Principal's Report

Future Makers

I was privileged enough to spend an evening with our Year 9 students at Outdoor School – Bogong, before they headed off on their big adventure, the famous 5 day journey. The evening activity was to watch an inspirational movie of 2 Australian adventurers who attempted the return journey from the South Pole, unassisted. Students easily saw the connection to their upcoming adventure and were able to pick the characteristics and strengths that the explorers possessed, which helped them to overcome many obstacles that would make many other people give up.

There were some nerves, however, there was also a sense of preparedness, with the students checking over their packing lists to ensure they had not forgotten anything. While our students are not facing the perils of Antarctica, nor will they be in a situation where their lives hang in the balance of getting to a food stash, for some of our students, this journey is as big as an expedition to Antarctica and I am proud of the determination I saw in them.

School Council

Wednesday saw the last meeting of the current school council. I would like to thank all our council members who worked with the school during 2023 and thank our outgoing members for their time over the last 2 (or more) years.

Angela Stratton (3 years a member) has decided to step down from her position and Elisa Walker’s 2 year tenure is ending. Sarah Laidlaw is also stepping down from her position mid term, and Chris Greenhalgh (4 years) and Jarrah Brennan (6 years) tenures are coming to an end. Our Student Representatives, Callum and Ellie finished school last year, also ending their 3 years of being council members.

As such, there are 2 parent, 3 staff (DET) and 2 student positions vacant on school council. There are also 2 Community positions vacant – if you have any particular skills that you think would be valuable for the school council to have, please contact me.

Meetings occur twice per term, with a 2 year commitment. We are seeking self-nominations from parents, staff and students this year. If you have not been on Council before, it is a good opportunity to get to learn more about how our school works, provide another avenue for feedback from the community, and contribute to our school.

Self-nomination forms are attached below and are also available from the Office. Self-nominations must be submitted by Friday 8th March 12.00pm and can either be emailed directly to me at simone.roy@education.vic.gov.au , sent by post to arrive by the cut off, or handed directly in to the Office.

School Council election process timeline:

Staff News

It is regretful for our school that I announce that Maggie Jowitt was the successful applicant (again) for a teaching position at Virtual School Victoria (VSV), where Maggie worked last year. Congratulations Maggie! While Maggie had suggested that they would wait for her until Term 2, VSV had a different idea and wanted to get her in position much faster. Maggie starts with VSV next week. Ever the professional, Maggie has left as much work as she can to help her classes to continue. We will do whatever we can to ensure the disruption to our students is kept to a minimum. An email to impacted classes will be sent out shortly.

Student Free Days

This year, school has a total of 5 student free days, the fifth being the whole school Professional Practice Day. The remaining student free dates for this year are: 

• Friday June 14th (Report Writing day)
• Thursday 1st August (staff Professional Learning)
• Monday 4th November (Monday before Cup Day, staff Professional Learning).