Principal Team Report

Principal Team Report 

Dear MC Community,

Welcome to the new school year and our first Links for 2024. Here at MC, we’re up and running i.e. learning!

We started today with our Marrung Assembly, together with the principal, Erin Norman, staff and Year 1 to 6 students of Mitcham Primary School. Indigenous elder Dion Edwards conducted the acknowledgment of country and then performed a smoking ceremony to allow all students (over 1,000 – his biggest crowd yet!) and the assembled staff to be cleansed for the year of learning and teaching ahead.

The week started with our staff planning day on Monday – a full day of meetings, briefings and planning time to prepare for the days, weeks and terms ahead. On Tuesday we were joined by our Year 7s and the entire Senior School. Both groups started the day with an assembly, and the Year 7s then undertook a four period program of orientation, especially with their laptops, Compass etc. The senior students were briefed on a range of critical policies and processes by the new and expanded Senior Sub-school team.

On Wednesday, the Year 8s and 9s commenced, and the school was a complete community again. And then we got down to learning. I particularly enjoyed participating in 7As Maths class with Daniella Taglieri, where we learnt to count from 1-5 in twelve different languages!

Student Expectations, the Dress Code and Accountability

Well done and thanks to the vast majority of students who have come back to school ‘ready to learn’.

Our Year 12 English staff were very pleased with the submission rate by our students of their summer homework. It also pleasing to hear that so many of the Year 12s enjoyed the new text “Born a crime’ by Trevor Noah. Not so positive is that our staff already have work to assess … but this means that they can now provide feedback for improvement to those students who have submitted their work.

This serves as a reminder to senior students about the purpose of our Accountability sessions; they are not a punishment, but rather a critical part of learning. We can only help students with feedback if we have something to provide feedback on!

We’re looking forward to:

• The Year 12 and 7 camps next week;
• Instrumental Music lesson commencing next Monday
• Our first Parent & Community Association (P&CA) meeting for 2024, on Wednesday 7th February
• Celebrating our new Year 7s, our new Year 12s, and last year’s Year 12s at our whole-school Leadership & Alumni assembly on Tuesday 13th February
• The Year 7 Family BBQ and Instrumental Music Night on Thursday 17th February
• Works commencing on the new Wellbeing Centre deck in beautiful Modwood, looking out on the oval once finished.

A ‘Top’ Mullauna Student – congratulations from VCAA

Congratulations to Ryan Harrison, who has been selected to screen their VCE Media film, The Nitpicker, as part of Top Screen 2024 at ACMI and Top Designs 2024 at Melbourne Museum.

Top Screen and Top Designs are annual events coordinated by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) in partnership with ACMI and Museums Victoria respectively. These events display outstanding film and design works made by VCE and VCE VET students from schools across the state.

This year, only 14 VCE Media films were selected for the Top Screen program from over 350 applications. Selected works exemplify the innovation, skill and creativity that can be achieved within VCE Media.

Top Screen will run from Friday 15 March until Wednesday 8 May at ACMI, Fed Square. Bookings are now available via ACMI’s website.

Top Designs will run from Saturday 23 March until Sunday 14 July at the Melbourne Museum, 11 Nicholson St, Carlton.

School Council Elections

We will publish details of the School Council Election process via Compass Newsfeed next week. Community members with questions should contact the principal, Harry Ruff, at the college on 9874 3422.

REMINDERS

Interschool Sport Charge 

Due to a significant increase in transport costs, from the start of 2024 all interschool sporting events will have a $20 charge for participants, payable through Compass when providing consent.  

Carparks & school driveways

A reminder to our school community of the restricted access for vehicular traffic to the school grounds, especially with the building program (and related demolition) continuing.

Parents are requested not to enter the college driveway / car parks between 8am and 4pm unless transporting an ill student.

Please use Tirana Street or neighbouring side streets for drop off and pick up, and please avoid blocking neighbours’ driveways and be aware of restrictions. Tirana Street should be less busy at drop off and pick up due to our new staggered start and finish times with Mitcham Primary School.

Parents and Carer preparation

Please continue to monitor our information updates through the Compass Newsfeeds.

If you have any new information or concerns about your child, please do not hesitate to contact the appropriate staff member at the college. This is particularly the case for concerns parents have for their child’s learning or wellbeing.

