Senior School - Assistant Principal's Address

What an absolute jam-packed Term 3 it has been! Well done to all staff and students for making Term 3 an enjoyable one. At the commencement of Term 3, students and teachers hit the ground running with Course counselling taking place in the first week of term, where students began selecting their desired pathways. This was then followed by many other key and inaugural events including the opening of our Senior School Oval, a Year 10 Information Evening for 2025 prospective students, a College Student Leadership Forum, our first student music performance at assembly, the inaugural Year 10 Formal and Athletics Carnival, Pizza Day, staff vs students netball and many others. We are extremely proud of our Senior School students and staff for their contributions in ensuring these events were a success and we are grateful for the support we have received from our parents and the wider Bemin College Community during the myriad of exciting events which have taken place this Term!

Aaron Dass

Assistant Principal - Senior School

Opening of the Senior School Oval

After much anticipation, our Senior School oval opened for the first time in Term 3! It has been two terms for in the making for students to be able to enjoy their school oval. Since its opening students have had access to the Senior School oval three times a week, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday’s at lunch time. Students have enjoyed P.E lessons, playing footy, cricket, walking laps and simply hanging out with their friends on our brand new oval.

Year 11 Pathways - Course Counselling

On the 19th of July students attended their first course counselling sessions with their families and met with Senior School teachers. Prior to these sessions, students spent time during Careers and Pathways classes investigating their skills, strengths, interests and potential career paths by completing a personalised Career Action Plan. During their scheduled course counselling sessions students and families worked with teachers to investigate which VCE program would be best suited to the student based on future career paths. Students then explored suitable subjects based on professional recommendations for year 11 and submitted their final subjects for 2025.

Pizza Day @ Senior School

We held our first Pizza Day at Senior School during Term 3. Students were given the opportunity to pre-order their pizzas via a google form and those who missed out on the pre-order process still had the opportunity to purchase a pizza slice on the day. With the first Pizza Day at Senior School having been a complete sell out, we can safely say it was an absolute success and we hope to provide students with more opportunities to have special food order days in the future.

Student Leadership Forum

On Wednesday 7 August, the Year 10 student leaders had the opportunity to participate in the first of many cross-campus leadership forums with the Year 7 student leaders. Hosted on the Everton campus, students explored the important role they play as leaders, and considered the legacy they would leave for future generations at the College.

A key focus of the forum was the development of initiatives, with students learning how to draft action plans and implement their ideas. They also learned about the importance of establishing supportive teams and building the capacity of other students to be leaders and have a positive impact on College culture. Students across both years levels developed a number of exciting and innovative ideas, including reward systems, whole school events and excursions which will be rolled out in various forms during the remainder of 2024.

The Year 10 leaders were also lucky enough to be taken on a guided of the Everton campus by the Year 7 student leaders. The Year 10 leaders in particular enjoyed making use of the broad variety of equipment found on the campus, including the playground, and the outdoor gym. The Year 10 student leaders look forward to welcoming the Year 7 student leaders to the Morris campus later in the year.

Mr. Zanetidis

Year 10 Formal

The very first Bemin Secondary College Year 10 formal took place on the 22nd August. It was a night to remember, filled with excitement and elegance. The venue was beautifully decorated with the personalised touches on everyone's table which included name tags, gift bags, a bracelet and a chocolate bar. The photobooth and the dance floor were the most enjoyable parts of formal. Everyone was dressed in their finest evening attire. Throughout the intervals of the three course meal people enjoyed taking photos, dancing and just having a great time. Students and teachers put aside their roles for the evening to have a fun and memorable night. Applause filled the room as prizes were given out to best dressed, best hair and a king and queen. So many memories were created and captured, it truly was an unforgettable night.

Helice 10B

Staff vs Students Netball Match

A hotly anticipated rematch between the year 10 cohort and staff took off after lunch Friday August 30. Three student teams played off in a round robin to secure the spot against the staff team. Unfortunately, our staff were no match for the top student team who were on fire throughout! Special mentions to our student commentators who had the spectators on the edge of their seats and the vibes high.

Keep an eye out for the next match up between staff and students in term 4!

Ms. Baker

Year 10 Check & Connect

Check and Connect classes are a vital start to your student’s morning routine. Within these classes any upcoming events and major announcements are relayed to students. This ensures that students are up to date with current and future events and can express interest in different activities run by the College. Along with these announcements students are given daily opportunities to participate in different activities relating to mindfulness, critical thinking and literacy skills.

For our Check and Connect classes this term we have celebrated and explored NAIDOC week and Science week. Students were given the opportunity to watch short recordings from some of Australia’s Indigenous peoples who have made an impact in the sporting, arts and wider community. This allowed them an insight to what it is like for Indigenous Australians represent their culture on a national and international stage and how it connects them. Science week looked at the conservation efforts for Australian flora and fauna. Students were given the chance to engage with activities exploring different wildlife and were encouraged to discuss the effects on their habitat through human intervention.

Mr. Hardinge

Attendance at Senior School

"Make every day count"

Essential Reflection

As we are nearing the end of Term 3, it is important that we reflect on one of the critical factors that contribute to the success of our students: Their Attendance.

