Principal Report
Spring is here….
This time of year is referred to as ‘Poorneet’ or tadpole season by the Wurundjeri people who are the traditional custodians of the lands on which Heathmont College is located. It is a time of renewal and birth with lots of plants and animals focusing on gestation.
Senior Wurundjeri Elder Aunty Joy Murphy Wandin describes this time of year as:
“The grey clouds are shifting and we see glimpses of opening buds of light and sprinkles of magic dust everywhere.
Those fast moving little tailed poorneets (tadpoles) appear and there are lots of them. The male bulin bulin (lyrebird) has finished dancing, having found a female partner.
Pied currawongs call loudly and often, especially reminding us that the gurnmil (snake) and budjing (lizard) are awake and active.
Growling grass ngarrert (frogs) lay their eggs while the bubup mirrim (young kangaroos) are ready to leave Mum’s pouch.
The murnong (yam daisy) tubers are ready for eating, tasting a little like a radish.
A very colourful land mass of plants are still in flower, guling (flax lilies), garrong
(wattles), hop goodenia, burgan, gunyang (kangaroo apple), terrat (prickly currants) and burrunbeet.
The sacred kingfisher, a migrant bird returns home from the north and a big celebration is held in its honour.
The temperatures rise, rain continues and the days and nights are of equal length.”
As we get closer to the holidays it is nice to see and feel the weather getting warmer and the days longer. Let’s hope that the weather over the holiday period continues to be pleasant.
I encourage everyone to have a great holiday break and to stay safe and well whilst getting our and enjoying this spring sunshine.
Student achievements
At our recent school carnival, it was great to see so many students participating and achieving. There were several records broken and 63 students went on to earn themselves a place in the Mullum athletics day last week. Fashion on the field was also a hotly contested affair this year with an inflatable shark costume, spiderman and a couple of pirates (Annabelle, Riley, Rhiannon and Chandler) taking out the prizes. We also had a couple of guest commentators for the day who looked suspiciously like Thing 1 and Thing 2 from Dr Seuss…… (Aidyn and Tia).
The 9Life Community Art group, under the watchful and enthusiastic guidance of Ms Grouse and the expert instruction of Ms Nichol, have made phenomenal progress on the school mural in the Learning Centre and have nearly completed this work in its entirety. It looks amazing and will be ready for reveal early in Term 4 once some final touches are added and all of the scaffolds and drop sheets cleaned up. Stay tuned for this reveal in coming newsletters and I am sure you will agree that livens up the space and really showcases what our staff and students are capable of achieving when they work together.
Lastly, our Year 12 students are all finishing up their coursework this week in readiness for their exams which start in week 4 next term. With SACs running right up until the last day of term, it has been a busy time for this cohort and as they begin their study period, we wish them all the very best for this time. Some will be attending study lectures in the holiday period to help them prepare for their exams and there will be revision classes running for the first two weeks of next term. Celebration day will be in Week 3 and Valedictory this year is occurring after the exam period concludes. A big shout out also to the Year 12 teaching team and the senior school coordination team who have been and will continue to support the students right up until it is all over.
Around the college
The changes to the Bus drop off and pick up points appear to be (finally) working well despite some initial communication issues with the bus companies. It is now much easier for students to get to the buses and much easier for the college to provide the necessary supervision. Thank you for tolerating the slight increase in the chaos, especially at the end of the day, that naturally follows changes like this. Hopefully from this point forward, it provides a much smoother experience for most at the busy pick-up time of the day.
Camps and events
Our Year 10 Central Tour is making its way up the centre of the continent. We did have a minor hiccup with some large fires currently burning across the middle of the country but were able to negotiate a way through this by coordinating with the Department of Education Emergency Management Division and the Northern Territory / Tennant Creek Police. The tour is now back on track after a one-night delay in Alice Springs and will hopefully not miss out on too many sights as a result. They are due back early next week but have quite a lot of ground to cover before then.
Next Term, we have a range of events occurring including the College Leadership camp at Rubicon Outdoor Education school, Year 10 and 11 formals and Year 12 Valedictory. Year 12 celebration day is always a big day and then there is Melbourne Cup Day, exams (Years 10, 11, 12) and the end of year excursion for students. It is going to be a busy Term as always but with the weather warming up as we move closer to the summer holiday period, I know that it will go very quickly.
And now I am off to check our Ms Hatfield’s Year 12 MasterChef Mystery Box challenge!
Kerryn Sandford
College Principal