Principal's Page
Welcome Back for 2019
We welcome back to all of our students and families to what will be another big year at Wheelers Hill Secondary College. We hope that everyone had a restful and enjoyable school holiday break.
We would like to especially welcome our new Year 7 students for 2019. Our new Year 7 students have started the year incredibly well and reports also show that they have really enjoyed the Year 7 Camp this week in Alexandra. Well done to all of our Year 7 students.
We wish all of our students all the very best with their learning in 2019.
Our College Motto, 'Be The Best That You Can Be'
I remind our College Community of our Motto, Vision and Values. We want our staff and students 'To Be The Best That They Can Be' in all of their endeavours.
Our Vision is provided below:
“As a school that values respect, excellence and creativity, Wheelers Hill Secondary College strives to develop students capable of being global citizens ready to embrace the future. We encourage members of our College Community to be ‘the best that they can be’ in all of their endeavours”.
Guiding us in our Vision are our Key Values of:
Respect
Excellence
Creativity
The Key Areas important to our College Community remain as:
Academic Excellence Across all Learning Domains
Sport
Performing Arts
Student Leadership and Our Community
We are looking forward to working in partnership with our families to get the very best outcomes for all of our students.
Annual Implementation Plan, 2019
All Department of Education (or DET) schools are required to develop and implement an Annual Implementation Plan (or AIP) to guide them in their work to improve student outcomes.
Whilst our AIP for 2019 can be found on our website, our three Goals this year are:
- to maximise student learning and achievement outcomes
- to empower students to actively engage in their learning
- to improve student outcomes relating differentiated teaching and learning (including continuous improvement with respect to staff capacity)
All staff have a Summary Guide of the 2019 AIP and we made reference to the Guide as part of our planning on the Student Free Day last week (29/1). Please contact the General Office should you have any queries relating to our 2019 AIP.
Performing Arts and Gymnasium Complex
We were provided access to the Performing Arts and Gymnasium Complex for Day One of classes last week (30/1). We are thrilled with the outcome of this area of the school. Whilst the external surrounds are still to be completed, the finished product will be a vast improvement on what we were using in the past. The Performing Arts and Gymnasium Complex will support teaching and learning in the Performing Arts, Physical Education, Sport and Health. The Complex can also be used for presentations and assemblies, and we will form connections with local community groups in the use of this exciting space.
(Please note - Our VCE Centre is currently under renovation and it is expected to be completed by the end of Term One, 2019).
WHSC Languages Committee
The work of the WHSC Languages Committee continues with another Survey being distributed (4/2/19) to key groups asking for further feedback that will be helpful for the Committee.
The WHSC Languages Committee has been reviewing our current Language Program over the last few months. Through its work, the Languages Committee will determine which language (s) should be a part of our curriculum on the basis of:
- Ongoing relevance with our Global Community
- Having the strongest chance of being studied from Year 7 all the way through to Year 12
- Further improving connections and enrolments from our College Community
The Languages Committee hopes to make a final recommendation on the Language (s) that will be studied at our College in the future in the coming weeks.
WHSC College Council, 2019
All government schools in Victoria have a school
council. School Councils are legal entities that are given powers to set the key directions of a school within state-wide guidelines. In doing this, a school council is able to directly influence the quality of education that the school provides for its students (DET., Feb 6 2019).
Please note that the College will need to elect College Council members for 2019. There are a number of vacancies that need to be filled:
- x 4 Parent Representatives
- x 2 DET Employee Representatives
- x 2 Student Representatives
I would encourage parents/guardians (including our new Year 7 parents/guardians) to consider this important role of serving on College Council. College Council normally meets once per month and there are a number of Sub Committees made up of Council Members that report to Council on a regular basis. The work of College Council is important and rewarding for members and I would urge parents/guardians to nominate for the College Council in 2019. Further details can be found below.
As per our Constituting Order, we are able co-opt Community Members. For 2019, we are able to co-opt x 1 Community Member. Nomination forms are now available at the General Office from today (8th of February) and Nominations close Friday 15th of February. If there are more Nominations against available vacancies, we will need to hold Elections. If Elections are required, more information will be shared with our College Community as required.
Value of the Week - Respect
'Respect' is one of our key Values at the College and students continue to be respectful in their dealings with staff. Students have been happy to discuss their Summer break, what they are already doing in their classes and how they have settled back into the College for 2019, in a friendly, polite and positive manner.
And Finally.....
Term One of any given year is a very busy time. We have Camps, a Study Skills Day, Whole School Assembly, Swimming Carnival, Photos and not to mention the work we are completing in the classroom. We thank our families in advance for working in partnership with us to provide as many opportunities as we can to our students,
Aaron Smith
Principal