Principal's Report
Education Week
This week we are proudly celebrating Education Week across Torquay College, recognising the outstanding learning, growth, and connection that takes place in our classrooms and across the school community each and every day. Education Week provides an opportunity to celebrate not only student achievement, but also the strong partnerships between staff, students, and families that support learning and wellbeing.
At Assembly this Friday, we will have a special Education Week focus where we will celebrate the great work occurring across the college. This will include recognising examples of student learning, engagement, leadership, creativity, and positive contribution to our school community.
As part of Education Week, we warmly invite families to visit their child’s classroom on Friday morning from 8:30am for up to the first hour of the school day. This is a chance for students to proudly share their learning environment, classroom routines, and some of the work they have been completing. Building strong home-school partnerships is an important part of supporting student success, and we look forward to welcoming families into our learning spaces.
Walk to School Safely Day
Friday also coincides with National Walk Safely to School Day, which promotes healthy habits, road safety awareness, active lifestyles, and environmental sustainability. To complement this important initiative, students will have access to themed colouring sheets and activities throughout the day. We encourage students and families, where possible, to walk, ride, or scoot safely to school and continue conversations around road safety and wellbeing.
Homework Requests
At Torquay College, classroom teachers do not provide additional homework or extra learning packs to be completed at home, apart from what is assigned to the whole class. At the beginning of each term, families are provided with an overview of the learning that will be covered in class throughout the term. Families are always welcome to support their child’s learning at home in ways that complement classroom learning. The school provides access to a number of valuable online resources including Times Tables Rock Stars, NumBots, and Decodable Readers Online. Other optional programs families may wish to purchase independently include Mathletics and Nessy. Some families may also choose to purchase additional learning books or resources to support practice at home from reputable educational suppliers such as Teacher Superstore. Reading regularly at home, practising number facts, and engaging in conversations about learning continue to be some of the most valuable ways families can support their child’s education.
Cyber Safety and Online Behaviour
As a school, student safety and wellbeing remains a priority both onsite and in the online environment. Recently, the school has received some alarming reports relating to inappropriate communication occurring through student group chats and social media platforms in the senior years. This has included repeated use of racist, homophobic, and derogatory language, which is deeply concerning and not reflective of our school values.
While schools play an important role in educating students about respectful relationships and digital citizenship, the primary responsibility for monitoring and supervising students’ online communication sits with parents and carers. Social media platforms, Snapchat, group chats, gaming chats and messaging applications require active family oversight, clear boundaries, and ongoing conversations at home regarding respectful behaviour, digital safety, and appropriate communication. We strongly encourage families to regularly monitor devices, review apps and group chats, understand privacy settings, and speak openly with children about their online interactions and responsibilities.
There are many excellent resources available to support families through the eSafety Commissioner website: eSafety Commissioner
Parent can book in to a range of webinars at https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents/webinars
To further support our students, Victoria Police will be visiting the school next month to deliver educational cyber safety sessions focused on respectful online behaviour, digital footprints, and staying safe online. Families are also reminded that schools may respond to serious online behaviour occurring outside of school hours where it impacts the safety and wellbeing of students or staff. Under Department of Education policy, principals can, in exceptional circumstances, suspend students for behaviour occurring outside of school, including online behaviour, where a student behaves in such a way as to pose a significant danger, whether actual or threatened, to the health, safety or wellbeing of another student or staff member. Working together as families, students, and school staff is essential in creating safe, respectful, and positive online environments for all young people.
School Uniform Tender
Our school uniform tender is being distributed today. If you know of any businesses that may be interested in submitting a tender for the wholesale supply of uniforms for Torquay College, we encourage them to get in contact with Matthew Leeds, Business Manager, for further information regarding the process and requirements. We welcome expressions of interest from suppliers who can support our school community with quality, affordability, and ongoing service.
On a personal note, I will be taking personal leave from Thursday 28th May for the remainder of the term. During this time, Amy Snow will be stepping into the Acting Principal role in my absence. As this will be my final newsletter for the term, I would like to sincerely thank all students, families, and staff for your ongoing support throughout a busy and successful semester. It has been wonderful to see the continued growth, achievements, and strong sense of community across Torquay College.
I look forward to reconnecting with everyone at the beginning of Term 3 and wish all families a safe and enjoyable end to the term.
Many thanks,
Louise Kahle
Principal