Assistant Principal 7-12

It is hard to believe that it is the middle of Term 2 already!  The time has flown and it is remarkable to reflect back on the start of the year and the growth the students have evidenced since then.  

It is crazy to think that we are already nearing the end of Semester 1.  This is a very busy time for our students with both formative (assessment to learn) and summative (assessment of learning) taking place, and in the Senior end with SACs and SATs.  This can lead to stress from some students, so we encourage open communication about managing workload pressures and stress management strategies at home, but also advocate open communication between the students and their teachers, in conjunction with welcoming communication from home with the school. 

This term has also seen some excellent community engagement, with the Year 7 Information Session, our Open Night and the Prep Information session all being raging successes.  This will no doubt continue with the Senior School information night later this term.  I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their attendance, staff for making the nights occur, and students for taking on the leadership opportunities in presenting their experiences at these events.

‘Excellence Through Opportunity’ has continued to be constantly displayed in the offerings for our students to participate in, ranging from sporting, such as State Champion Lawn bowlers to our Junior football, all the way to excellent careers and VCE expos and mock interviews to best prepare our students for life after school.  As always at this time of year, our Inclusion and Diversity Day was a spectacular event and a credit to all those who help make it happen.  This celebration of Inclusion and Diversity day allows our students to better understand not only those who may have a different culture of background to them, but also those with needs different to theirs in a way which helps build greater empathy and understanding for the future.

Through all these opportunities it has been great to see our students putting themselves out there and trying new things, but also representing the school and our values with pride.  I have no doubt that this will continue with the amazing opportunities to come, but especially the upcoming Debutante Ball.

Other positives within the school that need to be celebrated are the continued success of our School-Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS) framework with the excellent behaviour of students constantly being recognised in school.  It has been great to see students beginning to redeem their points through the SWPBS shop.  Keep up the great work everyone!  

To support the attendance of our students, on the last day of Term 2 we will announce a winner from both the Primary and Secondary Communities to take home a Tablet and Bluetooth Speaker! To be eligible students need to maintain 95% or above attendance for the term (allowing for 2 days absent).  As it stands, we have 193 in the P-6 space and 133 in 7-12 who are still eligible.  Our lucky winners will be drawn from all those still eligible at the end of term. This threshold may have passed for some this term, but it is a great opportunity to begin changing habits to be in the run for Term 3.

As a reminder, with the cooler weather upon us, it is important that our students are still adhering to our uniform policy (found here: StudentUniformandDressCodePolicy.pdf (kyabramp-12.vic.edu.au).

If students need support with their uniform, they can reach out to their classroom teacher/s, coordinators, Community Leaders or the front office.

Lost property is in the new college office. We no longer are keeping lost property in the old main office. Please ensure your child has all belongings such as uniform, drink bottles and lunch boxes clearly labelled. 

On our Community Leaders, Anna Fitzgerald and Claire Bourke have been doing an amazing job in the 7-8 space.  We thank them for their great efforts, but are also excited to be welcoming Fiona Wallace back to the role on Monday 27 May after she completes her Principal placement with East Loddon P-12.

For those currently driving, or nearing getting their license, the ‘Cool Heads Young Driver Program’ is being held at Twin Rivers School Echuca on the 19th of June. This program is aimed at young drivers and their families, either about to start driving (L platers) or already on the road (P platers). There is NO cost to attend.  The ‘Cool Heads’ Young Driver program was developed in 2008 and the program’s objective and motivation remains the same; to remove the devastating impact caused by fatal and serious injury collisions on our local roads.  The program is not about teaching our youth how to drive; it is about highlighting the real consequences of distraction and risk taking while driving. It is designed to improve the attitude of young drivers towards driving on our roads. 

Finally, we are pleased to inform you that we have recently updated some of our college policies. The revised policies on Anaphylaxis and Health Care Needs are now available and have been added to our college website.

Please take a moment to review these important updates at your convenience.

Thank you for your attention and continued support.

Thanks to all for the term so far and enjoy what remains of it!

Mitch Coombs

Assistant Principal 7-12