Principal Message

Dear Students, Parents and Carers, 

It has been a wonderful start to term 3 with improvement in key areas of the College, including NAPLAN results where we saw significant improvement in the reading, writing and numeracy results at Year 9 with results exceed state, similar and network schools. The College Attitudes to School Survey data shows significant improvement, this is in part due to the consistent implementation of strategies / policies relating to the School Wide Positive Behaviour Support framework. It is wonderful to see these strategies being so effective in the classroom.

We continue to see students represent our college with pride and experience significant success with the Girls Year 9 Soccer team and the Girls Year 8 Football team also progressing to state finals. Coupled with this our Year 9 Debating team has made its way through the preliminary stages of the DAV competition, and they are now into the knock out stage, having beaten teams from Peninsula and Dromana, 

The Year 9 cohort went on the annual Tasmania camp during week 1, and had an amazing experience, seeing key historical landmarks, and geographical locations, I am sure that all students had wonderful stories to share. 

Our Year 11 students enjoyed a winter ball this past week, yet again students were outstanding and enjoyed the opportunity to be dressed up and socialising ….

As part of our student attributes program, we ran the Man Cave program and Big Sister programs last Thursday. These events are a part of our curriculum which are designed to develop students’ empathy and communication skills. This program is well received by students as they work through the challenging activities and develop a confidence to share their journey and struggles that they have overcome. The day was a great success, with some of our students commenting “I really thought it was a good time to bond with everyone and it brought me and my friends closer together”, and “it was amazing to have this at the age I’m at”. 

These workshops form part of our ‘High Impact Learning Events’ and builds on the important Respectful Relationships work at EMC.

To learn more about these organisations, further information is available at:https://themancave.life/ or   https://bigsisterexp.com/

We also saw all of our Year 7 students enjoy a trip to the Moonlit Sanctuary, the students were fortunate to have wonderful weather. This was an opportunity to connect the real life to the classroom lessons, building a deeper understanding of biology and the study of animals and the classification of animals. 

There is never a quiet day at EMC. I strongly encourage all students to consider how they can participate in the College curriculum more deeply or join an extra curricula activity where they can make new friends and build their sense of connection and belonging. 

In the coming weeks we have the College production – Mamma Mia, show casing the outstanding talents and passions of our performing arts students. The effort, hard work and commitment of this group of students and staff is outstanding and I am confident that the sell out performances will enjoy the high energy upbeat show. 

Our Mathematicians are also competing in the Westpac maths competition, as they take on the challenge and compete with students across the country. 

Whilst the weather has been chilly, our students have continued to wear their unfirm correctly. It has been wonderful to see so much support for the new College uniform items and in particular the sports shirt. It wonderful for school leaders and teachers to be focussed on learning and teaching, and not having to address dress code policy. This applies also to the mobile phone policy, and the minor changes made to this policy have seen an improved attitude to leaving mobile phones in lockers. I would like to thnk the community for their continued support. 

Our VCE excellence program is well underway for 2024, with strategies including, session 6 study sessions, practice examinations, VCE seminars / lectures, and well-being sessions, all of which are designed to assist students to maximise their performance during the examination period. If your child wants or needs extra support, they are encouraged to reach out to their teachers and develop a plan to ensure that they maximise their examination performances. Last year our Yr. 12 cohort managed to drive our VCE mean study score to 31, this was an outstanding outcome for our students and demonstrated their hard work, commitment and dedication to their studies, along with the exemplary skills and motivation of our talented staff. 

Finally, the College prides itself on the diversity of curriculum offerings available to students across Year 9-12. Students in Year 8-11 have the opportunity to learn about subject offerings and select their preferred programs for 2025. This is an exciting time and the college has engaged students with a range of activities and resources to make sure that they are making informed decisions. These processes are designed to engage, empower and build aspiration in our students, where they can have an active voice in the subject offerings and choices. If you haven’t been aware of these processes, I strongly encourage you to ask your child about the different opportunities that are available at EMC, from Senior pathways in VC TP to VCE VM and VET RTO subjects to a broad choice of electives at year 9 and 10. 

Wishing everyone a wonderful term 3. 

Kind regards, 

Dean King

Principal.