Donald High School Newsletter

From the Principal

Mr. Paul Aikman

Donald High School Doings

SCHOOL VALUES

 

Respect, Responsibility, Resilience and Learning. 

 

Staff, students and parents are encouraged to ensure we all operate and conduct our business at school according to these core values that were established by various members of our school community for the school community throughout the school review process in 2019.

 

Key focus areas for Donald High School in 2025

 

As part of our new Annual Implementation Plan for 2025, and as part of the findings from our school review at the end of 2023, our school has identified a number of key priorities we will be focussing on this year in 2025. These include:

  1. Striving for improvements in Literacy and Numeracy with a particular focus on Writing.

  2. Continuing to get our teaching staff to teach according to our Donald High School Instructional Model, focussing on explicit teaching and learning, and re-focussing classroom behavioural and learning expectations.

  3. Using data to inform our teaching and learning for improved student outcomes with a focus on teaching students to their point of need.

  4. Using student voice as a source of feedback inside and outside the classroom with a view to improving student engagement and connectedness throughout the school; and

  5. Striving for improvements in student mental health and wellbeing, and engagement and connectedness at school through specialist programs and support.

There is also an expectation of all students to ensure they continue to grow and develop as learners, and for staff to continue to strive for improvement in themselves and the students.

 

SCHOOL TV

 

Please note that our school community has access to a website called SchoolTV.

This website provides all members of our school community with a wide range of information and resources both in text and video form as well as asks people to complete surveys on a variety of topics on Mental Health and Wellbeing. It is a website that is used as a preventative measure to educate all people on the various topics and is a fantastic resource I recommend people access whether you are a parent, teacher or student.

The topics are conveniently arranged into a number of series. Topics feature interviews with leading youth wellbeing experts and researchers from around the world offering hours of relevant and practical information. Additionally, each topic includes a compilation of related resources from key organisations providing a comprehensive stream of content. Resources include informative fact sheets, articles, apps, books, podcasts, websites, and other videos - all related to a single topic, in one place for easy access!!

The website is found at donaldhs.vic.schooltv.me

 

Some of the most recent special reports on the SchoolTV website include: Eating Anxiety, Healthy Study Habits, The Cost of Living Crisis, Navigating AI Relationships, Confidence & Motivation, The Wellbeing Barometer, Social Media & Comparison Culture, Shaping Healthy Masculinity (new), Gender Diversity (new) and Sibling Relationships (new).

 

DONALD MUSIC FESTIVAL

 

The 65th Annual Donald Music Festival was held on the evening of Monday 4th August. The night was very enjoyable with a number of community and student performances throughout. The evening was opened by Donald Primary School Student Leader Anabel Robinson and Mr. Leo Tellefson was the compere for the night. The St. Arnaud Band (which included ex. Donald High School Staff Member Jenny Leishman and current staff member Jane Battersby and her husband Peter) started the evening with 3 songs. The Donald High School Choir, organised by Geoff Rigby performed 3 songs, with some different Music groups from our school performing another 4 songs, with different singers taking a lead in these performances and many different students playing instruments such as the acoustic guitar, bass guitar and the drums. The students from St. Mary’s Primary School (organised by Melissa Drum and Kiahn Chapman) performed 2 songs next, with one performance including Auslan (sign language). The evening finished off with 3 songs being performed by students from the Donald Primary School (organised by Teagan Anderson).

 

All the performances were well received with all performers to be congratulated on their efforts, particularly the student performers who had lead roles in their performances.

Well done to the Donald Primary School for their organisation of the evening and thankyou to Leo Tellefson for his continued support (over 30 years) of the Donald Music Festival. This year, we will farewell Mr. Geoff Rigby after over 15 years involvement in the Donald Music Festival as a staff member. We thank Mr. Rigby for his work with our students in music over many years and for his leadership, coordination and involvement in the Music Festival and the tuition of Music at our school over a long period of time. Mr. Rigby is retiring from work at the end of 2025 but may still be involved in the Music Festival and some other school-related Music programs moving forwards.

 

HOUSE ATHLETICS CARNIVAL

 

Our annual House Athletics carnival was held on Wednesday 6th August in cool, sunny conditions. This year will be our last year of the 3-House system due to declining student enrolments, with a 2-House system to be put into place from the start of 2026. It was pleasing to see our students actively participating in the various aspects of the day, whether that was as an athlete, student helper on the BBQ, setting up and packing up equipment or assisting staff on events, or dressing up like all of the Year 12 students did in their dinosaur and funny outfits. There were some great individual performances on the day with Jeffcott House winning the overall teams competition. More results can be found throughout this newsletter. We have approximately 30 students that have qualified for the North Central District Interschool Athletics carnival on Friday 15th August. We wish all these students well in their respective events at this carnival. A big thank-you to all our parents and grandparents that came along to support the students on the day. I would also like to thank the staff for their work on the various roles to make the day run smoothly, whether that was running an event, or working behind the scenes, your input is extremely valuable to the day. Well done and thank you to our House Captains and Vice-Captains for their work with their respective student teams, organising different people into the respective events. Finally, a big thank-you to Mr. Cashin and Mr. Tatchell as our Sports Coordinators for organising and coordinating another successful and enjoyable day for everyone to be involved in.

