School Council Report

School Council Report

This is the first of our 2025 School Council reports that will be shared with you in the newsletter.

The 2025 School Council members are:

Parent Representatives:

-          Parag Bhindora

-          Emily Chen

-          Zoe Huang

-          Rangika Iddamalgoda

-          Saveena Nithiananthan

-          Stella She

-          Helen Szmajda

-          Joanna Wang

-          Yafeng Zhang

Community Representative:

-          Ai Me Lim

Staff Representatives:

-          Sharyn Asquith

-          Kathryn Burman

-          Adam Foster

-          Bianca Gatherum

-          Justine Mackey

The 2025 Annual General Meeting (AGM) was held on Tuesday 18 March where the Executive Team was declared as:

Executive Officer- Justine Mackey

President- Zoe Huang

Vice President- Emily Chen

Treasurer- Parag Bhindora

The regular March meeting was held at the conclusion of the AGM which included the following actions:

-          Endorsed the nominations of Saveena Nithiananthan as parent representative and Ai Me Lim as community member of the School Council.

-          2025 School Council Standing Orders were discussed and endorsed which included the formation of a Community Engagement subcommittee. Parents and guardians will be invited to join this committee which will convene in Term 2.

-          The 2025 Annual Implementation Plan was endorsed which will be accessible from the school website.

-          Finance reports were presented and endorsed.

-          The Term1 Easter Raffle was approved as a fundraising activity.

Justine Mackey’s principal’s report included an update on enrolments which are currently sitting at 926 students compared to 921 students at the commencement of the school year.

It also included an update regarding the school facilities:

We continue to work with the VSBA and DE North East Victoria Region to prepare for the removal of the relocatable classrooms and the installation of a new toilet block.

At the time of writing this report it is expected that works will commence on the weekend of 28 and 29 March to prepare the classrooms for removal during the school holidays.

We expect that the toilet block will be installed at the same time.

The VSBA is responsible for preparing the ground underneath the classrooms that are being removed. They will plant grass seeds which will mature over the next 6-12 months.

We will work with staff, students and the parent community to develop a plan for this space which might include outdoor learning spaces, a sandpit, play areas or a sensory garden.

Justine Mackey also expressed her gratitude to the school staff for their dedication and efforts to ensure that the school was ready for the removal of the relocatable classrooms. The whole team worked together to organise resources, prepare classrooms and learning spaces so that students could have a positive start to the year. We are very fortunate to have such a committed team of professionals who work together for the benefit of our students.

All School Councillors will participate in School Council training led by Syngegistiq during April to strengthen our understanding of the governance functions of the School Council.

The next School Council meeting will be held at 6.30pm on Tuesday 29 April. Visitors or observers can be present at a council meeting with the agreement of the principal and a decision of the council.

I can be contacted via the school office if you have any questions about the School Council.

Zoe Huang

School Council President