PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

Dear parents and carers,

Welcome to our final newsletter for 2023.

The end of the academic year is always an exciting time with much to celebrate. Over the last few weeks of Term 4 we have had the opportunity to come together as a community in multiple forums to celebrate all the wonderful achievements of our young people.

In late November our Year 12 graduates came together for the college’s annual Valedictory Dinner at GMHBA Stadium. We had a key note speech from SCSC alumni Georgia Crowely who shared her wisdom and insights into post secondary school life with our graduating class. Georgia was a member of the inaugural SCSC VCE class of 2014. She also happens to be one of my past Year 12 Media students who has gone on to have a successful career as a Production Designer in film and television. A truly amazing achievement in a highly competitive industry! 

It’s a real milestone for a recently established secondary school to be able to welcome back one of their own graduates as a key note speaker.  We hope that Georgia will be the first of many SCSC graduates to return to the college and share with our community their stories, challenges and successes after their time at SCSC.

After a nice meal our students, dressed in their best, ended the night out on the dance floor enjoying the music from the DJ. I truly hope that our graduating class enjoyed their night together as mature young adults celebrating their success and excited about their future. 

The last two weeks has seen the college launch a two week, whole-school ‘Headstart’ program. All students in years 7-10 in 2023 commenced their Year 8-11 2024 learning. This required the entire college to switch over to next year’s timetable.

Our Headstart program was very well attended by our students and the feedback from teachers was that they engaged very strongly in the program. Further to this was the sense that classes were calm and settled; a real credit to all our young people so late in the year! I had the opportunity to get out and about and visit classes throughout the Headstart program and I was extremely impressed by the work I saw happening at all year levels. I’d like to thank all our the teachers and support staff for the outstanding learning opportunities they facilitated and of course I must thank and congratulate all our students who rose to the challenge of stepping into their new year levels and classes so confidently!

Next week will see us move into our traditional ‘Activities Week’ for students in Years 7-9 (2023). This includes the always exciting day at Adventure Park. I’d like to assure all parents of our younger students that we have activities on offer everyday for your children and I would encourage them all to attend, connect and finish the year by having some fun! 

A reminder that tonight we have our annual college Awards Evening at GPAC. This is our final event for the year and an excellent time to come together and recognise the large number of SCSC students who have gone ‘above and beyond’ in their learning programs and co-curricular opportunities. The night will include performances from our talented musicians and will also see us announcing the College DUX for 2023. We hope to see you there!

Finally I’d like to say a big THANK YOU to the entire Surf Coast Secondary College community for welcoming me back to the college as Acting Principal for Semester 2.  I’ve enjoyed reconnecting with foundation staff members, meeting lots of new staff, guiding the school through the review process and helping set the College’s strategic direction for the next four years. I’ve enjoyed meeting many parents and carers, working with the College Council and of course getting to know the students and seeing first hand the high-level teaching and learning that Surf Coast Secondary College is known for.

I wish the entire SCSC community a safe and happy holiday season. I hope you all enjoy the summer break and return in 2024 feeling refreshed and ready for an exciting new year.

Take care,

Shane Elevato

Acting Principal.