Principal's Update

Dear Families, Students and Community Members,

Years 9-12 Exams and Whole School Head Start program. 

We have completed our planning for the final weeks of the 2023 academic year before launching into our whole school roll-over (2024 Headstart) on 20 November. Year 12 exams began on Tuesday 24 October and run until November 15, Years 10 and 11 exams start on Wednesday 8 November and run until November 16 (including Year 9 SEAL for English, Maths and Science and Year 9 mainstream classes for Maths and Science). Year 9 SEAL students and mainstream students must still attend their usual classes during the exam period (except when an exam is scheduled). There are no scheduled classes running for Year 10 and 11 students during this time, they should be at home studying for each exam they have.

All students in Years 7-9 present a Student Led Conference to celebrate their achievements for this year before moving up to the next year level in our 2024 Headstart program. The SLC day is Wednesday 15 November and families, and students should receive notification of their appointment time and an explanation of the requirements and expectations for these conferences soon. Please note if parents are not able to make the online scheduled appointment, it is still compulsory for the student to complete the SLC online with their allocated teacher. 

All students from Years 7-11 begin our whole school rollover or 2024 Headstart program from November 20. We will be following our new timetable for 2024 and students will have the opportunity to work with their new teachers in their new year level. 

It is expected that all students returning to Mordialloc in 2024 attend these very important Headstart weeks. The Senior School team will also be reviewing student achievement, effort, and homework completion for our senior students to ensure students have made the correct subject selections and are on track for a successful year. In the Middle School pre-testing and formative assessment to develop instructional groups and all work completed during the three-and-a-half-week period will count towards their assessment for 2024.

For Years 10, 11 and 12 (2024) students the Headstart Program will run from 20th of November to 1st of December. For Years 8 and 9 (2024) students it will run from 20th of November to 12th of December. An alternative program will be in place for our 2023 Years 8 and 9 students during the last week of school from Wednesday 13th of December to Wednesday 20th of December. 

There will be a letter from me emailed to all parents via compass in the lead up to our Headstart program outlining our expectations.

New Mordialloc College Student Leadership Council 

Congratulations to all students in Years 7-11 who have been through the selection process to be a leader within our student council leadership team for next year. The new leadership team will be launched in Headstart in our whole school assembly on Monday 20 November. Students in Year 11 applying for School Captains and Year 12 leadership roles for 2024 delivered their speeches in an assembly last week to all current Years 9-11 students and were interviewed last Thursday. Students applying for Middle School captain’s roles delivered their speeches in an assembly last week with Year 7 & 8 students and were interviewed last Friday. Students applying for the house captain’s roles or to be a member of one of the six sub-committees do not need to give a speech, only an application letter. Thanks to teacher Kerry Archer who is overseeing the MCSC and house system this semester for organising the application process. Joining me on the Year 12 leadership selection panel were Mrs Archer and Ms Wilson; and joining me on the Middle School selection panel were Mrs Archer and Ms Bruce. Our new Year 7 students for 2024 will have the opportunity to apply for Year 7 house captain roles in the first half of Term 1, 2024 and select their sub-committee of interest. 

Our AGM is planned for Monday 27 November.

Congratulations to the following students:

2024 School Captains: Antonio Marques Vaz Serra and Isabelle Vicendese

School Vice Captains: Jaylyn Clarke and James Wilson

Sub-committee Captains:

Community and Wellbeing

Jaylyn Clarke and Claudia Siddall

Curriculum

Jordan Walklate 

Facilities and Environment

Dennis Li and Nissar Ali 

Promotions and Fundraising

Antonio Marques Vaz Serra and James Wilson

Sports

Isabelle Vicendese and Piri Faid 

The Arts 

    Performing Arts

Caity Ford, Eden Lasbury and Lachlan Welsh

   Visual Arts

Brandon Bamford and Charlotte Kypriotis

Middle School Captains 2024

Zoe McPherson and William Fleming

Middle School Vice- Captains

Ava Wilson, Jamie Thai-Chan and Nathan Krummel

Australian of the Year 2024 Nomination

Congratulations to one of our music teachers, Adrian De Luca who has been nominated for Australian of the Year for the 2024 awards. In addition to his role here, he is also the President and Founder of "We Are Australia," an organisation dedicated to supporting international students and victims of crime. This nomination reflects the collective efforts they have put into our community and our commitment to making a positive impact. It is a recognition of the incredible work our school and "We Are Australia" have done in supporting students in need. 

