The Falcon Newsletter

Principal's Report 

A MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Welcome Back

 

Welcome back to Term 3 at Lyndale Secondary College. I hope everyone enjoyed some special time with family and friends over the holiday break.

 

Our School Values in Action

 

At Lyndale Secondary College, we live our values of Respect, Resilience and Responsibility every day. In the classroom, this means:

 

  • Respect – listening to others, valuing different perspectives, and creating a positive learning environment.
  • Resilience – persisting when learning gets challenging, asking for help when needed, and celebrating progress.
  • Responsibility – being prepared for class, meeting deadlines, and taking ownership of learning.

  • When students embrace these values, they are more engaged, motivated, and invested in their learning – and the whole school benefits.

     

    Turn Off to Switch On

    A reminder that the Victorian Government’s Mobile Phone Policy applies to all students: no mobile phones are to be used on school grounds during the school day.

     

    At Lyndale, we follow the principle: “Turn Off to Switch On” – turning off your phone so you can switch on to learning, focus, and connect with those around you.

     

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Parents/ Caregivers / Guardians Opinion Survey

 

We want our Parents/Caregivers/Guardians to tell us what they think!

Our school is conducting the annual Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey offered by the Department of Education and is seeking your feedback. The survey is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behavior, and student engagement. The survey is optional, but we encourage and appreciate your participation.

 

Our school will use the survey results to assist in identifying areas for improvement and professional development needs in the school, to target school planning and improvement strategies.

 

The Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey will be open online from Monday 18 August to Friday 19 September 2025.

 

All families are invited to participate in the survey. 

 

The survey will be conducted online, only takes 20 minutes to complete, and can be accessed at any convenient time on desktop computers, laptops, tablets or smartphones.

The online survey will be available in English and 10 other languages including Arabic, Greek, Hakha Chin, Hindi, Japanese, Punjabi, Simplified Chinese, Somali, Turkish, and Vietnamese. Resources are also available in additional languages to assist parents / caregivers / guardians who speak a language other than English at home. 

 

Please be assured that your responses are completely confidential. The survey is conducted anonymously, and it is important to us that you complete the survey as honestly as possible. You will be provided with a PIN to complete the survey. This is to ensure that parents / caregivers / guardians only complete the survey once. The school can never see your responses linked with the PIN. Please follow the instructions below to complete the survey. 

 

The department and ORIMA protect your responses in accordance with the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic), the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic) and the Public Records Act 1973 (Vic). For more information, please visit ORIMA’s Privacy Policy, and the department’s Schools' Privacy Policy. 

 

PLEASE NOTE: Only one parent / caregiver / guardian from your family is invited to complete the survey. Please DO NOT share the survey link and PIN with others, or on a public website, forum or similar. 

 

Let’s make this a term where we all live our values of Respect, Resilience and Responsibility – supporting one another, working hard, and celebrating our achievements. I look forward to seeing the great things we will achieve together, both in and out of the classroom.

 

Pam Robinson

Principal

 

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Assistant Principals Report

Student Engagement & Management 

It has been an incredibly busy start to the term, particularly with the incorporation of student engagement and management responsibilities in the Junior School following the departure of Mr Luke Wilson.

I remain deeply passionate about ensuring that every student achieves their full potential. A key way to support this is by maintaining a strong focus on high-quality learning in the classroom. 

 

Our Curriculum day on the Monday 21st July involved staff being introduced to our Term 3 focus of teaching and learning sprints aiming to support staff in creating learning environments that enable student success.

📣 Term 3 Focus: Sprinting Towards Classroom Excellence (Not Athletics!)

Our focus in Term 3 is on short, focused cycles of classroom observation and feedback designed to improve learning routines and build consistency across our school.

 

🏃 What Are Sprints?

Sprints are:

  • Targeted routines we practise over two-week cycles
  • Based on evidence-based strategies
  • Aimed at closing small gaps in execution
  • An opportunity for staff to share and embed what already works well in many classrooms

Why do we run sprints?

  • To ensure a consistent approach in every classroom
  • To build confidence in using proven teaching methods
  • To help our experts support others and grow as a team

Following this staff spent a lot of time analysing data as we start to ensure students from year 7 are prepared for the rigour required to complete VCE in the later years. Consistency across the years is where we spent a lot of time and discussion. A valuable and enriching learning day was had.

