Principal's Update

Dear Families, Students and Community Members,

Leadership Induction Whole School Assembly

Next Tuesday, March 8, we will be formally recognising our students who have been successful in achieving a leadership position for this year, within our new leadership structure – the Mordialloc College Student Council. At this stage, it looks like we will need to conduct this whole school assembly remotely from our Performing Arts Centre with all classes viewing via Google Meet, along with parents who are able to attend online. Mr Tim Richardson MP, Member for Mordialloc, and Mr Mark Dreyfus, MP, Federal Member for Isaacs will be in attendance to make a speech and join with me to present the leadership badges and certificates. Mr Simon Cummins, Director of Student Engagement, will lead the assembly. 

Our new leadership structure is set up to provide opportunities for authentic student voice and agency across six student led sub-committees including: Curriculum, Wellbeing and Community, Facilities and Environment, The Arts, Sport, Publicity and Fundraising. This new structure still includes our traditional School Captains and Middle School Captains. We have Year 12 captains for each sub-committee and then House Captains at each year level selecting the sub-committee they would like to join. I congratulate all students who were prepared to nominate and go through the selection process during Term 4 last year, with Year 7s having this opportunity during the first half of this term and willbe finalised this week.

The College community acknowledges the crucial role that leadership at every level throughout the school plays in continuing to provide a forum for student voice and agency and providing opportunities for student led initiatives; and in inspiring pride in the College and in reinforcing the importance of setting high expectations in everything we do.

Mordialloc College Student Council

College Captains

 Emma Schultz

Daniel Loza

Vice Captains 

Aston Hewet

Jeneya Tran

Middle School Captains

Captains

Liliana Bell

Kyle McDonald

Vice Captains 

Anoushka Jithesh

Kylie Wolfe

Sub- Committees

Curriculum: 

Year 12 leaders

Tim Whitford

Tamsyn Russell

Year 8-12 House Leaders

• Chris Naing
• Lachlan Tomlinson
• Kyle Mc Donald

Facilities and Environment

Year 12 leaders:

Ronan Askew

Jade Goodman

Year 8-12 house Leaders

• Charles Horejsi
• Eamon Tarr
• Jensen Srisuwan
• Leilani Tovia 
• Jeremy Thai - Chan
• Max Novak
• Lachlan Tomlinson
• Emma Schultz

Promotion and Fundraising

Year 12 leaders:

Alessia Gantzos

Isabella Siddall

Aston Hewet

Year 8-12 House Leaders

• Zac Sedunary
• Brendan Sok
• Ethan Simons
• Reny Zhang
• Chantelle Ferguson
• Rhianne Blavo

The Arts

Year 12 Leaders:

Performing Arts:

Bronte Taylor

Stephen Elkington

Visual Arts

Aaliyah Zaph

Year 8-12 House Leaders

• Lucy Beckett
• Billy Farrer
• Eden Lasbury
• Kylie Wolfe
• Katherine Papadopoulos
• Sarah Carey
• Charlotte Zaph
• Liliana Bell

Wellbeing and Community

Year 12 leader

Rhi Vaksman-Stovern

Year 8-12 House Leaders

• Linh Nguyen
• Georgia Dorrity
• Anoushka Jitesh
• Daniel Loza
• Phoebe Collins
• Gabrielle Colquhun
• Ashleigh McCulloch
• Tenillia Tong
• Cassandra Lawson

Sports

Year 12 leaders

Luke Collis

Jeneya Tran

Year 8-12 House Leaders

• Isabelle Vicendese
• Marnie Philpot 
• Jessica Rees
• Antonio Marques Vaz Serra

MCSC: IT Manager

Max Telfer

Year 12 House Captains

Kalura

• Captain - Chantelle Ferguson

Yerlonga

• Captain - Rhianne Blavo 
• Vice-Captain - Marnie Philpot 
• Vice-Captain - Laura Reeves

Iwala

• Captain - Max Novak 
• Vice-Captain - Emily Hoysted

Bunurong

• Captain - Mariah Nicholls 
• Vice-Captain - Ryan Shimen

College Council Elections

In the recent call for nominations for parent vacancies on Council we received enough nominations to fill all vacancies which was most pleasing. It is my pleasure to welcome back Amelia Mastorakos, Jenny McCulloch, Rosa Westrup and Richard Evans; and welcome David Shepard and Mirela Karup as new parent members. Tracey Bastin has been nominated for the one DET vacancy and therefore she has been duly elected. 

We had one nomination for the one vacant student position on council, Timothy Whitford (Year 12) and thus he is duly elected to School Council. School Captains, Daniel Loza and Emma Schultz join Council as community members for the year and Jeremy Thai-Chan (Year 11) has one more year to run in his two-year student position. I thank all members for their commitment to Mordialloc College.

We have two outgoing members of council, Amanda de Boer and David Lawrence, who have both served on our College Council for the past four years and I thank them for their valuable contributions and service over this time. 

Reminder of College Expectations

Last week I sent a letter from the Principal Class team to parents and students to remind everyone of our expectations now that students have settled back into the routine of onsite learning and support structures in place for our students. Although most of our students have settled well into our routines and high expectations for learning and behaviour, we are focusing on the little things that help to create an orderly environment and ask that all parents please read and discuss this letter with their child/ren. Please click on this link for a copy of the letter:

School Production

At our whole school assembly on Monday February 7, the school production was launched to the student body, and they were all very excited to hear we are putting on the show Matilda – The Musical, under the direction of Cameron Young and Bella Barker, supported by Mara Sears and Claire Bruce leading the backstage crew. We had huge interest in auditions which was fantastic to see. Given the talent and quality of the auditions the team has decided to double the cast and therefore students will be allocated to particular performance nights.  The final cast has been in rehearsals since mid-February! So, put it in your diaries now – Wednesday 17 August to Saturday 20 August. 

