Principal Report

Farewell and Thank you

As the Term draws to a close, I want to again express my gratitude for the warm welcome that I have received since joining the Lakes Entrance Secondary College community. I have been heartened by the investment by so many members of our community and I look forward to returning for a few days next term to support the next positive steps for our school.

I would like to welcome Owen Henderson to the College as Acting Principal for Term 4. Owen joins us from Traralgon College with extensive experience in student management, building positive climate and engagement and I know the College will be in great hands.

Over the past fortnight I have continued to witness much to celebrate.

I have seen:

A successful Parent/Teacher/ Student conference cycle. It was pleasing to see an increase in bookings from families and we look forward to seeing this trend continue with a positive trajectory.
Our staff and students embrace ‘Footy/ Sporting colours day’ with some fun lunchtime sport to finish the term.
The conclusion of our Basketball Skills program conducted by Adam Evans which has forged closer bonds with our local Primary Schools and has been a great skill development opportunity for our budding basketballers.
Some very commendable results at the Regional Athletics including Cooper, Alexis and Jackson progressing to the State Athletics next term.
An amazing ‘After dark’ whole school social driven by our Student Leadership Council. What a wonderful night with almost 100 students in attendance embracing the evening with such stylish outfits and even more stylish dance moves!
Our girls carve up the waves at Cape Conran on the ‘Gippy Girls Can’ surfing program sponsored by East Gippsland Shire Council.
Significant contributions to the Far East Gippsland School Network Writers Festival from all our year levels. The festival was opened with a wonderful Acknowledgement of Country from Taylor C and Joel T. I have included this at the end of my report.
A wonderful student led whole school assembly where we celebrated the highlights of a great term. It was fantastic to have our students acknowledged with excellence and endeavour awards and hearing the highlights from all of our Cocurricular activities as we build excitement around next term's program. Please make sure that you email Mr. Mark Smith with any ideas for future Cocurricular activities. Mark.Smith5@education.vic.gov.au

I briefly shared with our school the story of the inspiring young Canadian Terry Fox. After losing a leg to cancer, Terry Fox completed a marathon a day for 143 days in his ‘Marathon of Hope’ running a total of 5,373 kilometres across Canada before his body finally succumb to cancer.

The Terry Fox foundation has raised in excess of 900 million dollars for cancer research.

Terry Fox is not widely known by many Australians, but I would encourage you to read about his inspiring story of courage and hope. Learn about Terry Fox

As Term three draws to a close, I want to acknowledge our Teaching, Educational Support, Administrative, Maintenance, Canteen and IT staff who work tirelessly for our community.

We all play a role in continuing to improve our school. It will be our collective efforts that sees Lakes Entrance Secondary College grow and flourish. Thank-you for your trust and investment in our school. Wishing everyone a safe and enjoyable break.

Peter Bartlett

Acting Principal