Principal's Message
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Dear Students, Parents and Carers,
We Are A Great School
We continue to achieve wonderful outcomes for our students. Increasingly, we are being seen as a secondary school of choice due to the opportunities and outcomes we are providing. We are expecting around 185 Year 7 enrolments for next year which is approximately a 30% increase on Year 7 enrolments in 2022 – we are very pleased with the growth and interest in our great school.
Term Four – High Expectations and ‘Choose Success’
The end of Term Three has come around very quickly – where has all the time gone! This term we have focused on An Orderly Learning Environment and this has paid dividends with our students working well in class. Our focus for next term will be High Expectations and to ‘Choose Success’ in our work and approach – we are looking forward to Term Four and everything that it will bring, including our ability to further recognise student learning growth and achievement.
Term 3 Interim Reports and Parent Teacher Student Conferences
Families received their child’s Term 3 Interim Report (2023) via Compass last week (Friday 8 September) and the Interim Reports provide valuable information on student progress across all subjects at this time of the year.
Complementing our Interim Reports of course was the Parent – Teacher – Student Conferences held yesterday (Thursday 14 September) at the College. This was another opportunity to connect with our community and we were very pleased with the number of families in attendance. The Conferences gave families the ability to speak directly with their child’s teachers on a number of topics relating to student progress.
PSC and The 2023 State School Spectacular
The State Schools Spectacular was held last weekend (Saturday 9 September) at John Cain Arena (Melbourne) and what a special event it was allowing students from across the State to showcase their fabulous talents. Pakenham Secondary College were of course involved and we were outstanding in our efforts and participation. A special mention must go to James Nimaya as one of the Principal Dancers – James was exceptional. We say well done to all of our students involved and we thank Jamie Gourlay and her team for all of their hard work throughout the year – great work everyone! The 2023 State Schools Spectacular will appear on Channel 7 later in the year.
PSC and District Athletics
Like the Performing Arts, Sport is another important area of our College. Just last week (Tuesday 5 September) we had a number of students compete in the District Athletics against competing schools by virtue of their wonderful results from earlier in the year. A number of students were placegetters on the day and we say well done to all of our students who participated. We also thank our staff for their attendance on the day.
The PSC Capital Works Program
Our Capital Works Program continues to build momentum with key meetings held in recent times to help us determine who will be the architect of this very special build for our College Community. Even though I will provide further updates as they come to hand, it has been reported that the build will commence in September, 2024 – how exciting for our great school! Please be reminded that the funds received ($11.3 Million) will be prioritised towards improving an area of the College known as D Wing which is currently used for general classroom and staff work areas.
Planning for 2024
Planning for 2024 is well underway with the College already advertising teaching positions for next year such has been the increase in student enrolments. Furthermore, we will be spending some time in Term Four developing our Annual Implementation Plan (or AIP) for 2024. The AIP provides us with a direction in terms of further improving student outcomes.
An International Student Program at PSC
College Council has discussed and endorsed Pakenham Secondary College to implement an International Students Program. As a result, we developed and submitted an application to the International Education Division of the Department of Education and Training (or DET) to be accredited as a College that can implement and stage an International Student Program (or ISP). We are thrilled that we have received confirmation today that this accreditation has now come through.
An ISP allows students from overseas to study at PSC. An ISP brings many benefits to any school community including an increase in cultural understanding and diversity. I will keep our College community updated with further developments.
PSC House Names
We will be engaging with our College Community to change our current House Names to names that are Indigenous. This would be a significant step towards furthering our connection and understanding of Indigenous Culture. Already our Sub Schools (Yawa, Warreeny, Bunjil and Balam Balam) have Indigenous Names, we have employed an Indigenous Cultural Worker and I would expect the new Capital Works Program will align with Indigenous History and Culture. I believe it is incredibly important that we recognise, support and best understand Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander History and Culture at Pakenham Secondary College.
The Class of 2023
Our Year 12 students are coming to the end of thirteen years of schooling – where does all the time go! Our Year 12 students would likely be feeling some mixed emotions as they enter the final weeks of secondary school – a sense of loss, yet at the same time, about the wonderful opportunities that await them post their time at PSC.
We wish the Class of 2023 all the very best for their final weeks of classes as they set out to complete final assessments, and, in some cases, prepare for exams. We will be holding a special Whole School Assembly early in Term Four to farewell the Class of 2023 and to wish them well with their future endeavours.
In closing, I would like to recognise our wonderful staff. Our staff continue to work so hard to best support student learning and wellbeing. Our staff remain committed to further improving student outcomes both in the classroom and by their support of our co-curricular program. I can not speak highly enough of our staff as they continue to work as hard as they do in the best interests of our students.
Lastly, our College Community can expect some significant changes to our Buildings and Grounds when we return for Term Four, Monday 2 October – we can not wait to see what these further improvements will be!
Be sure to stay safe everyone over the school holiday break - I thank our families for their ongoing and unwavering support of our great school.
Thank you everyone,
Regards
Aaron
Aaron Smith
College Principal – Pakenham Secondary College