At Bemin Secondary College, we are committed to providing a high-quality education, as well as fostering an environment where every student can thrive and succeed. Consistent attendance does play a vital role in achieving this success and any goals that they are working towards.

Attendance and Lateness

Your child is close to entering VCE/VM, where the attendance requirements are set by the Department. These requirements are set 90% attendance in class, which is about 50 hours per subject. What this means is that if your child misses five days in a semester, they will be at risk of receiving a non-satisfactory result for that subject.

Regular Attendance = Success!

Attendance at school is directly linked to a student’s academic achievement. Students who attend school regularly and consistently are more like to perform well on assessment, complete assignments on time, as well as understand complex concepts. Education at Bemin Secondary College is a continuous learning experience, meaning that each school day builds upon the previous one. It is this continuous learning experience that cannot be replicated through make-up work alone. When your child misses out on school, they miss out on valuable discussions in the classroom, and they miss out on that instructional time. This time away from school makes it challenging to catch up.

Below we have a screenshot of a student’s ‘In Class Percentage’ and their ‘Accounted For Percentage’. Anything in Red does mean that the student at a severe risk of failing their subjects due to a high level of absences. These absences do mean that the student has missed out on valuable content in their classes.

Examples of Attendance Categories

Below are some examples of attendance that ranges from regular attendance to severe absences.

Regular attendees: Students miss less than 10 days a year. These students are consistently present at school, meaning that they will have a higher chance of success at Bemin Secondary College.

Risk of chronic absence: Students miss between 10 and 20 days a year. These students still have the capacity to achieve success at Bemin Secondary College, but it will be a challenge for them due to their level of absence.

Chronically absent: Students miss 20+ days. Students that miss a high number of classes do become at risk of not being able to achieve success at Bemin Secondary College due to their high levels of absence. It will be difficult for these students to catch up on the learning.

Severe chronic absence: Students miss 30+ days a year. Students that miss an excessive amount of school does become at risk of becoming an Early Leaver.

It is never too late to establish positive attendance habits, and it’s never too to improve your habits either.

Any student with a high amount of red attendance across the board, especially in English, will need to consider ways to improve to show their readiness for Year 11 VCE/VM.

We encourage students to look at their attendance for the Semester so far and to highlight what they can improve on for the remainder of the year. Speak with your Classroom Teachers or come and speak with one of the members of the Senior Sub School Team.

You can begin to improve from now by coming to class every day and on time to show Bemin Secondary College that you are willing to improve and show us that you are ready to enter VCE/VM.

Upcoming Phone Calls – Attendance Spree!

Your child’s Check and Connect Teachers are working closely with the Senior Sub School Team with making phone calls regarding your child’s attendance. We will be closely at their ‘Accounted For Percentage’, focusing on those students who are falling under the requirements set by the Department.

If your child is sick or absent, you are required to notify the school as soon as possible on the day of absence via the Compass Parent Portal or by calling (03) 7300 7979.

If you are interested in reading more about the departments attendance policies and guidelines click the follow link - Attendance: Policy | education.vic.gov.au

Ms. Montague

Senior School - Student Reflections

Jeneil V.

"Throughout this term we had many events such as formal, which was a very fun and memorable night. With athletics the following day which everyone had participated in and enjoyed, including me. In Humanities we were introduced to Politics which I did find challenging, as it was a very different and a new topic for us all. We have also been reading the book “The Hate U Give” in English, which has taught us a lot of values and we had to write an essay for. This term was very enjoyable, and everyone has loved their electives too. Hopefully next term can also be as good if not even better."

Rudra P.

"My experience at Bemin in term three has been very positive as it was filled with a few fun events such as Athletics Day. The things at school I enjoyed the most were definitely maths and art as maths has been quite easy and enjoyable this term and doing clay sculpting in art has been very interesting to learn - sometimes even a challenge but still worth it because of the fun. But the greatest challenge this term (personally) has been in science with chemistry and molecular equations and the chemistry CAT. All of this took a while to fully comprehend. Overall, the main experience this term has been enjoyable due to the change in electives for this semester along with receiving enriching coursework."

Helice P.

"This term was filled with excitement, determination and growth for both students and teachers. We had our first Bemin Secondary College athletics day and year 10 formal creating memories which will last forever. We faced challenges with our assignments, homework and tests but we overcame the pressure and put in our best effort. At the beginning of the term we made a decision on our year 11 subjects considering our future goals and our future plans in our studies. We had opportunities in school to learn new skills in our classes and overall excel in our studies. Looking forward to term 4 we are all excited and eager to advance forward as upcoming year 11 and await all the opportunities and enjoyment to come."

Riley G.

"My overall experience of this term was a good experience this term had a lot of fun events that made it worthwhile. What I enjoyed about this term was definitely the formal and athletics as it was two great day/nights. The most interesting thing I learned was definitely trigonometry in maths as there was a lot of stuff u didn't know. I didn't really have much challenges this term, it was a nice and easy term to go through. I've just overall enjoyed the oval being open too as I've been waiting all year for it to be open and haven't had something like this before. Overall, this term has been a great term for me."

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