Principal Team Editorial

Our Positive School Culture

Last week, I had an older gentleman visit our school to personally let me know how impressed he was with a couple of our Year 10 students who had gone out of their way at the local tennis club to help him find his keys when he thought he had lost them. A couple of days later, an elderly woman rang the school telling me how grateful she was to the couple of students who had noticed how distressed she was, and stopped to change her tyre. And this week, I received the following emails:

‘I just wanted to acknowledge the behaviour of one of your students. I was waiting to catch the same train from Flinders Street station as he was, when I witnessed him addressing an older gentleman in the most appropriate manner. A disabled lady was attempting to pass when your student politely bought this to his attention by saying “excuse me sir”. If that wasn’t enough, I then witnessed him lending a hand to another gentleman who seemed confused and unable to speak English. I have three sons myself and am a local, so I was very pleased and proud to see such a sight from one of our local kids. Just thought that such behaviour should be acknowledged and praised. People are quick to complain but rarely compliment when deserved.’

'Good morning. Two young men in college jumpers gave up their seats for us on the no 58 tram and were very friendly. On departing the tram they thanked the driver. What a credit to themselves and the college. Congratulations the applause is for the boys and the college.👏👏👏👏👏'

As the Principal of Wantirna College, I couldn’t be prouder of these students and the many other students who demonstrate this level of kindness and respect on a daily basis. Although our core business is learning and teaching, the foundation of a positive school culture is community. 

Research evidence clearly demonstrates that ‘a positive relationship with the school community can shape a student’s emotional, behavioural, and cognitive engagement with schooling and influence academic outcomes (Dix et al. 2020)’. In short, for students to thrive as learners and, more importantly, as people, they need a strong sense of community that is built on trust, respect, and kindness. 

The work we have been doing with our School Wide Positive Behaviours, classroom routines and high expectations of punctuality, equipment and uniform is about teaching students how to embed these values in everyday life which lays the foundations for a strong community culture.

This past week, our Year 9 and 10 students have been out and about in the community with our 9s on City Experience and our 10s doing Work Experience. Not only am I confident these fantastic experiences will be great learning opportunities for our students, I’m confident our students have interacted with the wider community with kindness and respect, not only making us proud but also contributing to the positive school culture we have at Wantirna College. 

Staffing

Since the beginning of the year, David Black has been Acting Assistant Principal and we are thrilled to announce his substantive appointment as Assistant Principal of Senior School. Last year, we achieved outstanding VCE results and we look forward to David leading the Senior Team and continuing this great work.

Parent Forum

Thanks to the parents/carers who came along to our Term 2 Forum earlier this week. It was great to get some feedback about what’s working well and areas for improvement. I appreciated the opportunity to share some chronicle post data detailing which year levels and classes are coming to class on time with the correct equipment. We then celebrated the positive school culture that was reported in the recent staff pulse check survey (see below) and our wellbeing team concluded the evening with some practical strategies for parents to support their children in having open and honest conversations about online safety.    

We hope to see many of you at our Term 3 Parent Forum on Tuesday 3 September. The theme will be Buildings and Grounds.

Carrie Wallis

Principal