Principal's Message-
Laura Spence
Dear students and families,
A special welcome to our 2025 Year 7 students and families who will receive this COG edition as part of their last transition pack, ready for December 10th Orientation Day. A few weeks ago, we had the Information Evening for our incoming Year 7s, which was an excellent opportunity for students and families to hear about McClelland College structures, opportunities, and expectations. It was lovely to meet our excited (and perhaps nervous!) students, and we look forward to December 10th. This edition of COG has information about our student leaders, school council, Japanese tour, STEM students working with Amazon, and much more; please enjoy.
As we get ready to welcome our Year 12 graduates of 2030, we are also farewelling our 2024 Year 12 graduates. We recently had a wonderful Celebration Day for our VCE and VM Year 12s. The day finished with a guard of honour, with the rest of the school clapping and cheering the students as they left for their last day. Students and staff wore brilliant dress-ups. The photo of the Adams Family is of our VM Leadership team, who also cooked delicious breakfast for students.
Since then, VCE students have been working through their exams. I want to congratulate all our Year 12s who are leaving McClelland well-equipped with the academic, personal, and employability skills to be successful adults. An extra thank-you to our 12s for their hard work and the respect they have shown the college right up to their last day.
As we near the end of 2024, the leadership team is working on completing our Annual Implementation Plan and assessing the achievement of our goals. This year, the college successfully embedded our explicit instructional model (EIM) into every lesson and classroom. We have also built on our School Wide Positive Behaviours (SWPB) strategies by implementing Classroom Routines and successfully continued our tiered approach to well-being, learning intervention, and extension. As a result of this work, students are experiencing greater consistency in classrooms, in a predictable learning environment where they can feel confident and comfortable while building their skills. Our strategies have been highly influential, showing we have surpassed most of the targets, for example, increasing the percentage of students in the ‘exceeding’ and ‘strong’ proficiency levels in NAPLAN Reading, Writing and Numeracy while reducing the percentage of students in the ‘below expected level’ of the same areas.
We have packed a lot of events into Term 4 so far, which you will see more about in later pages of this edition, including a page about our Student Leaders. I want to make a special mention for our outgoing Year 12 student leaders, who I had the pleasure of working with many times this year. Sarah Maguire, Lilly Hoskins, Regan Watene, and Sienna Robinson have been outstanding leaders and role models for our community, contributing to the college in many ways. All four are extremely impressive young adults; our future is bright with such leaders heading into adulthood. Monique Riley, Andrew Hemsley, and I took Sarah, Lilly, and Regan to Frankston to meet with the directors of Frankston Thrive Hub, a Brotherhood of St Lawrence initiative. The Hub started this year just after we ran our Shark Tank with MP Paul Edbrooke in Term 2, and in an uncanny coincidence, the Thrive Hub had an almost identical mission as the policy our students pitched at their Shark Tank presentation. As a result, Paul set up this meeting for the Hub staff to meet our brilliant leaders and hear about their ideas (Sienna was part of the presentation but couldn’t make the meeting). The Hub directors were speechless when they listened to our students’ ideas and asked them to please return and as youth consultants, and even mentioned paid internship opportunities! Safe to say our very impressive students represented our college brilliantly. I have attached photos and the MP’s Insta post from the afternoon.
In a different example of student leadership, our Year 11 Vocational Major students ran an event last week where they walked 23 kilometres from Frankston to Mordialloc to raise money for the charity Fusion, supporting youth homelessness in Frankston and the Peninsula. The students demonstrated incredible perseverance and resilience in their efforts, putting others’ needs ahead of their comfort. Students encouraged each other the whole day and worked perfectly with staff for a great outcome. VM Leader Kellie Linderman and the entire VM team created a highly successful day that enabled students to exceed their expectations and goals for a result to be proud of.
Another great event this term, our Year 10 students participated in mock job interviews, which were a valuable opportunity to prepare for future job prospects. Each student brought an updated cover letter and resume to the session, where experienced staff from the Smith Family reviewed their materials and conducted a 10-minute interview. Students received constructive feedback on critical aspects such as communication, presence, self-confidence, and attitude. This realistic interview simulation helped students refine their skills and gain confidence for future career opportunities—thank you to the Year 10 and Careers team for their excellent organisation and support throughout the process.
As we come close to the end of Semester 2 and prepare for Headstart on November 27th, students may reflect on their favourite experiences at school this year. When I chatted with students, most of them told me their favourite subject was MAP. I love getting into classes and seeing them all in action, and I usually would never pick a favourite. However, this week, my favourite was On Your Bike MAP. I was lucky enough to come along for a whole day excursion at Lysterfield Lake for mountain bike riding and a barbeque lunch. The students were superb riders, following all the safety expectations, looking out for each other, and demonstrating the McClelland values perfectly. Please ask your child what their favourite part of school was this year. We look forward to students starting Headstart and getting started on new, exciting experiences for 2025.