While Adrian is very humble and not expecting to win, being nominated is an acknowledgment of his dedication and the work we do together. He is profoundly grateful for everyone’s support and is proud to represent Mordialloc College and "We Are Australia" on this platform. Adrian states: “Thank you for your ongoing support and encouragement. Let us continue working together to make a difference in the lives of our students and the broader community”.

Congratulations to State Finalists

Our Year 7 Girls Cricket team has made it through to the State Finals scheduled for mid-November, along with our Intermediate Boys Hockey team. Such an outstanding achievement for both teams! 

Whole School Review

As a school community focused on achieving the best possible outcomes for all of our students we need to continually reflect and seek improvement in everything we do. Next year will be the final year of our current Strategic Plan (2021-2024) and as such, as part of the accountability cycle set for Victorian Government Schools, we will be undergoing an external review during next year to reflect on the past 3-4 years performance in relation to our key improvement strategies and key data sets in relation to targets set over this time. The self-evaluation involving all key stakeholders (students, parents, and teachers) will take place during Term 2, 2024 and the formal review is scheduled for Term 3 sometime. An external reviewer is appointed by the department and we engage challenge partners from other schools or region. We will then develop a new strategic plan for the ongoing improvement of our College and continual provision of an excellent education for all of our students. More information about this process will be provided during Term 1 or early Term 2 next year.

Each year I have been asked to be a challenge partner on another school’s whole school review. This year I was a challenge partner for Elizabeth Murdoch’s whole school review in Term 2 and I am currently a challenge partner for McKinnon SC whole school review this term.

It’s Academic

On Thursday 19 October we held our annual Mordialloc College “It’s Academic Challenge” for our main feeder primary schools’ grade 5 students. The event was organised by our Middle School captains, with Director of Middle School Mr Brendan McFarland. This year we had six of our feeder primary schools competing in this challenge, in front of an audience of 250 students and staff from Year 7. It not only offers a unique taste of secondary school life, whilst making learning fun and relevant; it also provides valuable leadership and event management skills for our Year 9 Middle School leaders. 

Congratulations to Aspendale PS who were the winners this year. Closely followed by Mordialloc Beach PS who were second and Edithvale PS were third. I will be attending a whole school assembly at Aspendale PS this Friday to present the trophy. All place getters received gold, silver, or bronze medals on the day. 

Thanks to Director of Middle School, Brendan McFarland who worked with our Middle School captains (Reny Zhang, Ethan Simmons, Alex Wragg, Caleb Mulcahy and Bonnie Blinco) to organise and run the event.

Having Positive Conversations about School with your Child

Parents in partnership with the College can have a significant impact on a child’s achievement. We hope parents have been able to be involved in conversations about their child’s/children’s learning on a regular basis. I encourage you to ask questions that will make your child have to think more deeply about the question. Questions you could ask include:

What have you learned today that might be useful in the immediate future and/or for a lifetime?

What have you completed today that makes you feel particularly proud?

What was the best thing about this week at school (apart from seeing your friends)? 

Can you think of a time today when you went out of your way to be helpful to someone?

What is the most demanding or challenging experience you had today?

Can you think of a time today when you were especially enthused? What made you feel this way?

Ask them to rate their day on a score of 1 to 10. If they say 4 or 5 out of ten, ask what do we need to do to get them to a 7 or 8 out of ten?

MEX 2.0 City Experience

On Thursday 2 November and Friday 3 November, all Year 9 students (two hundred students) will be spending two days in the city for our City Experience program as part of our MEX 2.0 program. Students will participate in a range of activities over the two days and will no doubt enjoy navigating their way around the city. Thanks to Aaron Davis, one of our Instructional Coaches and our MEX 2.0 teachers for organising this and all teachers who will be attending over the two days to support our students. 

High Energy Drinks

A reminder that the College does not recommend the consumption of high energy drinks due to the high caffeine and sugar content of several popular brands in the market. Some contain the same amount of caffeine as two to three cups of coffee and as they are drunk cold, deliver caffeine faster that a cup of coffee would. This can lead to sudden peak in energy followed by a crash that can leave you feeling worse than before. The short-term effects of energy drinks include alertness, stimulation of the nervous system and an increased heart rate, while excessive consumption can aggravate symptoms like anxiety, cause insomnia, nausea, vomiting and heart palpitations. As such we seek parent support in not allowing their child to bring high energy drinks to school, and this includes when students are on an excursion.

Ms. Michelle Roberts

Principal