Assistant Principals' Report

Welcome to the Term 4 Newsletter

With just over six weeks remaining in Term 4, we’re heading into a busy period filled with end-of-year celebrations, warmer weather, and understandably a little fatigue. We encourage all students and families to take time for self-care during this season. While it can feel hectic, maintaining regular attendance is essential to ensure students stay on track with Common Assessment Tasks and participate in exam preparation sessions. 

Each mini school will host events later this month to celebrate student achievements. Announcements will be shared via Compass and our social media channels, so please keep an eye out for key dates and ticket information. 

Vertical Learning Program

Formal classes for all students will conclude on Friday, 5 December. This allows staff to finalise Semester 2 reports and begin reviewing and preparing curriculum programs for 2026. 

From Monday, 8 December to Friday, 19 December, we will introduce the Vertical Learning Program for students in Years 7–10.  

• Week 1: Students will spend half the day focusing on skills and capabilities within one learning area, then rotate to a different area for the second session.  
• Week 2: Activities will centre on capabilities or Victorian Curriculum skills in short, two-hour sessions. 

More information about the Vertical Learning Program will be shared with your child through a Microsoft form, students will indicate which days they will attend. Some activities in Week 2 will attract a small fee to cover resources. Please note that fee-based activities may have limited places, and enrolment will be confirmed on a first-paid basis. 

Supporting Positive Online Behaviours

Parents play a vital role in guiding young people’s use of social media the content they consume, and the time they spend online. This is more important than ever with new national laws introducing a minimum age of 16 for social media accounts, effective 10 December 2025.  

Under the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024, major platforms—including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, X, Threads, Reddit, and Kick—must take reasonable steps to prevent Australians under 16 from creating or keeping accounts. These measures aim to protect young people from harmful content, addictive design features, and online risks such as bullying and exploitation.  

Key points for families:  

• It’s not a ban on using the internet—children can still view public content without logging in, and educational platforms (e.g., Google Classroom) are exempt.  
• Responsibility lies with platforms, not parents or schools. There are no penalties for children or families if underage accounts exist, but platforms face significant fines for non-compliance.  
• Age assurance technology will be used by platforms to verify users’ ages, but Australians will not be required to provide government ID. Privacy protections require platforms to destroy any data collected for age checks.  
• The eSafety Commissioner will monitor compliance and provide resources for families, including webinars and conversation guides.  

We encourage parents to:  

• Set clear boundaries around screen time and online behaviour.  
• Discuss the upcoming changes with your child help them understand why these laws exist and what they mean for their social media use.  
• Explore resources at eSafety.gov.au for practical tips, conversation starters, and guidance on healthy digital habits.  

These changes are designed to give young Australians more time to develop social, emotional, and digital skills before engaging fully in social media. While the transition may be challenging, it’s an opportunity to focus on wellbeing and positive online behaviours.  

Attendance Matters

Improving attendance is a major focus at Doncaster Secondary College throughout the school year. In the Junior School Managing Me program, we have implemented learning activities that support students to track their attendance, reflect on absences, plan for improvement and share this learning with their family. This Term in both year 7 & 8 Managing Me classes students are reviewing their absences and using a traffic light approach to determine their next steps:  

GREEN: great attendance = keep going 

YELLOW: caution attendance is a concern = reflect 

RED: stop your absences are too high = check 

Students who have entered the yellow and red zones respond to some reflect and check prompts to help them consider each absence and plan next steps to improve attendance. 

As a parent do you know if your child’s attendance at school is great = GREEN zone? 

As school leaders the Principal Team and the Positive Climate for Learning and Community Engagement Leaders track student attendance throughout the year. We set attendance goals at each year level with a focus on improving attendance performance and reducing chronic attendance patterns. Chronic attendance is when a student has been absent from school for more than 20 days across the year. The attendance data below shows the proportion of students, at each year level, that have been absent from school for 18+ or more days so far this year. 

If your child has had 18 or more days absent from school this year, they are in the RED zone. It’s time to stop, these absence levels are too high. There is no safe number of days for missing school – each day a student misses puts them behind and can affect their educational outcomes. It’s never too late to improve attendance, set a goal today to improve your child’s attendance.  

Senior School Updates 

Year 12 students have commenced their final exams. We ask younger students to keep noise levels down near the Senior Centre to maintain a calm environment something they’ll appreciate when it’s their turn!  

On behalf of the Principal Team, we extend our gratitude to Year 12 teachers for their incredible support running masterclasses, marking practice work, and conferencing with students. Our Year 12s are fortunate to have such dedicated educators, just as our teachers have enjoyed working with such thoughtful and capable students. Best of luck, Year 12s! 

Exams & Headstart Program

Years 10 and 11 will soon begin end-of-year exams. These experiences and the feedback provided are crucial for preparing students for their final years. Students must follow exam rules—phones and smartwatches are not permitted in the exam room.  

After exams, the Headstart Program begins—a two-week orientation for 2026 VCE students. These classes are essential for understanding holiday homework, required resources, and expectations, as well as starting Unit 1/Unit 3 content. Attendance is compulsory, as missing these sessions will affect both this year’s attendance and readiness for 2026. 

Child Safe Standards 

Doncaster Secondary College Child Safe Standards Policy supports to create and maintain a child safe organisation and protect students from all forms of abuse. As a Victorian school we continue to build and our existing child safe practices with the aim to strengthen our culture of child safety and protect children and young people from abuse.  

The Child Safe Standards include requirements to keep children, young people and students safe, including: 

• involvement of families and students in child safety 
• schools’ focus on safety for Aboriginal students 
• better management of child abuse risks in online environments 
• governance, systems and processes for keeping students safe. 

We provide multiple opportunities across the year to engage our School Council and staff with training and the opportunity to share practices that maintain the Child Safe Standards. This year we have identified through avenues of feedback that we need to increase our students to the exposure of the Child Safe Standards language and resources available. We encourage families who would like to provide feedback or seek further clarity by reviewing our policy page on our school website or provide feedback via email to doncaster.sc@education.vic.gov.au 

If you would like to read more about Child safe standards you can access our policy on the school website or visit the Department of Education’s Policy page Child Safe Standards: Policy | education.vic.gov.au 

Regards the Assistant Principal Team, 

Kristin, Elisha, Wes & Belinda