Sydenham Campus Principal Message
Welcome to Term 2! Since our last report, much has happened on the Sydenham Campus. We ended a very busy first term with our Campus Assembly. Thank you to Mrs Martin and Mr Hasip for leading our students to present and MC the event.
Our assemblies always begin with the singing of the National Anthem, this year we have a new choir who did a wonderful job with this task.
Assemblies also give us the opportunity to recognise student excellence and to showcase their talents.
Our Performing Arts and Music students provide us with excellent interludes during the assembly.
One of our bands has yet to recruit a lead singer- thanks to Ms Taylor Van Orsouw (Performing Arts Leader) who stepped in to help out.
Ms Van Orsouw is currently leading the rehearsals for our College production of High School Musical.
Last term we highlighted the excellent work of the staff in providing Breakfast Club for students.
Thank you again to Ms Allison, Ms Altas and Ms Slattery who have continued to be available to staff the very busy mornings. This term we introduced Mrs Desanka Talevski who has taken on this very important role.
We extended our continued thanks to Foodbank Victoria who provide for Breakfast Club and the fresh fruit that is available for students throughout the day in every Team and office location.
This term we have also begun the Delahey Experience with our Year 10 students. Transition to the senior campus is a rite of passage for our junior campus students. The more opportunities they have to visit and interact with the senior campus, the more informed they will become before they actually move campuses. Thank you to the Campus Leaders and the Pathways Team for their work so far. Year 10 students welcomed the Delahey Campus Principal, Campus and Team Leaders and College Captain Mia Chircop to Sydenham to hear important information regarding VCE and VCE-VM.
Are you interested in knitting? Chess? Art? Games? If you are a student on the Sydenham campus you can enjoy all of these activities and more by participating in the many clubs we have running during break times. Thank you to all the staff who take time out their breaks to provide and supervise. Our newest club is the Year 7 Volleyball Club which runs at break time on Wednesdays.
Student Led Presentations (SLPs) are a long-standing hallmark of our College. This week all junior campus students will be beginning their SLP preparations. During this week’s Connect classes, staff and students will be familiarising themselves with the templates and students will be reviewing goals, selecting evidence and collecting data to include. All new staff to the College receive an induction to SLPs so they are able to support students on their learning journey. Thank you to Angus Morgan, one of our Campus Captains, who presented his 2023 SLP to new staff last week.
We are very fortunate to have so many programs available to our students during the year. One that has recently been completed is Young, Blak and Deadly an ongoing career development and mentoring program run by Creative Brimbank and independent artist, Lisa Maza (Meriam/Yidindji/Dutch)
The program partners with artists, as well as arts and media organisations including Western Edge Youth Arts and LiveFM. Central to the program is our work with Koorie Engagement Support Officers (KESOS) and schools, including a collaboration with our College.
The program is for Blakfulla, Koori/e, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander young people who want to hear from creative Blakfullas who are already working in the arts and media industry and doing what they love.
Young, Blak and Deadly provides opportunities to learn new skills, connect with other young, blak and deadly locals, and learn about the creative industry, behind the scenes and jobs from industry leaders. Thank you to Ms Dimeri who is our Campus ATSI leader for her support, nurturing and enthusiasm of the students.
In the next few weeks students will be involved in a number of programs and activities and we thank our Community partners; ABCN, Brimbank Council and RMIT for their continued support of our students. We will include reports on those events in our next newsletter.
We encourage our families to get in contact with our campus leadership team at any time as we all work together to help our students aspire and achieve.
Mr Andrew Atherton and Ms Mary Chiodo Campus Principals