Principal's Message
Dear Families,
Term 1 has been an extremely productive and exciting term with many excursions and school wide events such as Harmony Day, Be Well Stay Well days and the Athletics Carnival, as well as NAPLAN testing for our Year 7 and 9 students. Senior students are looking forward to the Wilson's Promontory Hiking Camp, which is happening in the school holidays this year to ensure students don't miss out on important classes. I would like to thank staff and students for their hard work this term and congratulate all students on their achievements.
School-Wide Positive Behaviour Support Award
I am very pleased to announce that our school has achieved a Bronze Award for our implementation of the School-wide Positive Behaviour Support framework, as part of our ongoing commitment to creating a more positive and effective learning environment.
Congratulations to our amazing staff for implementing our SWPBS model in every classroom and ensuring that our students receive commendations for positive behaviours.
NAPLAN
The National Assessment Program (NAPLAN) is a literacy and numeracy assessment that students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sit each year. The tests assess the literacy and numeracy skills that students are learning through the school curriculum and allows parents/carers to see how their child is progressing against national standards.
NAPLAN is just one aspect of our school’s assessment and reporting process. It does not replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance, but it does provide teachers with additional information about students’ educational progress.
NAPLAN tests are delivered in an online format which includes a ‘tailored test’ design that adapts to correct and incorrect student responses providing a more precise understanding of student achievement. Year 7 and 9 students completed testing this term in Reading, Writing, Conventions of Language and Numeracy. NAPLAN results will be available in Term 3.
Lateness
A reminder of how important it is that students are fully prepared for learning. Part of this is being punctual to all classes. Please support your child’s learning by ensuring that they arrive at school with plenty of time to get the correct books and be in class on time. We are continuing to run lateness blitzes and will contact parents and carers where there are issues with student punctuality.
College Board 2024
Our school council election was completed this term. I would like to thank the following parents, staff and students for their dedication and support of the school this year as part of our College Board:
Student Members - Arlo Mykyta Year 9, Bibi Asma Year 12 (College Captain)
Parent Members - Tupuna Ngaue, Joanne Walsh, Maria Kiselis, Victoria Musumeci, Ana Varea, Elina Anau.
Staff Members - James Dowie, Glenn Leyland, Sue Atzarakis, Annette Lawrence, Jason Austin
Community Members - Ellen Arnott, Seychelles Camomot Year 10, Greta McCoy Year 10, Angela Fazio, Luke Kiselis.
Harmony Day
This week we celebrated our school’s diverse multicultural communities on Harmony Days at both campuses. We are a school of over 62 different countries and languages, a fact that makes us tremendously proud.
To celebrate Harmony Day, our Hackathon program students in partnership with our SRC students organised lunch time events with student-led performances. Wraps, slushies and ice-creams were provided to students free of charge. Many students dressed up in their cultural costumes or wore orange and created a joyful atmosphere that celebrated who we are as a college. The theme of the event was ‘We are Inclusive’ and that message was clearly communicated to all staff and students.
Also, as part of the lead up to this week, teachers shared the above theme with their classes and facilitated discussions with students on multiculturalism, belonging, differences and similarities. At our school, we believe we all have a role to play in creating a safe school environment where everyone belongs. As a member of our community, we also ask you to consider what role you can play to ensure everyone feels welcome and how we can celebrate diversity in our community. How do you call out discrimination if you see it and teach others to do the same?
Together we aim to ensure that everyone at our school feels Connected, Protected and Respected.
Parent Teacher Interviews
Parent teacher interviews for all students will be held on Thursday 18th April 2024 between 1:00 pm & 7:00 pm.
We would like all parents and guardians to take this opportunity to meet teachers and to discuss their child’s progress with them. Students are expected to attend interviews with their parents so that they can take an active role in discussing their learning and setting goals for further improvement or challenge in each subject.
Only Year 12 VCE and Year 11 VCE students studying a unit 3 &4 will be expected to attend period 1 to 3 on Thursday 18th April according to their timetable. There will be no regular classes for Years 7 to 11 (those not studying a unit 3&4) on this day.
