Principal's Report

Dear Families, 

It is hard to believe the 2023 school year is ending and it comes with mixed emotions. It’s certainly been a huge year for all our students and the staff with these last few weeks enabling us all to reflect on the achievements of our students through our final assemblies, graduation ceremonies etc. This year marked the completion of two capital works projects of $8.3m and I have nothing but pride when I walk through our facilities and see our students learning in an environment that they truly deserve. It has been a huge journey for our team since 2018 to see our vision for the Prep to Year 12 environment to become a reality. Even today the electricians were finalising the suspended power in the technology space.

The past weeks have been filled with exams and the step-up program for our 2024 Year 11 and 12s. Our current year 9s who are undertaking a VCE subject next year have also experienced their first classes in the senior centre and their feedback was certainly positive. This coming week will see our statewide transition day for future year 7s, the Year 6 and prep graduations and our primary soiree.

KEY DATES

Tuesday 12th December

Year 7 statewide transition day

Thursday 14th December – Year 6 Graduation and Soiree

4:00pm                 Gates Open

4:30pm                 Year 6 Graduation 

5:30pm                 Primary Soiree

Friday 15th December

9:15am                 Prep to 6 Assembly 

12:00pm              Awards Assembly 

Monday 18th December

Whole School Activity Day

Tuesday 19th December

Curriculum Day – Staff Induction – Student Free

Wednesday 20th December

1:30pm                 Working Bee Day  - School term ends at 1:30pm

Our whole school event ‘Run for Fun Colour Explosion’ last Thursday afternoon was a highlight of the year and I commend our students’ efforts in just joining in and having fun. The smiles said it all as they stood drenched and covered with colour after their run. This event wouldn’t have occurred without the incredible organisation and passion of Sarah Prismall, Casey Sperling and the Altona College Fundraising team. I commend our parent community who stepped into volunteer with spreading colour, supervising, selling goods etc. The local Police attended, along with the fire brigade, who ensured that all students experienced a good drenching as they ran, commando crawled, jumped and slipped and slid around the track. The sliming of the staff went down a treat except for Nathan Guthridge’s daughter Maeve who let us know she didn’t like it and articulated that the kids were being mean to her dad.  Whilst the sliming was fun the consensus was that it took at least three showers to remove the slime and between colour and slime Mr Kelly and Mrs Ibbetson still had pink hair on Friday!   The day was certainly a success for the fundraising team and we will advise the community once the final profit has been calculated. 

Thank you to all our students who raised money for the event, we have purchased two outdoor table tennis tables already and a downball court will be laid next week.  There were some students who raised over $1000 and the highest fundraisers enjoyed being able to slime the staff.

As we reach the last 7 days of the year, all secondary students in Year 7 to 9 have completed an examination period and will undertake a step-up week commencing today, December 11th.  I commend our students on the way in which they conducted themselves throughout the examination period. They were focussed, organized and displayed our values in the way in which they approached each day. 

The staffing process continues for 2024.

The appointment of Nathan Guthridge as Acting Principal for the 2024 school year has resulted in a vacancy for an Assistant Principal. Mr Kelly will be stepping in as the key P – 12 Assistant Principal and we have advertised two additional roles statewide for an Assistant Principal for the coming 12 months. They will lead our primary and secondary schools.  

Exits 2023

As advised, I will be taking long service leave throughout 2024 and will retire at the commencement of 2025.  Mrs Ann Ginis, Mrs Lynne Johnson and Mrs Lesley Dickens will also be taking some long service leave to start the year and will then retire. Lynne, Integration Support and Ann were both staff members at Altona West Primary School when the schools merged. Lesley has worked in the role of teacher aide for many years.   I commend them all on their amazing careers in education and thank them for the contribution they have made to our school. I know they will all be missed by the staff and the students that they have taught and supported throughout the years. 

Mrs Kylie O’Sullivan has taught at the college since 2006 when it was then Altona Secondary School. She has seen the merger of the school with Altona West and our growth to a P – 12. Kylie has taught mainly in the secondary school and was one of the inaugural VCE teachers achieving great results for her students in Psychology. Kylie has also taught in Year 5 and 6 in the primary years. Kylie has travelled the road to Altona for many years and next year will move to Oberon Secondary School which is a quick 15 minute drive away from her home in Torquay. 

Mrs Louise Wylaz and Ms Danni Sinnott will be taking maternity leave in 2024 and Ms Danni will then return to her base school. On behalf of the college community, I extend my very best wishes to them both as they begin another new chapter in their lives and look forward to hearing of their new arrivals in 2024.

The following staff are pursuing other opportunities in 2024

• Kaitlin Woolford – Administration & Data Manager – The Grange P - 12.
• Lachlan Christopher – Primary Teacher – leave 12 months
• Daniel Connell – Secondary Teacher.

Newly appointed teaching staff and vacancies for 2024. 

• Janelle Bragg - Primary Teacher
• Jacqui Morey - Primary Teacher
• Primary Teacher - Vacant – currently advertised
• Dayna Guardado- English / Humanities / Art
• Michael Robertson -  Information Technology
• Stephanie Ciantar - English / Humanities
• Mary Hearn -  English
• Curtis Desjardins - Maths / Science             
• Callum Walker -  Maths / Science
• Luke Hodgart -  Learning Specialist – Disability and Inclusion – Year 7 & 8
• Rachel Ibbetson - Learning Specialist Achievement – Prep to 6 

End of Year

All students will conclude the finish the school year at 1:30pm on Wednesday 20th December. 

A final note:

As 2023 concludes I pass on my sincere appreciation to you all for your incredible support to me in my role of principal over the past 11 years.  It has been the most incredible journey and I take the most amazing memories with me as I step away and begin a new chapter in my life. I am incredibly excited but no doubt the emotions will kick in as the last few days fly past. I could never have imagined 11 years ago that as I step away, from a struggling P – 9 of 170 students I would leave a Prep to Year 12 school that will grow to well over 700 next year and with over 80 staff. I am so incredibly proud of what we have achieved together and thank you sincerely.  I have been ably supported by the most incredible and committed School Council Presidents in my role as executive officer.  The support from my executive team of Nathan, Mat, and the wonderful Deb Dorgan, my Business Manager has been second to none and I will miss them all dearly, our daily chats, banter, and challenging conversations, it’s certainly been a wild ride at times, and I can’t thank each of them enough! My leadership team of Julie, Micheal, Amanda, and Hamish have been the support crew throughout the journey and have made an incredible contribution to the success of our College.

It has been the most incredible privilege to lead our Prep to Year 12 community and to see our students grow from beginners to seniors has been nothing short of heartwarming.  I will certainly miss my nightly farewells at the gate and the smiles that accompanied you all each afternoon. 

Thank you to all the staff who have worked hard to support my journey over the years as it is each one of you that makes a difference every day. 

My very best wishes go to you all in the years to come and I know I am leaving the College in incredible hands as Nathan steps in as Acting Principal with a great vision for the future. 

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy holiday as I hand over the baton to Nathan for 2024.

Julie Krause

Principal