Congratulations to the following students for successfully auditioning for our lead roles this year:

Main Characters:

Featured Cast & Ensemble:

General Achievement Test

The GAT (General Achievement Test) for our senior students will be held on Wednesday 7 September this year, most likely returning to its traditional June date from 2023. This later date will give time for teachers and students to understand the new test requirements.

From 2023 we will be transitioning the VCE and VCAL to a new integrated senior secondary certificate. As part of the reform of the VCE and VCAL system, Victorian senior secondary students will this year have their literacy and numeracy skills measured against new standards in a reformed GAT.

The new standards will indicate whether students have demonstrated the literacy and numeracy skills typically expected of someone completing their secondary schooling – giving another indication of their readiness to move onto further education, training, or employment

The reformed GAT follows a comprehensive review conducted by VCAA. It will see Victoria join other jurisdictions who already incorporate literacy and numeracy standards as part of their senior secondary reporting. The GAT will provide specific information on each student's key skills for life beyond school.

All students enrolled in one or more VCE or scored VCE VET Unit 3-4 sequence will be required to sit sections A and B. Year 12 VCAL students will sit section A.

The GAT will be split into two sections: 

• Section A will assess literacy and numeracy skills
• Section B will assess skills in mathematics, science, technology, the arts, and humanities, with an increased focus on critical and creative thinking skills

The two sections will be conducted in separate sessions on the same day (Section A in a morning session, and Section B in an afternoon session), with the exact timings to be announced later this term.

Although the GAT does not usually count towards a final VCE score, it will be used to create a Derived Exam Score (e.g if Covid prevents a student from sitting an end-of-year exam). GAT results will continue to be used to check that VCE external assessments and school-based assessments have been accurately and fairly assessed. If a student does well in the GAT, they are likely to do well in their other assessments. 

Please click the following link to check  VCAA frequently asked questions and answers: 

https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/assessment/vce-assessment/general-achievement-test/Pages/index.aspx

Further information will be provided to students by the Senior School team.

COVID Safe Behaviours

A few reminders again about the key behaviours required for reducing COVID-19 transmission risk. This includes staying home when unwell, conducting a Rapid Antigen Test twice a week, washing hands regularly and use of hand sanitiser, no sharing of drink bottles or food and, where possible, social distancing. Students should carry a mask with them at all times and they must be worn when on public transport and school buses. Following the Government’s recent announcements, face masks are recommended, but are now not mandated in schools. Individuals can choose to wear a mask at any time. 

Student Planner

A reminder to parents/carers and students about the use of our student study planner as a valuable organisational tool to support learning and is an important means of communication between school and home. Students should take their planner to every class and keep it graffiti free and tidy. Students should record home study, important dates e.g. upcoming excursions and due dates for class work. Teachers will use the planner to inform parents about matters of importance within their specific class and/or email parents. I ask that parents/carers please check their child’s planner on a regular basis. 

Facility Development Update

For the next couple of weeks access is restricted down the left-hand side of the EZ building as concrete is poured for the external entrance and pathways to our new two storey building. Internally work is continuing to progress well, and we will be taking our Year 7 & 8 core teaching teams for a tour of the new facility after the next site meeting on Wednesday 9 March. 

Staffing Changes

At the end of this week we farewell Caroline Lazarus who is expecting her first child and as such, a very exciting time in her life. Caroline will be on family leave and will return to the College sometime in the future. I have appointed Martine Jansen, a very experienced teacher from Keysborough College to replace Ms Lazarus. Mrs Jansen can start at the College on Tuesday 15 March. For next week, one of our literacy tutors and qualified English teacher, Samantha O’Rourke, will take the classes. 

This week we welcomed Damien Maughan to our instrumental music team. Damien will be teaching individual brass lessons every Monday. Next week we look forward to welcoming Sarah Terry, our new Speech Pathologist, working three days a week at the College. 

Marina Walsh, one of my Assistant Principals is taking Long Service Leave for the last five weeks of this term. Learning Specialist, Bryony Lowe has been appointed to the Acting AP position, and Bryony’s classes will be taken by our well-known casual relief teachers, Kat Doros and Shauna McMillin.

Year 7 Information Night

On Tuesday 22 February the Year 7 Parent Meet and Greet Information Evening was held, with a late switch to a WebEx session rather than having parents required onsite, given the number of student COVID-19 cases and close contacts from our recent Year 7 camp. The event was still well attended and provided an opportunity for parents to be introduced to the key features of the Year 7 program (structure of a typical day, communication with home group teachers and leadership team, home study, learning tracker, Compass, Google Docs and assessment). Thanks to Andrew Potter, one of our Year 7 Coordinators, Tracey Bastin, Assistant Principal for Middle School and Director of Middle School, Daniel Williams, for organising this night along with Simon Belluzzo our eLearning and ICT manager.  In addition, thanks to the core teachers and home group teachers for Year 7 who were available to introduce themselves online to parents. The session was recorded and distributed to all Year 7 parents for those who were not able attend remotely on the night. 

Extra-Curricular Activities

This week we have several extra-curricular activities and camps linked to subjects’ students are studying this year. Year 10 Advance students are on the Advance camp to the Cathedral Ranges, Year 11 VCAL students are on a two-day team building camp at Anglesea, Year 12 Outdoor Education (Year 11 student studying this Unit 3 and 4 VCE subject) are attending the Anglesea camp in the latter half of the week and there is a Year 10 Outdoor Education surfing day. We also had teams competing in the interschool lawn bowls competition and our student leaders attending the Secondary Youth Leaders Forum in the city on Tuesday. Thanks to all teacher involved in making these opportunities available to our students. 

Michelle Roberts

Principal