Senior School Report 

Dear Senior School community members,

Semester One is nearly at an end, it seems like we were only starting term one last week. Semester One has brought both high and low moments for all Senior School Students. They made it through another two periods of remote learning (thankfully both less than a week for our Senior students) and adapted to the new building and way of life in the Senior School. 

For our Year 11 VCE students they begin their mid-year exam period next Monday and over one week they will sit exams for all their VCE subjects. The students only attend school when they have an exam but the expectation is when they don’t have an exam they are using their time wisely to prepare at home for their upcoming exams. If any student needs help organising a study routine to help prepare them for the exams they should think back on the Elevate sessions we have completed this semester or come and see a member of the Senior School Team to help. The Year 11 VCAL students have school as normal during the exam period and are expected to be in all their core VCAL classes as well as their external VET days. 

The mid-year assessment is not lost on the Year 12 students either,  all students completing a Year 12 study will complete the GAT (General Achievement Test) which is an important VCAA External Assessment item that can go a long way to mapping out how their end of year exams will go. An information session for students will be conducted prior to the GAT to help explain the purpose of the GAT and how to best prepare for it. while the GAT has been postponed at this stage, we will keep all families informed as to the rescheduled date. 

A great achievement that occurred recently was when Ms Warren and Ms Keaughran had the joy of watching Andrew Temple compete in the senior heats and semi final of the Rostrum Voice of Youth competition at St Monica’s in Epping. Andrew delivered a pre-prepared speech titled ‘Life in colour’ before delivering a short notice speech for the semi final which he had ten minutes to prepare for. Andrew was runners up of the semi-final and the organisation was so moved by his story. Andrew represented the school proudly and put a lot of effort into preparing and research for this speech. He bought a stop watch and dressed very professionally and gave up his Sunday to attend. The adjudicators said that Andrew has a lot of potential and that they hope to see him compete next year. If you see him please congratulate him on his efforts. Public speaking is no easy thing to do and it is something Andrew is really passionate about. Photos included on this page. 

The Senior VCAL students are undertaking a project for their Numeracy class where they will be designing their own house. To help with this they went on an excursion to visit the Aurora Display Village to see floor plans and talk to representatives of the building industry. The students represented the school very well to the point Mr McNeil received a call from Burbank Homes praised the students for the way they conducted themselves and represented the school. They asked insightful and well thought out questions and have taken this knowledge on to design their own floor plans. Photos of the students at the display home are included on this page.

Our Senior School students have also been representing the school well on the sporting fields this term. A vast variety of sports have occurred this term and the students always represented the school’s values of being safe, kind and fair on the field. Photos of the students representing the school are included on this page. 

We also look forward to starting Student of the Month in the Senior School this month. Staff will be asked to nominate students for this award and we will present certificates to students at a later assembly. In the June article we will include the students who were nominated and who received a certificate. 

Whilst these events are quite a long way away they will be upon us before we know it so I wanted to send you 'save the date' information so we can have as many people present as possible. 

Thursday August 5: Year 11 Course Counselling 1:30pm-7:30pm

Monday August 9: Year 12 VTAC Parent/Student Information Evening 7:00pm

Wednesday October 20: Year 12 Graduation Evening 7:00pm

We wanted to take this opportunity to thank all the parents/guardians for their help and support this semester. Life as a VCE or VCAL student can be tough at times so even though they may not always say it we’re sure the students are grateful for your help and support.

We look forward to another great semester in the Senior School starting on June 15.

Cheers Senior School Team,

Ms Phillips - Senior School Office Manager

Mrs Gray -Year 11 Coordinator

Ms Lazarus -Year 12 Coordinator

Mr Sinderberry - Senior School Leader