From the Principal

Hello everyone, second last week of the term and everyone is looking forward to the end of term. As you are aware the term has been extremely busy full of opportunities for students to participate in. The latest event was the Year 11 Formal, held at the Frankston Arts Centre. A good time was had by all and the students looked amazing. Thankyou to the Year 11 team for their organization.  

This week also saw the students in Vocational Major organise the annual Market Day. It was a fantastic day with the money raised going towards our charity ‘Speak and Share’.

The total raised on the day $3,384.75.

 Thank you to all involved.  

Work continues behind the scenes developing the timetable for next year. Student selections have been entered and discussions about subject offerings are taking place. Subjects will only be offered if there are enough students wishing to do the subject.  

Last week, we welcomed back Tim Foulkes. He has been teaching in China for a few years and has returned with his family. He is teaching Maths. We have also employed Tracey Watchorn, also a Maths teacher, to replace Stacee Reddy when she goes on maternity leave. Tracey will begin with us next term.  

Have a wonderful week. 

Linda Stanton

Principal

Important Dates

SEPTEMBER

11/09/23 | Year 12 Trial Exams from Monday 11th to Friday 15th

15/09/23 | Last day of Term 3 (2.30pm Finish)

OCTOBER

02/10/23 | First Day of Term 4

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Middle School

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Our teaching and learning focus for the term has been sharing best teacher practice. All teachers have been engaged in peer observation of a teacher within their faculty. Before any observation there is a discussion between the teachers about an area of practice that they would like the observer to note. At Tuesday’s staff meeting the focus was a post discussion of the observations. There was a real buzz in the air as the teachers discussed their reflections of practice and something that they had learned by visiting another teacher. In Term 4, we continue our peer observations.

In addition to peer observation of teaching practice, the leadership team conducts learning walks throughout the school. Over the year our learning walks have focused on our STAR Instructional model, laptop use and next term our focus will be on the visibility of Learning Intentions and Success Criteria in all classes. 

We are still focusing on students bringing equipment to class and classroom expectations which includes simple routines such as lining up before entering the classroom and being ready to work.

As said previously, we are pleased with our student Naplan results in Numeracy and Literacy. We continue to work on our curriculum and teaching and learning practice to engage our students so that every child can grow in their learning journey. It is wonderful when we see our students proud of their achievements as they master the learning.

Wishing you a wonderful week.

Denise Leggett

Middle School Assistant Principal

Senior School

To students and families of the Mornington Senior School,

I wanted to acknowledge of lot of hard work that has happened in the Senior School over the last week. The Year 11 team did a wonderful job with the Year 11 Formal last Friday night and our students were a credit to themselves and Mornington Secondary College with the way they presented and conducted themselves. My thanks to Dr Keogh, Mr Williams and Ms Taylor for their work in planning the event and also the Year 11 Captains, Ethan, Molly and Bridie for their work in ensuring the night was such a success.

Our Year 12 VCE VM students ran a really successful Market Day on Tuesday, raising thousands of dollars for charity. It was a fantastic example of what the VM program and applied learning is all about. Well done to the Year 12 VM teachers of Personal Development Skills in particular, who facilitated the learning and planning that led to such a successful day. I look forward to seeing if future VCE VM cohorts can plan and execute even bigger and more successful events. Good luck to our Year 12 VCE ATAR students who commence trial exams next week.

Yesterday we announced school leadership opportunities at the whole school assembly and more information will be coming out shortly for additional leadership opportunities for students. We are seeking to grow our leadership program for 2024 and are encouraging a diverse cross-section of students to apply for the various roles. Leadership isn’t just for students with great academic grades. It is an opportunity for students who role model our values and seek to advocate for students and continue to seek change to make Mornington Secondary College an even better place to learn, grow and succeed. 

One more week until the holidays (a reminder that classes finish at 2:30 next Friday) and a well-earned rest for our students and staff… and some more golf for me 😉

Kind regards,

Nick Evans

Senior School Assistant Principal

Show your kids that school matters

You might be surprised to know that you are one of the biggest factors in determining how well your kids do at school. Whilst we all think that teenagers don’t listen and are spending their whole time doing the opposite of what we say, the reality is that they are very good at picking up the signals we are sending them.  So how can you as a parent send them the right messages? 

That’s a pretty big question, lets deal with the bit I’m interested in….school.

