Wellbeing 

Dear Parents/Guardians,

I hope this edition of the College News finds you all well.

Student-Parent-Teacher Conferences

I would like to acknowledge and thank all staff for their hard work on Wednesday 24 April and Tuesday 30 April with Student-Parent-Teacher Conferences. Similarly, a thank you to all parents for the response to booking in Conference times with teachers. Over the course of the two sessions, we had just on 2400 Conferences booked. When Conferences go for the entire day but also well into the evening it certainly makes for very long days for all, but the conversations to discuss student progress are most important to ensure that the girls are achieving at their maximum level. It is fair to say that with Conferences being conducted online and the convenience this provides, that there has been a big increase in demand by parents (please see infographics below). We will continue with the same format for Semester 2. Please feel free to contact me at the College to provide any feedback you may have with the Conferences being conducted online and through the Compass Learning Management System once again this year.

Athletics Carnival

The Athletics Carnival is scheduled to take place Wednesday 8 May. Parents and guardians are asked to note that as per last year, the venue is Collingwood Athletics Track. Year 9 – 12 students are asked to make their own way to the venue and will be dismissed from the venue as well. They are asked to be there no later than 9:00am and will be dismissed at approximately 2:30 – 2:45pm. They will also be provided with a ‘travel plan’ which will assist them with this. 

Year 7 – 8 students will be bussed as per normal and will be dismissed from the College upon their return, which in all likelihood will be prior to 3:00pm. 

Year 10 – 12 parents and guardians have already provided permission for their daughter to attend this event via the year level General Permission letter on Operoo disseminated at the beginning of the year. 

Year 7-9 parents and guardians have received an updated permission request on Operoo in recent days.

If your daughter in year 7 or 8 has an older sibling in years 9 – 12 and would like to travel with her that is acceptable. If this applies to you, can you please contact student attendance and indicate that she will be doing so.

All members of the community are reminded that the House Athletics Carnival is a compulsory school day and all students are expected to attend. Days such as this, amongst many other things, provide that important sense of belonging to students and also play an integral role in the positive wellbeing of all members of the Academy community. If a student is absent next Wednesday, they are asked to provide a medical certificate for this absence. Director of Sport, Mr. Gallivan, has provided more information to all students as well. We are looking forward to another successful day.

Susan McLean – Cyber Safety

Susan McLean will be coming to the Academy on Tuesday 14 May to run Cyber Safety sessions with all Year 9 students. She will also be running a compulsory evening session for all Year 7 students and their parents commencing at 7:00pm. 

Susan is Australia’s foremost expert in the area of Cyber Safety and was a member of Victoria Police for 27 years. She is widely known as the ‘Cyber Cop’ and was the first Victoria Police Officer appointed to a position involving Cyber Safety and young people. With the explosion of cyber technology, issues such as cyberbullying and ‘sexting’, have emerged as the number one issue confronting the safety and wellbeing of young people and the wider community. Together with associated technology including 4G and 5G mobile telephones, Instant Messaging (MSN), online games and the popularity of social networking sites today’s youth have access to and are accessible by many millions of people worldwide. Susan’s sessions will focus on what students and parents really need to know about staying safe online.

Thank you to our Head of Health and PE, Ms. Tanya Vajda for facilitating and overseeing Susan’s visit to the College.

Parents' Association Meeting - Monday 27 May

The next meeting of the Parents' Association will be taking place on Monday 27 May at 7:00pm via Zoom.  If you would like to attend this online meeting, please email me directly and I will add you to the email distribution list. If you are already on the distribution list, there is no need for you to email me. Looking forward to another great parent turnout.

As always, please do not hesitate to contact me should you need any assistance or to raise any points of concern.

Mr Sam Di Camillo

Deputy Principal, Wellbeing & Operations