College Principal Report

What an incredible start to the year we've had! From celebrating our diversity to leadership opportunities, this term has been filled with wonderful moments that have brought our school community together.

One of the standout events was Harmony Day, which is always a highlight of our school calendar. This year, our VCE-VM students, alongside the wider student cohort, certainly made us proud with their enthusiasm and participation. With Diversity being one of our College’s core values, Harmony Day is the perfect opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate the cultural richness within our school community. A special thanks to Ms Riley and Mr Tobin (Acacia), and Ms Parkes and Mr Hern (Banksia) for their collaboration with our VCE-VM students in ensuring that this day was such a success.

Another fantastic opportunity for our students this term was the ABCN Focus Female Leadership Program. Over two sessions, Year 10 girls from both campuses attended the program at the Commonwealth Bank in Docklands, which addresses the under-representation of women in senior roles in Australia. The program paired students with female role models and mentors, who shared their insights and experiences. The feedback from both the students and mentors was overwhelmingly positive, with mentors expressing how impressed they were by the students’ intelligence, care, and energy. One mentor even mentioned, “Because of these young people, I’m definitely going to sign up to do more ABCN programs!” What an amazing compliment to our students!

As part of our regular celebrations of student achievement, we had our Termly RED Assemblies in Weeks 9 (Banksia) and 10 (Acacia). At these assemblies, we recognise six students from each year level who have demonstrated the College values of Respect, Excellence, and/or Diversity. A huge congratulations to all the RED Award recipients for their outstanding efforts and leadership within our school.

We were also honoured to welcome Hon. Mark Dreyfus KC, MP, the Attorney-General, to the Acacia campus for the RED assembly. Mr Dreyfus presented Leadership Certificates to our Year 12 Student Executive Team and shared his thoughts on the importance of leadership in today’s society. He also had the chance to meet with the Leadership Team at Banksia for a Q&A session where he praised our students for their insights and asking thought-provoking questions. He was very impressed with our students at the College, and also noted how fantastic the Acacia Stage Band was at the assembly! Kudos to Mr Orr and the Music Team.

At the RED assemblies, we also announced the new Year 7 Captains for 2025. Congratulations to Matisse Van Rooyen & Afssa Batool (Acacia), and Lati Haile & Nikita De Oliveira (Banksia). We look forward to seeing their leadership in action this year!

In Week 10, our Year 8 students from both campuses headed off to Camp Allambee in Gippsland for an exciting adventure experience. Students took part in thrilling activities such as the Flying Fox, Giant Swing, and even Billy Cart races! A big thank you to all the teachers who attended and made this experience a success for our students.

Finally, our Parent-Teacher Interviews on Tuesday 25th March were a wonderful success, with nearly 800 families attending across both campuses. The strong turnout was a fantastic reflection of the increasing level of parent engagement within our school community, which is something we are actively trying to improve. Thank you to all the parents and families who took the time to meet with our staff and engage in meaningful conversations about their child’s progress.

As we head into the Term 1 break, we wish all our students, staff, and families a restful and enjoyable time. We look forward to what’s to come in Term 2!

Happy Holidays!