Being engaged   

We all know that when you ask your kids “what did they learn today” we get the “nothing much” response. But teachers have lesson plans updated for each lesson each day. Having a brief look a few times a week can give you a different question to ask. “I see you are learning about genes in science tell me something interesting that you learnt today”. You will be surprised at the difference a targeted question makes to the answer you get. It doesn’t cost you much time, but it sends the message that you believe that what your child is learning is important, and that will translate into improved engagement from your child.

Following up

All learning tasks are recorded on COMPASS, these are the tasks and activities that teachers feel are important to help your child embed the learning they are doing.  It is easy to look at what things your child has coming up in the next week, plus any items which are overdue.  Students will say things like “I’ve already handed that in” or “our teacher said we don’t have to do that”. I would suggest that you are sceptical with these responses. Teachers are not going to go to the effort of putting learning tasks onto Compass and then not care about them.  A simple response is “oh that’s ok, I’ll email your teacher and ask them” (which can be done easily via COMPASS.  We all want our kids to do the best they possibly can so they have the widest possible choices at the end of secondary school, the habits they form around their work will be with them forever and its something you can have a direct impact on from home.

Incidental talk

Watch what you say! Seriously, your kids pay attention to the things you say. Saying things like “I was no good at maths” or “I didn’t work much when I was in Year 9” provide an excuse for your child to do the same. Let’s say that you were no good at maths, I’m pretty sure you don’t want your kids to “inherit” that from you! Stopping the incidental negative talk will have a big impact.

In summary our kids pick up so much from us, it’s really important for us to be conscious of the effect we are having on them, both through the things we say and do and from the things we don’t say and do.

Preparation for next weeks news letter.

During the week you will have received a letter from the Australia Electoral Commission about “The Voice” referendum. Don’t throw this away you are going to need it for next weeks task that I am going to set you.

Kind regards,

Mike Parker

Assistant Principal

Year 7

Ms Jo Reeman

Year 7 State Netball Championships

On Friday 1st September we headed to Waverly Netball Centre to take on the best school in the State in Year 7 netball. We were one of only 3 public high schools in the competition, the other five teams made up of Catholic, Lutheran and private schools. 

The girls got off to a shaky start in our first game, our goalers nerves taking a while to settle. We fell short to St Helena Secondary College 14-22. Our second game was a see-sawing game again with our girls falling short, this time 12-17 to Victory Lutheran College. Our final game saw us fight hard and come within a couple of goals of Trinity Catholic College (Colac), eventually going down 17-22.

The girls fought hard every game, rotating positions and interchange and taking on any roles they were given. I could not be prouder of the 10 girls who have committed to training every Friday this term and were an absolute pleasure to coach.

Finishing 7th in the State in Year 7 netball is an amazing achievement, congratulations girls!

Year 8

Mr Adam Pirrie

Year 8 Assembly

Our Year 8 leadership team continue to develop their roles, planning, running and speaking in our Year Level assemblies.

Kayla, Emily, Lola and Sienna have developed their planning, decision-making, communication and time-management skills, organising and creating slides and speeches to report on past events and inform the Year 8 cohort of upcoming events. Baylin and Gus have also been developing their organisational, planning and decision-making skills, creating a sport up-date report and celebrating the sporting achievements of multiple Year 8 students.

In our last assembly we also celebrated our Year 8 STRIVE award recipients. Congratulations to all the students who achieved and were presented with their awards, be proud of such an achievement!

Our leadership team are currently planning our Year 8 fundraiser for early next term and a Year 8 ‘Beach Day’ event. It has been great to see our leadership team working together and working with members of our community to put these events into practice.

We are very proud of these students; the dedication they have shown to their role and the leadership skills they are developing have been a joy to watch.

Mrs Kim Rattue

Table Tennis

On Tuesday September 5th, we headed out to Mt Eliza Secondary to compete in the Year 8 Division Table Tennis. We had one boys team and one girls team compete and both teams went through undefeated. Students were exceptionally well behaved and showed a really high level of sportsmanship throughout the day. 

Congratulations to all students involved and I look forward to taking them to the Regional round in October.

Mr Shaun Doherty

Year 9

Mrs Sian Jones

Year 9 Wellbeing Presentations 

On Wednesday we had Mason and Nathan from Speak and Share come out and speak to the Year 9 boys. The presentation included talks of vulnerability, checking in with your mates and identifying different ways in which we can look after our own wellbeing and help others do the same. The students were really engaged in the program and were willing to share their thoughts and feelings and be vulnerable with their peers.  

