Principal's Report
Vermont Secondary College

Principal's Report
Vermont Secondary College
Welcome to all staff, students and their families to Vermont Secondary College for the start of the 2026 academic year. I would like to particularly welcome the Year 7 class of 2026, as well as students and families who are newly enrolled at the college in Years 8 to 12. I trust all community members had a safe and enjoyable summer break.
The students and staff are to be congratulated on how well they have settled back into school life over the last two weeks; it is a credit to you all.
Demand for enrolment in the college continues to remain high from our local community. For the first time in the history of the college our student numbers are greater than 1,700. See below for a breakdown of this figure:
Year 7 305
Year 8 313
Year 9 277
Year 10 291
Year 11 261
Year 12 258
Total 1,705
On an extremely positive note, three 10Mods have been installed, one before the summer break and 2 over the January break. These classrooms are double story and each 10Mod consists of 4 classrooms and office space on both levels. This brings a total of 12 new classrooms into the college. A 5Mod was moved to accommodate these new classrooms and we were able to have two extremely ancient portables demolished and the 5Mod, consisting of 2 classroom and office area, put in their place and be fully refurbished. We also had a new toilet block installed which will be accessible to the Year 8 cohort.
The delivery, installation and refurbishment of these classrooms have been funded by the State Government/Department of Education (DE) and we are extremely thankful.
The four external basketball/tennis/netball courts at the side of the new gymnasium are being fully resurfaced and will be completed within the next week or so.
A huge thank you to Mike Stevens, Assistant Principal overseeing Buildings & Grounds, for the many hours he has contributed to getting these significant improvements projects completed over the last few months.
Thank you also to the families who have donated to our Library or Building fund (both tax deductible). These donations are greatly appreciated and assist us to continually maintain and improve facilities and equipment for the school community. In this case the Building Fund will allow us to attend to critical roofing works and replacing the year 7 deck. We appreciate the support of the college community in helping us to support your child. Donations are always greatly gratefully accepted.
All staff (Teachers & Education Support) look forward to the 2026 school year and working productively with our college students and families by providing a supportive, happy and stimulating educational environment.
I’m pleased to introduce and welcome 15 new staff and 4 returning staff members for the 2026 school year. A number of these staff were involved in the Transition Program last year or started in Term 4 2025.
Teaching
Meg Benger – French
Trainee Support
12. Nikayala Seamer – Sport trainee
Education Support
13. Miriam Parker – Inclusion
14. Nicole Lin – Attendance Officer
15. Peter Joyce - Gardener
Returning
16. Meredith Daniels – Psychology/Commerce
17. Sarah D’arcy – Science/Maths
18. Alyssa Di Benedetto - Science
19. Sally Todaro - Commerce
Vermont Secondary College is extremely pleased with our students VCE/ATAR results for the 2025 academic year. In an excellent year of results, Vermont Secondary College warmly applauds the class of 2025. Highlights include –
VCE Class of 2025 ATAR | Number of VSC students that achieved within each range | Total number of VSC students above each range | % of 205 Year 12 VSC Students | State-Wide Placement = Top % |
| 99 and above | 2 | 2 | 0.98 | 1 |
| 98 and above | 5 | 7 | 3.41 | 2 |
| 97 and above | 6 | 13 | 6.34 | 3 |
| 96 and above | 6 | 19 | 9.27 | 4 |
| 95 and above | 5 | 24 | 11.71 | 5 |
| 90 and above | 35 | 59 | 28.78 | 10 |
| 85 and above | 32 | 91 | 44.39 | 15 |
| 80 and above | 28 | 119 | 58.05 | 20 |
| 75 and above | 19 | 138 | 67.32 | 25 |
| 70 and above | 20 | 158 | 77.07 | 30 |
| 65 and above | 11 | 169 | 82.44 | 35 |
| 60 and above | 8 | 177 | 86.34 | 40 |
| 50 and above | 21 | 198 | 96.59 | 50 |
VSC VCE 2025
I would also like to acknowledge the Year 12 students who completed their Vocational Major (VM) or a non-ATAR scored VCE. Congratulations on successfully completing your final year of secondary schooling and receiving a VM or VCE Certificate of Completion.
An outstanding result from our 2025 VCE cohort and staff in light of their first two years of secondary school (Year 7 and 8) classes being taught predominantly via remote learning and significant disruptions in 2022 with ongoing COVID related staff and student illness.
Thank you to all families for selecting Vermont Secondary College as your school of choice for your child’s educational journey. Well done and congratulations to the class of 2025 and best wishes into the future!
| 2013 | 31.81 | 2014 | 31.19 | 2015 | 31.03 |
| 2016 | 30.22 | 2017 | 30.70 | 2018 | 31.17 |
| 2019 | 32.11 | 2020 | 31.45 | 2021 | 31.69 |
| 2022 | 31.0 | 2023 | 32.0 | 2024 | 32.0 |
| 2025 | 32.0 |
Tony Jacobs
Principal
Vermont Secondary College
Congratulations go to the following 6 Year 12 students who have been selected as the 2026 House Captains:
Hotham – Imani Klair & James Plitas
Macedon – Leana Bulich & Emily Wilson
Stirling – Asman Brar & Juliet O’Brien
Well done to our 6 House Captains on your appointment and the college looks forward to working with you over the year. The 2026 VSC School Captains will be announced over the coming week.
A reminder that the annual VSC House swimming sports will be held on Thursday 12th February at the Croydon Memorial Pool, Hewish Rd & Springfield Ave, Croydon.
ALL YEAR 7, 8 and 9 STUDENTS WILL ATTEND the swimming sports. Regular Year 10, 11 & 12 classes will be running at VSC for all senior students, apart from those registered and competing from the three senior year levels.
For full details please refer to the Sports Report in this newsletter.
The Enrolment Census by DE (Department of Education) is carried out each year in late February. Student enrolment and attendance is critically important to the college’s funding. If students have not appeared by the end of February, we will lose funding for them following the DE Census Audit. If students have extended absences i.e. illness or overseas, and there is documentary evidence of liaison with home e.g. letters signed and dated by parents/guardians, medical certificates, phone call records etc. then they will be allowed in our census count, and we will receive department funding for them.
In the past the meticulous records kept by our Attendance Officer in the General Office, Student Managers and classroom teachers have been critical in retaining students and hence funding. The support of parents/guardians in providing explanations for student absences also assists us to take care of the wellbeing of our students and is of vital importance. Your co-operation and assistance in keeping the school informed regarding student absences is essential. If you have any queries or concerns then please call our Attendance Officer, Nicole Lin, via the General Office or relevant Student Manager.
VSC Council elections will be called for early next week and there are vacancies available for parent = 3, student = 1 and staff = 2 representatives. Information will be sent out next week in regard to the process, with nomination forms attached.
2026 VICTORIAN SCHOOL TERM DATES
Term 1
Tues 27 January - Thurs 2 April (Good Friday April 3)
Term 2 Mon 20 April - Frid 26 June
Term 3 Mon 13 July - Friday 18 September
Term 4 Mon 5 October - Fri 18 December
FOR VICTORIAN SCHOOL TERM DATES 2025 – 2030 GO TO -
https://www.vic.gov.au/school-term-dates-and-holidays-victoria
PUBLIC HOLIDAYS IN VICTORIA
https://business.vic.gov.au/business-information/public-holidays/victorian-public-holidays-2025