Principal's Message
Dear Families,
VUSC staff and students have cause for celebration this term. In the face of the considerable disruptions over the past years, we have recorded our school's highest NAPLAN results in all areas - Writing, Reading, Grammar and Punctuation, Spelling and Numeracy. Each of these NAPLAN areas were above Similar Schools and those secondary schools within the Brimbank Network.
Last week The Age featured their annual 'Schools that Excel' series. I am delighted to announce that Victoria University Secondary College was named the best Government school in Western Melbourne! The 'Schools that Excel' series celebrates schools that have improved their VCE performance over the last 10 years.
Download the article here:
Over the past 10 years, our median VCE study score has increased from 25 to 28, and the percentage of students receiving a study score of 40 or above has increased from 0.2 in 2013 to 5.7 in 2023.
Our success can be attributed to a suite of approaches which includes a consistent lesson structure used throughout the college. All classes begin with teachers outlining what students are expected to learn and how they will measure their success. Classes end with a reflection on what students have learnt and whether they felt it was successful. Teachers also collect data on lessons, analyse it and feed that data back into the class.
Teachers at VUSC use collaborative strategies - including sitting in groups and ensuring students are engaging with each other about what they are learning - to ensure all students are participating in the lesson.
The college has worked very hard to ensure that as a staff we are all on the one page and we are all working hard to ensure the best results for our students.
Our students are taught to use the Cornell notetaking, with a key focus on organisation, goal setting and agency. Weekly collaborative VCE study groups help students with their studies or talk through career guidance. This news reinforces the crucial role of high-quality teaching and learning in attaining positive student outcomes. Knowing our students and where their point of need is at, has played a significant role in the impressive improvements we have made despite the challenges staff and students have had to face over the years.
Brimbank Young Researchers Program
Our Year 9 students also featured in the newspaper recently, in an article about their participation in the Brimbank Young Researchers Program. I am very proud to share our students' amazing achievements with our local community!
Annual Concert and Awards
Congratulations to our outstanding music students and the music staff for a brilliant Annual Concert last week! The hall was filled with enthusiastic and appreciative families, friends and staff, who all enjoyed the wonderful performances by our students.
In addition, Concert Band and Big Band students were also awarded Gold Shields in the Victorian School Music Festival this term! Congratulations to the students and Mr Breen, our terrific Music Leader and his staff for these amazing achievements, I am extremely proud of you all!
Year 7 Enrolment 2024
I am pleased to announce that our Year 7 enrolment for 2024 has increased to 250 students which is our highest enrolment ever for Year 7. Our Year 7 Information Evening will be held on Monday 4th September online via Microsoft Teams. All Grade 6 students joining us next year and their parents/carers have been formally invited to the Information Evening. I would especially like to acknowledge and congratulate the Junior Campus Captains for volunteering to host the evening.
Model UN Conference
Students in Year 8 and 9 AVID have the exciting opportunity to be part of a Model UN Conference that will be happening all day on Tuesday 29th August in the Drama Room.
The event will be held in conjunction with students from our sister school in China.
A Model UN is a whole-day simulation of a session of the UN General Assembly run as a creative forum of role-play and debate. Students step into the shoes of country ambassadors and draw on negotiation and diplomacy skills to ensure their country’s views are heard. Over the course of the day students have the opportunity to interact with other delegates during the caucus sessions, present their country’s position to the General Assembly and move and vote upon amendments to a Draft UN Resolution.
Students have been working extremely hard in AVID to prepare for the day and I am positive their experience will be life changing.
NRL Peter Mulholland Cup
A huge congratulations to our Senior Boys Rugby League team who were recently crowned the U18 Storm Cup Champions, officially making them the best Schoolboys team in Victoria! The team progressed to the quarter finals of the NRL Peter Mulholland Cup in Sydney, competing against Patrician Brothers Blacktown on August 16 at the Windsor Sporting Complex. What a big occasion it was for our boys, mixing with the very best players in Schoolboy rugby league.
Our VUSC boys were defeated but they were competing against the best rugby team in the country. They played hard, they played well, and, in my eyes, they are the BEST!
Well done boys on a tremendous effort, very proud of you all!
And well done to our coach, Mr Adam for coaching our boys to compete in the big boys' league!
Year 7 Basketball Champions
Congratulations to the Year 7 Girls Basketball team for winning the Keilor Division event recently (pictured here)! Well done girls, a fantastic effort!
Wear It Purple Day – Friday 25th August
Wear It Purple day is an annual event on the last Friday of August each year and this year it fell on August 25th. The principles of Wear It Purple are to:
- Advocate for and empower rainbow young people
- Celebrate and promote the value of diversity and inclusion in all community settings
- Raise awareness about sexuality, sex and gender identity and challenge harmful social cultures
- Champion rainbow role-models to help young people establish the confidence to be who they are.
Student learning around Wear It Purple events form part of Emotional, Social and Spiritual Wellbeing capabilities. It also aligns with Rights, Resilience and Respectful Relationships within the strategic framework ‘Every Student is Known, Valued and Cared For’ and seeks to build relationships by creating a safe environment for all children at VUSC.
This year VUSC celebrated Wear It Purple day by:
- encouraging students to wear a purple accessory item or a purple ribbon
- providing information in home groups
- providing cookies with purple smarties
- making a pledge wall
- having a stall in the lunch areas where we provided information on Wear It Purple day
- helping students make rainbow/purple ribbons.
Every Day Counts….Attendance
Extensive research over many years indicates that attendance is an important contributor to a student’s academic achievement and that all school days matter.
To put this in perspective a student who misses school one day per fortnight is equivalent to missing four weeks per year or more than a year’s work over their school life. While VUSC’s attendance data is commensurate with the state average, we seek your help in improving our attendance rates by:
1. Actively monitoring your child’s attendance via the COMPASS parent portal;
2. Refraining from booking holidays or organising family reunions during the school term; and
3. Monitoring your child’s sense of belonging and connectedness to the school and raising issues of concern early with the relevant Year Level Co-ordinator, Middle/Senior School Leader, or Campus Principal.
Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey
Parents and carers are reminded that this survey is still open until Friday 8th September. Please see Compass for the survey link.
The Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey is an annual survey offered by the Department of Education that is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behaviour and student engagement. The survey is optional but we encourage all families to participate. Our school will use the survey results to help inform and direct future school planning and improvement strategies.
The survey will be conducted online, only takes 20 minutes to complete, and can be accessed at any convenient time within the survey period on desktop computers, laptops, tablets or smartphones. The online survey will be available in English and 10 other languages including Arabic, Greek, Hakha Chin, Hindi, Japanese, Punjabi, Simplified Chinese, Somali, Turkish, and Vietnamese.
Please speak to one of the Principal team if you would like more information.
Elaine Hazim
College Principal
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Child Safety at VUSC
Victoria University Secondary College is committed to providing a child safe and child friendly environment, where students are safe and feel safe.
Our child safety and wellbeing policies outline the measures and strategies we have in place to support, promote and maintain the safety and wellbeing of our students:
- Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy
- Child Safety Code of Conduct
- Child Safe Standards Risk Register
- Child Safety Responding and Reporting Obligations Policy and Procedure
All of our policies are available on our school website here. As valuable partners in promoting and maintaining child safety and wellbeing at VUSC, we welcome and encourage your feedback.