In most cases, the relevant Year Level Coordinator is the best first-point-of-contact. They are:

• Year 7 – Laura Chiappa
• Year 8 – Adam Verrell
• Year 9 – Anthony Lam
• Head of Junior School – Lisa Larmour
• Year 10 – Alister Graham
• Year 11 – Amanda Leahy
• Year 12 – Rebecca Kimm
• Head of Senior School – Kim Watson

School costs – parent payments

Compass is now open for contributions (voluntary) to be made, and we sincerely thank those families who have already made this payment or started a payment plan. 

We are well aware of the financial challenges many families are currently experiencing and have been following the discussion in the media with keen interest. We encourage all families to:

• Contribute if and when able to;
• Seek additional financial supports, like the CSEF (Camps, Sports & Excursions Fund) if eligible;
• Contact the college if you require assistance with a payment or wish to make a payment plan – we can then also explore further options and alternative support options e.g. State Schools Relief or other welfare options through our college Wellbeing team.

As a school, we will ensure that the differences between:

• ‘contributions’ (voluntary), 
• ‘donations’ (voluntary) and 
• ‘charges’ (required payments for a student to participate in a particular program outside the compulsory education e.g. camps)

are always clearly spelled out. 

We will continue to work closely with our parent representatives on school council and with the members of the MC Parent & Community Association (P&CA) to ensure we continue to provide an excellent state education within our funding model and along DE guidelines.

To further support the school and our community, we have establish a Mullauna Community Association this year; this parent/carer group will assist with school activities, fund raising opportunities, and act as a parent voice & advocacy group. This will be actioned at our first school council for the year.

Payments Information - Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) 2024 - Applications close 28 June 2024

CSEF is provided by the Victorian government to assist eligible families in covering the costs of school trips, camps, and sporting activities. If you hold a valid, means-tested concession card or you are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible for CSEF.

Department of Education - Parent Information

A special consideration category also exists for asylum seeker and refugee families. The allowance is paid directly to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions or sporting activities for the benefit of your child. The annual CSEF amount per student is $250.00 for secondary school students.

Thank you to all the families who have submitted their CSEF forms and provided their Health Care Card to the office to be copied. Contact the school office to obtain a CSEF application form or Download the form directly here

Please note we require a copy of your Centrelink card with the application.

Student Health & First Aid Reminders 

Parents / carers are requested not send a child to school if they are unwell. Schools are places where cross infection happens very easily. If your child has symptoms of a cold or stomach upset, then they will be passing it on to other students and staff. 

In cases where a student reports that they have vomited and or suffering from diarrhoea, it is a recommendation of the Department of Health that students are sent home immediately and excluded from school for 48 hours after all symptoms have stopped. 

The sick bay is a facility that is not staffed full time, and is provided to temporarily care for students, who are injured. Students who are unwell, are seated in the main reception and monitored until a nominated contact can come and collect them. Please ensure that your contact details and emergency contacts are up to date so that if the school is required to make contact with you to pick up your child/ren this can be done with maximum efficiency. Your understanding in this matter will benefit your own child as well as the rest of the college community.

Other important reminders

Parents/carers of students who do not have student accident insurance, are responsible for paying the cost of medical treatment for injured students, including the cost of ambulance attendance or transport as well as any other transport costs.

Parents/carers can purchase insurance policies from commercial insurers.

The Department does not hold insurance for personal property brought to schools and it has no capacity to pay for any loss or damage to such property.

Some key college policies

Please refer to the section titled ‘Policies’ for some key college policies regarding:

Privacy; Student Accident Insurance; Personal Property brought to School; Mobile Phones; Cricket Balls

Annual privacy reminder for 2024

Our school collects, uses, discloses and stores student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy. Please take the time to remind yourself of our school’s collection notice, found on our website. For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ Privacy Policy — information for parents. This information is also available in ten community languages:  Amharic, Arabic, Dari, Gujarati, Mandarin, Somali, Sudanese, Turkish, Urdu and Vietnamese.

Student travel to school

A reminder that:

• students should be using pedestrian lights and guarded crossings where these are available – senior students are expected to role model appropriate conduct for their junior peers;
• students using public transport are to behave in a manner befitting the school values and to use their Myki correctly.

Here's to a great year ahead - and a weekend that finally promises some long-awaited summery weather!

Harry Ruff, Jeff McMillin and Michael Bray 

The MC Principal Team