 

BUILDING AND REFURBISHMENT WORKS THROUGHOUT THIS TERM

 

As most people would be aware, work has already started on our school with some building and refurbishment projects throughout this term, including:

1. Re-surfacing of the Outdoor Basketball and Netball Court area.

2. Removal of School portables from the West end of the Campus; and 

3. Refurbishing the Car Park area at the East end of the Campus.

 

As a result of these works, from Friday 25th July we needed to put some general rules and guidelines in place to ensure everyone's safety and clearance of these areas. 

There are areas of the school that are fenced off with temporary fencing to stop unauthorised people accessing these areas throughout the period these works are completed. We ask that all students, parents and staff stay well away from these areas for your own safety, and that you have a greater awareness of large machinery and trucks in these areas throughout this Term.

 

In addition to this, Year 12 students will need to access the main East Wing building from the front entrance rather than through the Girls Breezeway as they normally do, due to the works. We encourage you all to act safely and cautiously when accessing the East Wing from the Year 12 room.

 

All students are also to be aware not to bring mud and other remnants from these works inside, as grassed areas may become quite 'torn up' with the recent rain and trucks and machinery accessing these areas.

 

Students riding bikes to and from school may ride along the footpath to and from the direction of Goodwin Village, but if they are entering and exiting the school from the East end gate of the Campus (from Camp Street), please get off your bike and walk your bike to and from the bike shelter as traffic in this area will be busy. 

 

Cars and students riding are also asked to not use the West end entrance (off Stawell Road) at the back of the school please until the end of next week (Friday 8th August). 

When the East end Car Park works are being completed, we also ask that cars use the West end Car Park (off Camp Street) please to access the school.

 

We thank everyone for their cooperation and patience throughout this Term and encourage you all to adhere to these safety guidelines and rules, whilst we undertake these necessary building and refurbishment projects.

 

REGULAR ATTENDANCE AT SCHOOL

 

At Donald High School, we are excited to welcome your child into the classroom................

Being at school is critical for your child’s learning and their mental health, physical and social wellbeing.

Everyday counts.

You and your child / children are an important part of our school community, and we look forward to welcoming you back to school.

We want to support your child / children to have a positive start to this term. We will do this by working with you to help create positive school attendance routines from day 1.

We will also work with you to support your child’s / children's learning and wellbeing and offer help when required.

We can provide a wide range of support for students................

We understand that the reasons for not attending school can be complex. Schools have access to a range of specialist staff and programs that can provide additional support for your child / children, depending on their needs. For example:

  • Tutor Learning Initiative – we have tutors at the school to provide targeted small group learning support for children identified as performing below their expected standard in literacy and numeracy for their age.

  • School Breakfast Club – our school breakfast club provides students with a free, healthy breakfast to positively impact on their learning and attendance, and access to a nutritious lunch if needed.

  • Specialist mental health and wellbeing teams can provide direct support to students or connect you with relevant external services for additional support.

  • Your child / children may need an Individual Education Plan which can help everyone involved to understand and implement the goals and strategies to help them with their learning.

  • Where intensive support is needed to improve your child’s / children's attendance, we can put in place a Student Support Group to work with you and assist with understanding their needs and developing a comprehensive support plan.

  • We can connect with the department’s Student Support Services who can respond to a range of student health and wellbeing needs; and

  • We can also help connect you to a range of services outside of school that can assist you and your child / children.

MORE INFORMATION ON ATTENDANCE AT SCHOOL

 

Can parents and students please take note of the graphic below. We had too many of our students missing over 15 days of school (some students even more days - half or full days) in the first semester of this year.

 

Everyone should be prioritising education and learning for all our students. The more time students spend at school, the greater the outcomes for their learning. All Year 7 – 12 students are expected to be at school for the entire day on a ‘normal’ school day. The only exceptions are for illness, medical appointments, or a family bereavement. Parents are encouraged to adhere to these guidelines for their child’s attendance.

 

I am available to talk to people at the school to assist you with any enquiries if required and can be contacted to make an appointment or have a discussion on Ph. (03) 5497 1205.

 

Paul Aikman.