PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

WELCOME

Welcome back to all of our wonderful staff, students and families as we commence another academic school year, and I extend a very special welcome to our new McKinnon families.  

I know 2025 will be a successful year for our community, and I look forward to getting to know our new students and families whilst continuing to support current families through their child’s secondary education.

It’s always a wonderful feeling to feel the buzz of the students as they acquaint themselves with their new classes, teachers and surroundings.  

I encourage our students to make this year as fulfilling as possible and make the most of every opportunity presented.

STUDENT LEADERSHIP  

It was a pleasure to introduce the 2025 Captains at our first whole school assembly today. These students have demonstrated exceptional qualities and dispositions over many years, and I wish them all the very best in undertaking these leadership roles. 

I congratulate them all and know they will serve our community with pride. 

SCHOOL CAPTAINS

Jake Lasnitzki & Amelie Villella

DEPUTY SCHOOL CAPTAINS

Dylan Galgut, Amelie Hicks, Katelyn Nguyen & Alexander Rowe Hansen (Absent) 

HOUSE CAPTAINS (SPORT)

Chisholm Captains

Joshua Bridges, Siena Nott, Alma Segev & Thomas Whitney

Flynn Captains

Jessica Fellini, Amelie Maclennan, Mark Serebro & Alexander Rowe Hansen (Absent)

Gilmore Captains

Samuel Bailey, Allegra Orso, Timothy Roche

& Christina Tan

Monash Captains

Dylan Galgut, Archie Hooper-Duffy, Maddie Stancheva & Jaime Stefanidis

HOUSE CAPTAINS (MUSIC)

Chisholm Captains

Tommy Barton, Olivia Capurro-Martinez, Andrew Jang & Ioan Robinson

Flynn Captains

Francis Eather, Helios Li, Susana O’Leary & Julia Si

Gilmore Captains

Adele Finn, Milana Gavrilenko, Sophie Maxwell & Katelyn Nguyen

Monash Captains

JJ Braithwaite, Angel Jiang, Arnav Mahajan & Amelie Villella

EAST CAMPUS SCHOOL LEADERS

East Campus School Captains

Yael Lasnitzki & Itay Volnerman

East Campus Deputy School Captains

Bhumika Kapur, Ruma Lee, Justin Park & Zhenni Ruddock

East Campus Council President

Emelie Kaldor-Bull & Sebastian Le

HOUSE CAPTAINS

Chisholm Captains

Sonia Nair & Dishan Shanmuganathan

Chisholm Vice Captains

Devika Rejesh Gayathri & Stefania Trapetsa 

Flynn Captains

Matthew O’Leary & Clementine Wilson 

Flynn Vice Captains

Miri Karro & Aaron Koverdinsky

Gilmore Captains

Brendan Ji & Ruby Shepherd

Gilmore Vice Captains

Martin Curnow & Ananya Magham

Monash Captains

Augustas Buividas & Gwenly Quach

Monash Vice Captains

Emilia Jhoomun & Mitchell Nham

I wish to thank Paige Redlich (Year 12) for her time and decision-making on the selection panel for the Senior School Captains. 

EAST CAMPUS KUMMARGEE OPENING CEREMONY

On Friday 31 January Josh West from the Bunurong Land Council hosted a Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony to officially welcome the new Year 8s to the East Campus and open the Kummargee program. Josh spoke in depth about respect for oneself, friends and family, but also the land and grounds we learn on.

Scott Darlow followed with a presentation/performance and used his FLUTE acronym to teach us about Forgiveness, Love, Understanding, Tolerance and Empathy.

It is so important for all of us to understand and appreciate the traditional owners on the land on which we meet and learn today and every day. We must make this important connection, no matter what our family background. 

I thank Josh, Scott and the Bunurong Land Council for attending and giving our community this experience.

YEAR 12 CAMP

Our Year 12 students enjoyed their final school camp at Phillip Island earlier this week. This cohort sadly missed the planned Phillip Island camp when they were in Year 7 because we went into lockdown! 

This camp is an important experience and sets the tone for the year ahead, with key sessions on goal setting, study techniques, wellbeing and pathways beyond school. It's also a great chance for the students to connect with each other and have fun with the team building activities. 

Thank you to Assistant Principal Kellie Felmingham, Head of Year Level Kate Jobson and Student Managers Dan Blackmore, Sarah Bowes, Peter Hunt and Helen James for their organisation and support of this important camp. I also thank all the staff who were in attendance to ensure the success of the program. Well done to all involved!

YEAR 7 INDUCTION AND PEER SUPPORT 

As a part of the Year 7 induction program, students partake in the Peer Support Program. This program provides Year 7 students with the opportunity to make new friends, develop skills that may better equip them for secondary school and connect them with mentors who can support this transition. 

