Executive Team Report  

I would like to commence the final newsletter for 2022 by acknowledging the achievements of our Year 12 cohort and the students in Year 11 who undertook a Unit 3/4 study in 2022. The College Dux achieved an ATAR of 99.55 and two students achieved a perfect study scores of 50. These are incredible results! Our VCE median was 31 and 9.5% of our study scores were above 40. This is truly impressive. Of our Year 11 students who undertook an accelerated subject 16% were above 40 and the median for this group was 36. 

Our class of 2022 will leave us and pursue many varied pathways and we are incredibly proud of the achievements of each student. We remind our students and families that the ATAR is just one tool that may be used to achieve a goal. Not everyone will require an ATAR to pursue their chosen pathway, some students will ultimately achieve their goal by following a very different pathway than the one that they initially envisaged and many others will realise a goal that they had never imagined. It truly is an exciting time and a journey to be savoured. 

To all of our graduating class of 2022 we congratulate you on your many achievements. These are the culmination of six years of hard work and it has been a true pleasure to have you as members of the Koonung community, we wish you well.

As I reflect on my three terms as Acting Principal at Koonung, it is fitting that I acknowledge the staff who have worked so tirelessly to support all our students to re-engage with school, the parents who have supported us in so many ways and, in particular, the students in every year level who, despite a few little bumps along the way have, by and large, settled back to school life. It has been wonderful to interact and work with all of these groups.

As was mentioned at last Thursday night’s Presentation Evening, we are privileged to have an experienced and committed staff who put the needs of our students front and centre. As a result, we see our students excelling in so many areas of school life and this adds to the fabric of what makes Koonung a great school. 

Thursday night was an opportunity to acknowledge the achievements of our students and the contribution of our parents and it was very special to be able to recognise the contribution of both Andrew and Dominique Gifford as key members of the PFA. We are sad to see the Gifford family leave Koonung and they will be truly missed. Alongside our amazing PFA we are fortunate at Koonung to have a cohesive College Council who have been so very supportive of both our college and the programs and activities that we are delivering, but also me personally. I would like to thank Gary Howell in particular for his support over the last three terms and acknowledge his work, alongside Geoff Spicer, in the process to appoint a new Principal for the College in 2023.

The Middle and Senior school sub school teams, ably led by Mat Delaney and Allira Howe, have worked tirelessly throughout 2022 alongside the classroom teachers and our education support staff, to support our students as they navigate the challenges of returning to school, adolescence and the associated friendship issues, and to support them to achieve positive outcomes both socially and academically. We know, as educators, the importance of developing and fostering strong relations built on trust and respect, this takes time and patience and our teams have this in spades. I am very proud of our staff here at Koonung and I would like to thank them for their tireless work this year.

The final week two weeks of term have been was very busy. The new Principal, Andrew McNeil, joined staff for a morning tea on last Thursday and was able to meet our new parents as we welcome the cohort of 2023 on Monday night. The Year 7 2023 group participated in fun filled Orientation Day on Tuesday and it was a pleasure to meet the roughly 180 new smiling faces and introduce them to what will be their new home for the next 6 years, it was a pity that the weather was not particularly kind.   At the same time the General Office has just been demolished and is in the process of being refurbished. It will eventually become our new wellbeing space. I sit here at the moment in our conference room with the noise of hammers, drills and circular saws grinding in the background. It will be worth it, but I’m not sure that I realised how noisy it would be! We are hopeful that the tender for the bottom level of the new building will be finalised this week and work will commence early in Term 1. However, in the mean time there will be some repurposing of spaces until we can make the final move, hopefully at the start of term 3. 

On the last Tuesday of term, we will have the opportunity to farewell members of staff who will be leaving us or retiring and take a moment to reflect on 2022 and acknowledge the contribution of many of our staff. I would be remiss if I did not mention two staff in particular who will be retiring this year. Firstly Marianne Lee, who as our Principal over the last 6 years and an educator with over 38 years of service in public education, has led us with humility and energy. She is a true leader and will be deeply missed. 

Secondly, a stalwart member of Koonung Secondary College, Nancy Fiore. As a student of Koonung and then a teacher here Nancy has been a part of the Koonung community for approximately 43 years (excluding her time at University). She has worked as a mentor to so many of our graduate teachers guiding and supporting them as they learn their trade. With humour and compassion, Nancy has shaped the future of our students and teachers in her time here.

To all of our families I wish you a safe and relaxing break and look forward to seeing you next year.

Sandra Greenhill 

Principal