Assistant Principal's Report

Year 11 & 12

Athletics Carnival

On Friday 6th March, students from Years 7-12 will be participating in our annual Athletics carnival at Meadowglen International Athletics stadium. All students will travel to and from the event by bus.

This is a great day where students can participate to earn points for their house and for some to qualify for Athletics events against other schools.

Dress for Athletics Carnival

• Years 7-10 students are to wear their PE uniform, but are able to have house coloured accessories like headbands, arm bands, coloured face or hair.
• Year 11 students – may wear sports clothes based on their house colour. No jeans, thongs or sandals allowed.
• Year 12 students are allowed to wear house themed costumes or sport clothes.

All permission slips need to be returned to the office by Friday 28th February.

Class of 2019

On Thursday 20th of February, we had the pleasure of some of our Class of 2019 students visiting our current Year 12 students to share their experiences of VCAL and VCE success. A panel discussion was led by our 2020 School Captains Lachlan Angelovski and Nour Maqsodi and it was a very valuable experience for our 2020 cohort. I would like to thank Simon Hill, Zaklina Zdraveska and Kat Carmody for their work in arranging this and our 2019 students for making time to come back and contribute to the college.

VCE and VCAL Assessment tasks 

As the term is well underway, all VCE and VCAL students of 11 and 12 will start to complete their first assessment tasks shortly. A reminder to parents that we have continuous reporting and that 2 weeks after a task has been completed, you will be able to see the results on Compass. All students have been given all assessment task dates for the entire semester and it is imperative that students record these and create a study plan to ensure that they are prepared for the busy times in the year. Parents can assist by asking students about the tasks their child has to complete and providing a quiet environment free of distraction for their child to study.

Year 9 & 10

It has been pleasing to see students settling into the year well and making the most of their learning opportunities in class. Whilst visiting classes this week I have been very proud to see students working productively with their teachers in a positive and cheerful manner to achieve their best. I encourage parents to contact classroom teachers or the year 9 and 10 student manager team if they have questions regarding the progress of their child or to discuss any concerns that you may have.

Shortly, Boost classes will commence for students who require additional support in their literacy understanding. We are fortunate to have a team of dedicated and experienced staff delivering this intensive literacy program targeted to developing the literacy skills of each of our students in the program. Each of the students in the Boost program has been tested to determine their learning needs towards literacy understanding, and will have small group lessons and individual tuition to help develop their skills in these identified areas. The Boost program supports students in year 7 to 11.  The Literacy team this year comprises of Kayla Barrow, Sari Simpson, Adrian Azzopardi, David Husk, Tom Hopwood, and Ecehan Gulbayrak.

Ecehan is also our Literacy Learning Specialist who will work closely with the Boost and our whole staff to develop comprehensive approaches to support all students to achieve literacy growth. She has begun working with the year 7 and 8 English teachers to support our reading program through a newly acquired reading program. This Lexilies based program, will determine reading levels and assist teachers tracking reading growth of their individual students. Our up and coming Curriculum Day on the 13th March, will provide all teaching staff with an opportunity to target supportive reading approaches based on their specific curriculum needs. Please support your child with their reading development by continuing to take a positive interest in their reading habits and encourage them to read regularly at home. Students should be aiming to read for 30 minutes each night. We all know of the positive benefits of reading on literacy development, as parents, and teachers, we need to remember to regularly model these to our children.

Laura Forster 

Assitant Pricipal 

Year 8 & 7 

Dear families,

Year 7 Camp week is upon us, and we could not be more excited. This program represents a tower of planning and organisation, the culmination of many years’ efforts by our Staff. A big thank you to Josh Simpson, our year 7/8 Subschool Leader, who has overseen the organisation of this event again this year. Students are excited, and may have some anxieties about socialising, missing home, sleeping away from home, etc. Please re-assure your children. Students are extremely well-supervised and the few days away offers wonderful adventures and important learning opportunities for our children. I am attending camp this coming Thursday, and Mr Jewell will attend on Friday.

I can’t wait to share with the kids in their cubby-making, adventure courses, high ropes and the sharing of meals together. At the end of the day, your children will have earned a good rest. We do make sure that students strictly observe sleep routines, but excitement / activity patterns will be such that they may not sleep as well normal. It might be worth planning for a quieter weekend than usual following camp.

Back at school, student not attending camp will engage in an interesting range of curriculum some of which stems from the activities occurring at camp. All students not attending camp must attend school as normal each day.

Year 8 families will note the year level field work excursions that are occurring. These are excellent opportunities for our students to gain a deeper understanding for their communities. Linked carefully and purposefully with our learning curriculum, these excursions positively influence students’ connections with their world, providing valuable lessons in the alternative classroom.

This is another week when it is very rewarding as an educator to reflect upon the diverse experiences and activities enjoyed by students in our junior school.

Tim Cottrell

Assitant Pricipal