We also had Kylie from Live Life Whole come and chat to the Year 9 girls. The first module involved the girls learning how to build a healthy and happy body, examine how stress presents itself and how to utilise stress management techniques to reduce stress levels. The second module began with discussions around prioritising human needs and ended with discussion around women’s health in which students were able to get any questions they had answered. Overall, it was a great experience for all students involved, and we look forward to collaborating with these organisations again in the future.  

Year 10 

Mr Jake Uhlenberg 

We hope that students are pushing themselves to become better and better as Term 3 comes to an end in a week's time, as very soon Term 4 will be upon us, and we will be spending time preparing for final performance tasks, exams and then a period of time where students can engage with Year 11 classes VCE ATAR and VM.

The weather is beginning to warm once more, and as a result, we are conducting a big push on uniform as the term comes to an end. If we have a concern with your child's items of uniform, you will begin receiving emails from us as a Year 10 Team, these are an offer of support above everything, so please, reach out if you require support in regard to your child's uniform.

Congratulations 

Congratulations to Carys Bradbury who has been selected for the Victorian States Schoolgirls soccer team as the goalie playing in Canberra on the 10th - 15th September. 

We wish her well and are very proud of her achievements.

Year 11 

Dr Jasmine Keough

The Year 11 Formal was a huge success! Every student who paid attended in glorious splendour! I honestly thought I needed bandaids as everyone looked so sharp! The DJ played great music, and our students did indeed show off their terpsichorean skills - what was lovely was how they all sang along as well. The year level student captains, Bridie, Molly and Ethan did a wonderful job hosting the event. There were many awards given for both students and teachers. These are a sample of awards given:

• Student most likely to move overseas: Ben Reynolds
• Student most likely to be a millionaire: Ben Schmitt
• Student most likely to start a charity: Raffi Schneider

Teachers, too, were not left out

• Ms Dana Lamb won most loved teacher
• And the Coordinators too were not left out either with Mr Williams winning teacher most likely to win a rap battle and Dr Keough winning teacher most likely to be famous

The Formal King was Dimitris Kaponis and the Formal Queen was Amira Lees. They both looked resplendent in their crown and tiara respectively.

The Year 11 Coordination Team are very proud of our year level. They behaved impeccably with no misdeeds, mishaps or misdemeanours. There will be photographs of our lovely students placed in the Year 11 Common Room soon. Mr Williams did a fantastic job organising the event and Ms Taylor worked hard in the background including writing out 160 place settings with beautiful penmanship.

Year 12 

Mr Scott Kirkby

Market day

A huge well done to all the Year 12 Vocational Major students on their final project- Market Day. This was a wonderful success and saw students put together events, activities and food stalls to raise money for the school's chosen charity, Speak & Share. 

Trial Exams

Trial exams commence next week and all students have been given the timetable via Teams. This has also been shared in previous newsletters. Student schedules on Compass reflect when they have their exams and in cross reference with the timetable, they will know what subjects they have at that time. 

If a student is absent for an exam, they are able to complete this on Friday as no exams are scheduled for that day. 

Connect Seminars

Note: Connect seminars and trial exams will not clash

Connect revision seminars are now finalised. Subjects confirmed are; 

• English Language
• General Maths
• Psychology
• Business Management
• Biology 
• Health
• Legal Studies
• Chemistry
• History Revolutions

Vocational Major sign off

Students are expected to be at school until the final Thursday of the term. The sign off process will allow them to be fully informed that they have completed their studies and their certificate. This will mean they are not required to attend in Term 4 if all is completed. 

Sign off sheets will be given to students during week 9/10. These need to be signed by teachers, parents and coordinators to confirm completion. 

Staff profiles

Viv Collins

My name is Viv Collins and I have been a part of the teaching staff at Mornington Secondary College for almost 11 years, working mostly in the Mathematics Department.  I have also undertaken a variety of roles including College Production Director & Choreographer, Victorian State School Spectacular Coordinator and Mathematics KLA Leader.  

Currently, I am working with the Disability Inclusion Team as the ADHD Expert. The opportunity to make a positive impact on the lives of students with diverse needs has so far been very rewarding. I have enjoyed developing my understanding of ADHD and using my knowledge in order to coach and support a wide range of staff at the college. 

In the classroom, I have been teaching Year 12 General (Further) Maths for the past 9 years. I thoroughly enjoy working in the Senior School and building strong relationships with these young adults. It is a joy to see them develop their skills and successfully finish their final year of education. 

Outside of work I enjoy dancing and pilates, going to concerts and musical theatre, and exploring nature with my young family.  

Wellbeing