Term 4 has begun with a real spotlight on our theme of ‘Building Community’. I hope that throughout this year there has been a noticeable increase in opportunity to come into our school and celebrate the excellent work that is occurring and recognise the achievements of our students. We are looking forward to finishing off the year strongly as we welcome the warmer weather and longer days.

CAPITAL WORKS

Our deadline of day 1 term 4 came and went with further delays related to weather and defect rectification. I am very pleased to say that we have finally been able to open the courtyard and toilets as of Monday 28th October. The active play space is a vibrant, colourful space with down ball courts, seating and lovely native garden beds. It has been great to see students enjoying the space and the general distribution of students around the grounds has made all areas of the school more comfortable during breaks. The toilets are as nice as a toilet block can be! The fixtures are high quality with sensor flush toilets and taps and the space is light and airy while maintaining privacy. This project has completed the major capital works required to bring our facility up to standard and we are looking forward to maximising its use in building a stronger Parkdale community.

We are hopeful that there will be a small sum of funds left from the latest works which we can put towards some additional shade sails and signage around the school.

CULTURE – VISION AND VALUES

We have been working on creating visuals for classrooms around our revised Parkdale Principles. Included in this will be other ‘branding’ work including communication/presentation templates such as letterheads, PowerPoint backgrounds, social media frames, etc. The intent is to have this in place for the beginning of 2025.

Work has also begun on a reframed Parkdale Secondary College awards system. Conceptually this will sit within our vision, based on the themes of Challenge, Community, Strive and Achieve. As our vision is our aspirational intent, we have decided that this is the best place to guide the positive reinforcement and recognition of our students.

BUILDING COMMUNITY - EVENTS

Art/Design Show

The Art/Design show was held 16th and 17th October. It really was magnificent. The work exhibited really highlighted the talent of our students and the significant expertise of our Art and Design teachers. The Wednesday night itself was simply amazing. There had to be at least 600 people through the show and all of them suitably impressed with the work and curation. This show has very quickly become one of the big draw cards of the year for parents and community members and has really assisted in spreading the positive word about Parkdale and lifting our reputation in the community. I’d like to thank the staff involved in organising and presenting the show and congratulate the students who had work exhibited.

Final week of classes of Year 12 Celebrations

Friday 18th October saw the last official day of classes for our Year 12 class of 2024. The final day is full of mixed emotions and this year was no different. Year 12 students were treated to a breakfast prepared by staff before their final assembly. Following the assembly students signed shirts and announced student nominated awards before their final walk out of the school in torrential rain! By and large student behaviour was very good and the celebrations fitting. While there are still exams to go and Valedictory to be held, the class of 2024 have done us proud through their time at Parkdale and we wish them all the very best as they embark on their next challenges.

World Teachers Day

Friday 25th October saw the Australian recognition of the annual celebration of the incredible work teachers around the world do and the difference they make each and every day to the lives of students and communities. This day is also about shining a light on the support required for teachers to meet the increasingly challenging expectations of the work they do. While I’m incredibly proud of the work our students do, this is only possible because of the commitment from our staff. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank our teachers for the passion, enthusiasm and energy they bring to our school and for the ongoing work to improve not just their own capacity but also that of our school.

STUDENT SAFETY

U-turns and School Drop-off and Pick-up

Concerns around student safety at drop-off and pick-up times have been raised again by members of the community and some unsafe practices have been observed by staff on yard duty. A major point of concern are cars performing U-turns at the Warren Rd entrance at the front of the college. Given the number of students crossing the road, the number of students riding bikes to and from school and the amount of traffic at these times, we ask that parents/carers refrain from doing this in the interest of keeping our students safe.

Students riding bikes to school

There have been some improvements in student bike safety, which is pleasing, but there are further improvements to be made. We have been actively doing what we can to talk to students and maintain a ‘no riding’ zone around the front gate area. We will be installing a visible sign to indicate a ‘zone’ where we ask students to walk their bikes to reduce to the potential for accidents. Students riding without helmets is still concerning and I encourage parents/carers to continue to remind students of the importance of wearing helmets while riding their bikes.

MELBOURNE CUP-EVE MONDAY 4TH NOVEMBER

Due to the historical low attendance on this day, there will be no scheduled classes running. Students attending school will be supervised throughout the day for an alternate program.

Library

by Sue Osborne