From the Principal

Dear students and parents,

It has been a delight for me to finally be back at school and to see and chat with staff and students again.  I again wish to thank Kristie Satilmis and Ross Pritchard for stepping up and doing such a great job in the Acting Principal role.  I would also like to thank our Business Manager, Jo Hayes, our leading teachers and all our staff for their professionalism and focus on supporting our students during another year of extended lockdowns.  I am very proud of the culture at our school where staff and students focus on learning, wellbeing and supporting others in our school community.

I was particularly pleased to see our Year 12 class of 2021 return on Thursday last week to celebrate the end of their Year 12 year.  They received the proper farewell that they deserved as they were great role models to the junior students.  It is significant for them to finally celebrate reaching this important milestone and we wish them all the best with their future endeavours.

On Thursday evening we hosted our Positive Ageing Digital Storytelling Intergenerational Program (PADSIP).  This is a highly successful program at our school and Year 9S students have been working with older adults to develop and share stories created through collaboration and produced a life story in a short 3-minute Video Digital Story.  The theme for the stories this year was Continuity and Change.  It was so nice to hear the older adults explain how much they enjoyed working with our students and the optimism and hope they had for the future of this generation.

This week all our students started our school Head Start program.  This program helps ease student transition into the following academic year, as they meet their teachers and start their learning.  Students are given resources, planning documents and experience what classes are like which we hope reduces their anxiety and mentally prepares them for next year.  We also held a parent forum where senior school parents could find out more about supporting their child in starting VCE.

This week we also hosted our second information evening for our incoming Year 7s. We have our largest cohort in Year 7 starting in 2022 with 165 students.  These numbers are a testament to the great work that is happening at our school and the reputation we have in the community.  We are looking forward to welcoming all our new families joining us next year.

Finally, I would like to congratulate Amelie Bourrat in Year 10, who has been awarded the University of Melbourne Kwong Lee Dow Young Scholars Program - Class of 2023.  This is a prestigious scholarship and is granted to students with high academic achievements and community involvement.  Amelie will be part of the group of young scholars selected and work with the University and peer network over the next two years.