 

You may have noticed Compass notifications relating to minor or major behavioural incidents in the classroom. We ask that you please take a moment to speak with your child about these, should they arise. One of the most challenging aspects of teaching is responding to concerns from families when behaviour issues impact their child’s learning. Please understand that when a student is not demonstrating our school values, they may be removed from the classroom to ensure learning for others can continue. In such cases, a parent meeting will be arranged to support a successful re-entry into class.

Uniform Expectations

When students look good, they feel good—and they perform well. We take pride in our school uniform and the way it represents our community. We appreciate your continued support in ensuring students arrive and leave school in full, correct uniform.

Please note that students choosing not to wear the correct uniform is considered a defiance of school expectations. Students with a legitimate reason for being out of uniform must bring a note and report to the coordinator’s office by 8:30am to receive a uniform pass to present to their Period 1 teacher.

Punctuality and the Late Arrival Process

Our new late-to-school process is designed to support both teachers and students in maximising teaching and learning time in Period 1. Arriving on time helps build positive habits that are valuable beyond school and into future employment.

If your family is experiencing challenges with traffic, morning routines, or getting multiple children to school on time, please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s Year Level Coordinator. We are here to support and can work with you to develop strategies that assist in improving punctuality.

Attendance

There is a direct link between attendance and achievement. If students miss the basic skills in the early years of schooling they often experience learning difficulties later on. Students need to attend school regularly to make the most of the educational opportunities available to them. Poor attendance makes it difficult for students to form positive friendships with their peers.

 

 An 80% attendance rate is the equivalent of missing

  • 1 day per week OR
  • 40 days per year OR

  • Over 2 1/2 years of school from Foundation – Year 12

     

An 85% attendance rate is the equivalent of missing

  • 30 days per year OR

  • 2 years of school from Foundation – Year 12

     

A 90% attendance rate is the equivalent of missing

  • 1 day per fortnight OR
  • 20 days per year OR

  • Over 1 year of school from Foundation – Year 12 

     

    Every lesson builds on the one before, so when you’re away, you miss the chance to learn new skills, practise them, and get feedback. Being here every day, and on time, is one of the most important ways you can show Respect, Resilience and Responsibility.

     

Extended Family Holidays

If there is some known reason which requires your child to miss school for an extended time (eg. operation, overseas trip, etc.), parents/carers are asked to discuss the matter with their Year Level Coordinator as soon as possible so an absent from learning plan can be created. 

 

Absent Students

If your child is away for any reason, please report absences using Compass, alternatively you can notify the school, on the day, by phone. It is a government requirement to have all absences explained. In the case of unexplained absences, proformas will be sent home each month for you to complete. If a child is to be away longer than a week please keep the school informed. The school is required to report any unexplained absences to Department of Education and Training.  

 

Emergency Information

Please make sure you have provided the school with at least two Emergency Contact numbers. It is very important that these are kept up to date with any changes to home, business and emergency contact phone numbers and addresses.

 

Thank you for your continued support throughout the term. We look forward to a successful remainder of Term 3 and to continuing our strong partnership with families to support student learning and wellbeing.

 

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Message from the Business Manager

 

Parents’ Financial Contributions

The 2025 Parent Financial Contributions are available on your Parent Portal in Compass. Please click on the ‘Payments Centre’ tab, under the heading of 2025 School Contributions.

 

While the Department of Education provides funding to schools each year on a per student enrolled basis, this funding only covers a portion of the core operating costs of running the school. It covers things like classroom teacher salaries, contract cleaning, utilities, telephone, some repairs to buildings, some administration, and some curriculum support.

 

The funding does not fully cover the additional programs run at LSC that support our students’ wellbeing and growth, or the consumables required in the classrooms for use throughout the 2025 school year. Our specialist programs rely heavily on parent contributions to ensure we have access to the latest equipment and resources.

Additional projects around the school, including garden upgrades, repairs to buildings, outdoor furniture and shade sails are all only made possible via fundraising and parent contributions, department funding does not cover these items.

 

We would like to thank families who have already supported the school by contributing to their child’s education and the school’s building fund.

 

If you have not made a voluntary contribution, and are in a position too, we encourage you to do so.