Principal's Message-

Laura Spence

Dear McClelland College families,

I hope Term 2 is progressing well for your young person. The year is moving quickly, and we have already begun preparations for the 2027 timetable process, starting with Course Counselling preparation and the collection of initial student preference data. Our Year 9 and 10 students have also just completed an exciting Careers Week, including Work Experience for Year 10s, providing valuable real-world insight into future pathway opportunities.

Following the completion of our quadrennial school review, the leadership team has now begun work on our next four-year Strategic Plan. The review panel affirmed that McClelland provides calm and safe learning environments, well-structured lessons, consistent teaching practices across programs, and a wide range of engaging opportunities and activities for students.

Our next Strategic Plan will focus on further strengthening these practices through engaging teaching and learning approaches, more consistent formative assessment opportunities, explicit reading and comprehension strategies across all learning areas, and increased teacher coaching focused on pedagogical and responsive teaching practices.

In recent weeks, we have welcomed many Grade 6 families to the college for tours following Open Night and school selection processes. We were also pleased to host the Principal Team from Warragul Regional College, who visited to learn more about our classroom routines, School Wide Positive Behaviours framework, and VCE program.

Over the past fortnight, local primary principals from Karingal, Karingal Heights, Frankston East and Ballam Park have joined Leading Teacher Steve Shaw and myself during our regular classroom observations. These observations are part of our ongoing commitment to best-practice classroom management and high-quality teaching. Fortnightly, pairs of leaders visit classrooms, with one briefly taking the class while the teacher receives immediate coaching and feedback from the other leader. This highly successful model has been embedded for the past two years and continues to strengthen teaching practice across the college.

Our visitors were extremely impressed with our students, consistently commenting on their engagement, respectful behaviour, and the calm, supportive learning environments across the school. The visiting primary principals were particularly interested in our coaching and feedback model and are exploring implementing similar practices in their own schools.

As always, there have been countless events and achievements across the college, far too many to capture fully. Please continue to follow our social media and COG publications for updates and celebrations from around the school community.

Some highlights from the term so far include our highly successful Parent Teacher Interview Day, where it was wonderful to see so many families on site discussing student progress with staff. Earlier in the term, Harmony Day brought our community together through cultural dress, food trucks, IC activities, karaoke and plenty of fun. Congratulations to our School Captains, House Captains and Year Level Captains for their outstanding leadership in organising the day.

We have also celebrated state-level sporting success, with our students winning the top division in the Basketball Victoria 3x Cup. Congratulations to Kye Lester, James Shieffelbein, Jacob Shaw-Hodges and Noah Szwaja on this outstanding achievement.

Our VCE Theatre Studies students recently adapted, directed and performed The Trojan Women to two packed audiences, students represented the college at the Frankston Youth Summit, and our Year 12 VM students showcased their vocational pathways to younger students during the VM Careers Expo. Last week’s Year 9 and 10 Careers Week was another highlight, with Year 10 students participating in Work Experience while Year 9 students completed five days of career-focused activities, including two full days in the city.

Earlier in the term, our whole-school ANZAC Day assembly was outstanding, particularly the respectful conduct of our students throughout the event. Students were captivated by guest speaker Kevin Hillier, President of the Frankston RSL, who spoke movingly about his experiences in service as a young man. A special thank you also to our Music students for both their assembly performance and their ongoing participation in the annual ANZAC Day service in Flinders.

At the assembly, I also reflected on our end-of-Term 1 Colour Run, organised by the student Interact Club. With more than 250 students participating, the event raised an incredible $5000 for the Peta Murphy Breast Imaging Suite. Last year, the college raised just over $3000, and the Director of the suite shared that in 2025 they provided over 2318 biopsies, with our fundraising contributing to 977 of those procedures. It is wonderful to think about the even greater impact our students’ efforts will have in 2026.

All of this in just five short weeks! The second half of Term 2 will be equally busy, with exams for Years 9–12 and the commencement of Semester 2, bringing new subjects, teachers and opportunities for many students.

Thank you to all of our families for your continued support and positive engagement with the college as we work together to ensure the success of every student.

Thanks,

Laura