of the term.

Mr Michael Tuck

Acting Principal, Westall Secondary College