Similarly, this program provides the Year 10 Leaders a chance to demonstrate and refine their leadership skills. I'm happy to share that they’ve embraced their new roles with enthusiasm and commitment. It’s been a joy to watch both Year 7 and Year 10 students form positive connections, learn new skills, and have fun together.

I thank all staff involved in the program and I particularly thank Zoe Murdoch for training the Year 10 Leaders and Phoebe Ponsford for supervising and implementing the program for the Year 7s. 

NOTICE OF ELECTION AND CALL FOR NOMINATIONS 

Nomination forms for the School Council elections are now available from the General Office at both campuses. 

Included in this newsletter are links with information for parents and students wishing to nominate. Nominations are being called for three parent members and one student member. Anyone with any queries regarding School Council Elections, you are welcome to contact me at school. 

Closing date for the return of nomination forms is Friday 14 February at 4:00pm.

SOCIAL MEDIA ACCESS AT SCHOOL 

As was outlined at last year's Navigating Digital Safety parent event, we reviewed our internet protocols and decided to restrict Year 7-9 students from accessing social media and messaging platforms on the school network.  

We have had positive feedback and results from this initiative and have decided to extend this restriction to Year 10-12s. We believe this approach will help students focus more effectively on their studies while at school and ease the pressures of constant social media connectivity.

PARTNERSHIP IN EDUCATION

Thank you to our incredible parents and carers for assisting students to be organised, punctual and in full uniform.

Creating strong partnerships between parents and staff is part of the key to success at McKinnon. Knowing that families can be relied upon to attend events such as concerts, drama nights, information evenings as well as keeping up to date with school information such as reading the newsletter, and Compass feeds will ensure you keep informed and up to date with all relevant events.

We value these quality relationships, and I know that students greatly benefit from knowing they are supported.

This all contributes to student success and building strong relationships and I thank everyone for your support.

TRAFFIC – SCHOOL ZONE SPEED LIMITS

Please be careful when driving along McKinnon Road and South Drive and be aware of street signs and adhere to road rules. These areas get very congested and at times this can be dangerous. 

The school car park must not be accessed by parents during school hours. Please ask your child to meet you away from the relevant campus to ease congestion.

The speed limit is always 40km per hour along McKinnon Road and U-turns are not allowed. We have many students riding bikes so please be careful parking and opening doors.

I would also like to remind students riding bikes that from the age of 13, you are required to ride your bike using the bike lane on the road. Please do not ride on the footpath. Riding a bike on the footpath can cause significant danger to both pedestrians and riders. Please always wear a helmet.

Glen Eira Council has created a short, animated video that explains parking signs, how the school crossing operates and aims to promote safety surrounding our schools. It encourages students to walk or ride to school too, even if only from a few blocks away, to help ease traffic congestion, improve healthy activity and to help the environment. You can view the video here.

SECONDARY SCHOOL ENROLMENT PRIVACY COLLECTION STATEMENT (PRIVACY INFORMATION FOR PARENTS AND CARERS)

During the ordinary course of your child’s attendance at our school, school staff will collect your child’s personal and health information when necessary to educate your child, or to support your child’s social and emotional wellbeing or health. Such information will also be collected when required to fulfil a legal obligation, including duty of care, anti-discrimination law and occupational health and safety law.  If that information is not collected, the school may be unable to provide optimal education or support to your child or fulfil those legal obligations.

For example, health information may be collected through the school nurse or wellbeing staff member. If your child is referred to a specific health service at school, such as a Student Support Service Officer, or school-engaged psychologist, the required consent will be obtained.

Our school may use online tools, such as apps and other software, to effectively collect and manage information about your child for teaching and learning purposes, parent communication and engagement; student administration; and school management purposes.  When our school uses these online tools, we take steps to ensure that your child’s information is secure. If you have any concerns about the use of these online tools, please contact us.

School staff will only share your child’s personal or health information with other staff who need to know to enable the school to educate or support your child or fulfil a legal obligation.

When our students transfer to another Victorian government school, personal and health information about that student will be transferred to that next school. Transferring this information is in the best interest of our students and assists that next school to provide optimal education and support to students.

In some limited circumstances, information may be disclosed outside of the school (and outside of the Department of Education and Training). The school will seek your consent for such disclosures unless the disclosure is allowed or mandated by law.

Our school values the privacy of every person. When collecting and managing personal and health information, all school staff must comply

with Victorian privacy law. For more information about privacy including about how to access personal and health information held by the school about you or your child, see our school’s privacy policy:

https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Pages/schoolsprivacypolicy.aspx 

Throughout this notice, ‘staff’ includes principals, teachers, Student Support Service officers, youth workers, social workers, nurses and any other allied health practitioners and all other staff at our school. This includes employees, agents and service providers of the Department, whether paid or unpaid.