Farewell to the Class of 2019

To celebrate the achievements of our Year 12 students, on Friday 25th October we held our whole school farewell assembly in our gym to recognise this significant occasion – the conclusion of six years of secondary schooling. The Year 12 cohort have been wonderful ambassadors and have contributed so much to our College, having represented us in countless sporting, cultural and community events. On behalf of the whole College Community, I would like to wish all Year 12 students every success for the examination period, which will begin on Wednesday 30th October. I am confident they will all achieve the VCE or VCAL results they deserve and have worked towards all year. No matter what their pathway on leaving Maffra, as long as they continue to strive to achieve the best they can, they can be satisfied. I would like to congratulate all of our Year 12 leaders. Claire Coster and Vicles Higgins as School Captains, Riley Gieschen and Emily Saddington as Vice-Captains, Mikayla Semmens and Ned Gardiner for Arts, our House Captains – Abbie Ross, Aiden Smith, Deacon Williams, Jake Giles, Matt Angliss, Alex Kuizenga and Stephanie Britton. Our House Vice-Captains Riley Havers, Kasey Fitzpatrick, Mikayla Underwood, Talana Leighton, Shae Oakley, Lucy Carpurso and Maddy Smith. They have all been proactive leaders for our school and have handled the challenges of combining Year 12 studies with the responsibilities and the expectations of student leadership!

Another big event, the Valedictory Dinner, will be held on Thursday 21st November at Memorial Hall in Maffra. The night is an important opportunity for Parents, Teachers and Students to get together in a formal setting to reflect on the past year and recognise the achievements of our Year 12 students. The class of 2019 have made a worthy contribution to our school and we are proud of each and every one of them. I would like to thank our Senior School Leader Sarah Whitwam, Year 12 Assistant Leaders Carol Caffrey and Sue Clancy, Pathways Coordinator Marie Clark, Assistant Principal Cheryl Evans and all of our Year 12 teachers who have worked tirelessly to support our Year 12 students this year.

We also look forward to celebrating the achievements of the graduating class for 2019 at this year’s awards night in December. This also allows the community a final opportunity to wish them well for the future.

High cost elective payments for 2020

To ensure that all students receive the educational program outlined in the handbook, we have made the cost of elective subjects more transparent for 2020. In the handbooks an overview of each subject has been given and the cost for the subject. We have ensured there is a range of ‘no cost,’ ‘low cost’ and ‘high cost’ electives to choose from. The high cost electives generally have consumables, camps and excursion involved eg. Technology subjects, Energy Breakthrough, Outdoor Education and a range of PE based subjects. All core subjects have no cost associated with them. This change has been as a result of parent and student feedback. It will now ensure families are aware of the overall cost of the subject and will not be required to pay for anything additional throughout the subject.

Payments for high cost electives are now overdue. All students have received a copy of the subjects they are enrolled in for 2020. A letter has been sent home to families this week reminding you of the subjects that need to have payments made. These are only the high cost electives that are more than $50. Payments for these subjects are due on Monday 18th November, 2019.

If payment is not made, or a payment plan in place, then your child will be re-counselled into a low cost or no cost elective in time for Headstart. If you have any questions regarding payment, can you please contact the office on 5147 1790.

New Department Mobile Phone policy

The Victorian Government takes the safe and responsible use of digital technologies, student safety and wellbeing, and the development of social skills and positive behaviour, very seriously. On this basis, the Hon. James Merlino MP, Minister for Education, announced that a new mobile phone policy would take effect from Term 1 2020.

Whilst the Victorian Government acknowledges that we live in a technology-rich world where mobile phones are an important communication tool, research has found that mobile phones can be disruptive in classrooms and open to misuse at school. The unregulated presence of mobile phones in classrooms can undermine students’ capacity to think, learn, remember, pay attention and regulate emotion.

At recess and lunchtime, opportunities for students to communicate with each other face-to-face or be involved in physical activity are also valued, rather than students being focused on a mobile phone, particularly when they are using it to engage with social media.

This new policy acknowledges that technology is increasingly affecting how students learn and communicate. Exceptions to this policy may be granted by the Principal if certain conditions are met and these exceptions must be documented. For a small number of students with particular health and wellbeing needs, an exception to the policy may also be granted.

This policy will remove a major distraction from our classrooms, so that teachers can teach, and students can learn in a more focused, positive and supported environment.

The new mobile phone policy does not apply to:

Out of school hours events
Travelling to and from school
Wearable devices and iPads/other personal devices (however all notifications must be switched off)
Students undertaking workplace learning activities and VET offsite.

Mobile phones owned by students are brought to school at the owner’s risk. Please refer to the Department’s Personal Goods policy.

Through consultation the following processes will be put in place for students at Maffra Secondary College regarding mobile phones:

Mobile phones are not to be seen, heard or used from the start of the day until the end of the day
Wearable devices and iPad/personal devices must have all notifications turned off from the start of the day to the end of the day
We recommend that all students store their mobile phone in their school allocated locker with a secure lock. The combination of the lock must not be shared with anyone
If a student is seen with their phone, their phone is heard, or a student uses their phone after the start of the day and before the last bell – recess and lunchtimes included – they will be asked to hand the phone over to the staff member. This also applies to students who do not turn off their notifications on wearable devices or iPad/personal devices
The staff member will place the device in a specially designed Maffra SC envelope and the child will receive a ‘tear off slip’ with the envelope number on it. The phone will be taken to the front office and stored securely until the end of the day
- 1st offence – student brings the “tear off slip” to the front office and meets with a member of the Principal team at the end of the day and reviews the Department policy on mobile phones to ensure it does not happen again. The student receives their phone back
- 2nd and subsequent offences – a parent will need to make contact with the school to organise a time to come in and collect the phone and meet with their child and a member of the Principal team to discuss how we can ensure this does not happen again and what supports can be put in place for the child

To prepare students for the full implementation next year we will be starting this during the 2 week Head start Program from Monday 2nd December until Friday 13th December, 2019. To support your child/children with this, can you please discuss the benefits and the positive impact it will have on their learning and education. It is also important that all communication to your child/children is done through the front office if urgent, or is held off until after 3:15pm each day.

If you

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