Further information will be posted on your Compass feed and all Year 7 Parents should have received a hard copy of the letter that is attached to the Compass post. To book your child’s interviews, log into the Compass Portal and contact the office if you require assistance. Interpreters will be available on the day at both campuses.
Athletics Carnival - Friday 8th March
Our athletics carnival was a resounding success this term. Despite the scorching weather, our students exceeded our expectations and displayed exemplary behaviour throughout the day.
I want to give a special shout out to our two Sports Co-ordinators, Abbey White and Mikayla Adam for their efforts in organising this fantastic event. Their hard work and dedication were the reasons why athletics day was such a huge success.
Students were encouraged to come dressed in their House colours to support their peers and our Year 12 students paraded down the tracking field in their costumes at the start of the day. Music was played and lots of dancing and cheering took place to support their fellow students who participated in the events.
Staff congratulated students on their participation, their respect for one another and collectively strengthening our school community by cheering for their fellow students. Our students made us all very proud!!!
The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA)
VCAA is an independent statutory body that is responsible for providing the curriculum and assessment used across year levels in Prep to Year 12 (P-12) school years in all government, Catholic and independent Victorian schools.
It gives me great pleasure to announce our English Learning Specialist, Melda Gonen had her English unit of work published on the VCAA website on Friday 8th March 2024. Melda worked tirelessly along with the English Curriculum Manager from VCAA to create this valuable resource to support schools and teachers with implementing the new curriculum with English units of work for 2025. Melda created these units with her own resources.
The impact of her work is truly commendable, and I am incredibly proud of her dedication and commitment to excellence.
Open House - Monday 22nd April
Parents/carers and their Grade 5 and 6 children who are interested in touring our school are warmly invited to our Open House event on Monday 22nd April. There will be tours in the morning as well as an evening presentation with information packs and interactive tours of several classes. Bookings are not required. Come along to see our students in action! In the coming weeks, our leadership staff will be visiting local primary schools with more information or see the details below.
Uniforms
A reminder to all students and parents/carers that students should be in full winter uniform in terms 2 and 3, including the blazer and black leather shoes (no other colours/no boots or sneakers). Please see our full Uniform Policy here. The VUSC uniform is available from PSW in Ravenhall or online at www.psw.com.au.
Families may request assistance with purchasing school uniform from the following organisations:
Smith Family Learning for Life provides support and financial assistance to help disadvantaged children stay at school. The program runs in select disadvantaged areas.
A Start in Life provides financial assistance to disadvantaged students and families to ensure they can access the same learning opportunities as their peers. For information phone (02) 9264 3017.
Opening the Doors Foundation provides education assistance for Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander students enrolled in an independent educational institution in Victoria.
The Queen’s Fund Financial assistance with the cost of educational expenses for children. Applications must be completed by a social worker or a community agency that works with you.
Good Shepherd Micro-finance is a great initiative that has financial programs to assist families on low or limited incomes with educational costs and other expenses. One of their programs is the No Interest Loan Scheme (NILS) which gives access to fair and safe credit up to $1,200 for essential educational items.
Saver Plus This is financial education and up to $500 in matched savings for education costs for individuals and families who have at least some regular income from work. For information phone 1300 610 355.
Second hand uniforms are also bought and sold by local families on the Sustainable School Shop website.
I wish all of our school families a safe and relaxing break, and to those who celebrate Easter, I wish you a blessed and joyful Easter celebration.
Elaine Hazim
College Principal
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Child Safety at VUSC
Victoria University Secondary College is committed to providing a child safe and child friendly environment, where students are safe and feel safe.
Our child safety and wellbeing policies outline the measures and strategies we have in place to support, promote and maintain the safety and wellbeing of our students:
- Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy
- Child Safety Code of Conduct
- Child Safe Standards Risk Register
- Child safety Responding and Reporting Obligations Policy and Procedure
All of our policies are available on our school website here. As valuable partners in promoting and maintaining child safety and wellbeing at VUSC, we welcome and encourage your feedback.