From the Principal's Desk
Leanne Gagatsis - Principal
Creating a Community of High Expectations
Respect, Cooperation and Excellence
A notice about our upcoming SCHOOL REVIEW
Wyndham Central College prides itself on working collaboratively with parents, carers, and families in partnership to improve the personal, social and learning outcomes for students. One of the ways in which this is practiced is via our School Council and established committees. This enables a two-way path for communication between parents and the school. Parents are invited to hear about the great work that the teachers and staff undertake to support our student learning and wellbeing and to hear about broader Department of Education initiatives.
It also provides the opportunity to ask questions, provide feedback and to raise any improvement suggestions. We invite all parents/carers to speak with your parent representatives at any time to provide them with your perspective and feedback on what is happening at WCC. For further information and a list of names of our parent representatives please contact the administration office. Our school council meets at least twice a term and it’s a great way to have your voice heard.
EXTENDED OPPORTUNITY Term 4. As already mentioned in previous newsletters and bulletins, the College is undertaking our 4-year Strategic Plan whole school review. The overall aim of school reviews is to achieve improvement in the performance of a school through a process of self-assessment, looking at our achievement data and data from our survey’s, critically reflecting and then forward planning for the next 4 years. To support us to have a thorough understanding of our impact on the Wyndham Central College community, the school would like to invite parents/carers to an opportunity to meet with our reviewer Mr Robert Stephens. Bob would love to speak with groups of parents to ask for feedback about our past and current practice and to hear ideas for future improvement.
How: Join one of our two parent groups. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. Light refreshments will be provided.
When: 29th October Time: approx. 45 mins - 1 Hour
Where: The Community Hub – Link Centre, at the College.
Who: If you would like to and are able to join please contact the College on 87448900 to speak with Kristy Gray our Community Engagement leader OR contact Kristy via her Compass email address.
We would love to hear from a minimum of 40 parents/carers (20 per group) and it would be great if you could be one of them. Your input into the review will be invaluable. If you have any questions and would like to know more before committing to the group, please don’t hesitate to make contact and we can support and provide clarification.
Parent Survey extended until the end of term 3
Another essential in our future planning is to have the information provided by our parents/carers who complete the Parent Opinion Survey. The survey has been extended and will stay open until the end of term 3.
I would like to thank all the parents/carers who have taken the time to complete the online survey, and for those that did so at the Parent/teacher interviews on Tuesday. I would like to thank our Community Hub who have supported parents to undertake the survey, and I am looking forward to receiving the results that will certainly support us for our 2025 planning.
I invite all parents/carers that haven’t had their voice heard to fill in the survey which should take less then 15 minutes. Your voice is important to us!
Student Reports
As term three comes to an end this week, our very talented students have excelled in many endeavours during this term. Staff finalised interim reports and students completed their term reflections and goal setting activities on Friday 13th September. These will support students to build on their individual education plans and continue their improvement journey.
Our reporting processes and our parent teacher interviews are another way that we continue to build on our parent/carer relations, and I would like to reiterate that a key part of the success of your son/daughter’s education is in the way our families interact and work in partnership with the school.
Therefore, we once again thank all parents/carers who attended the parent teacher interviews on Tuesday 17th September. We were happy to see so many of our families attending and taking the opportunity to discuss students results and participation in many of the school co-curricular activities. Parents/carers should have received a copy of their child(ren’s) reports but as always, all reports are directly available to parents/carers via Compass.
If you weren’t able to attend, you are still able to make contact with your child’s tutor teacher and classroom teacher via Compass.
Year 12 students
Year 12 students are now on the homeward stretch and exams are just around the corner for most students. I ask that all Year 12 VCE and VCE/VM students reflect on the advice and preparation given to them by their teachers, which includes the term 3 report feedback. I also ask all students to complete their interviews and processes with our Pathways and Transitions (Careers) teacher Ms Siragusano which will support their future plans. A final reminder is not to forgot to join our college Alumni program. We always love to hear about and support our students in all of the future endeavours. I wish all of our students the very best of luck with the completion of final assessments, their exams and completion of 6 years of education at WCC. We hope that they continue to strive for excellence as I’m sure that their hard work will pay off and we are all able to celebrate at our Year 12 Farewell assembly and at our Valedictory dinner in October.
Acknowledgements
Whilst this newsletter is full of celebrations for the wonderful things that have occurred this term, I would also like to take a moment to acknowledge the work our students have achieved in their classrooms as well as the extracurricular opportunities that have been provided.
Once again, the school community would like to acknowledge the Arts Faculty and the wonderful work of a team of staff and student leaders in the presentation of our school play and school concerts and we look forward to the Arts show early next term. This extends to the Science faculty for our annual Science Fair, our Book week activities run through our Resource centre, our student services team that supported both our Wear it Purple and RUOK? Days and of course the SRC and House Captains for all of their leadership for Multicultural and Olympic weeks.
I would like to thank our student representative council for their tireless effort in organising all of our student led days and activities where they continue to build on student agency and a culture of inclusion. Well done!
This newsletter and our weekly bulletins and Compass posts provide many other highlights of student achievements and upcoming opportunities within the school and the local community for the remainder of the school year. I ask that you take the time to read the reports provided by the assistant principals, year level leaders and program leaders and continue to encourage participation. Education is more than just what happens in four walls, and we pride ourselves on supporting the growth of well-rounded citizens able to thrive in a contemporary world.
This leads us to the invitation for our whole school community to come and join us in celebrating the school’s 50-year anniversary at our community carnival. There will we many activities that the students have developed and will be running on the day. Please look out for the flyer and sign up via the link provided. We have a market, art show, rides, a community lane and a carnival lane, food vans, and we will see our students preforming on stage throughout the day.
I look forward to seeing you all on Thursday 17th October. Don’t forget to add the date to your diaries!
I wish all members of the Wyndham Central College Community a safe and restful term break and look forward to continuing to share our stories in term four.
Leanne Gagatsis - Principal
Creating a Community of High Expectations
Respect, Cooperation and Excellence