Principal's Message

We Grow Through Connection

Dear Students and Families,

Whilst 2024 is quickly coming to a close, there is still so much happening at our great school.  Our current Year 7, 8 and 9 students are involved in our 2025 Headstart Program, preparations continue for our Presentation Evening next week (December 5, 6:00pm) and our Teaching Staff are busy writing Semester Two Reports – it is a very busy time at Pakenham Secondary College!

One of the hallmarks of our great school is our ability to recognise student effort and achievement on a regular basis.  There have been several important events on the College Calendar recently that have allowed us to acknowledge our students.

For example, take our Semester Two Art and Technology Exhibition (20 November) - it was an incredible success with many students, families and staff in attendance to view the wonderful student work on display.  The Exhibition once again highlighted the fabulous talents of our students.  Well done to all involved, particularly Emily Schinzig (Visual Arts and Technology Leader) who lead the way with her team to stage yet another high quality Exhibition.

Another example is our recent Sub School Assemblies for Year 7, 8, and 9 students from the Warreeny and Yawa Sub Schools, held last week on 22 November. These assemblies provided another excellent opportunity to recognise student effort and achievement. Many of our students were acknowledged for their hard work and dedication throughout the year, and we congratulate all of our Student Award Winners. We also extend our thanks to our Sub School Leaders, Brad James (Warreeny) and Susan Banfield (Yawa), and their teams for organising and leading these successful assemblies.

Our recent Year 12 Valedictory Dinner held last Friday (22 November) was yet another example of acknowledging our students and it was an outstanding success. There was a real sense of pride from families, friends and staff as we witnessed the Class of 2024 graduate with their Victorian Certificate of Education.  The night was such a superb celebration of the efforts and achievements of the Class of 2024 with many families and staff in attendance to help mark this very special occasion for our Year 12 students.  Well done to all of our Year 12 Student Award Winners, and we thank Brad Matthews (Year 12 Team Leader) and his team for his outstanding leadership of this successful event.  We wish the Class of 2024 all the very best with their future endeavours.

As mentioned previously, our Headstart Program has commenced (25 November) for existing Year 7, 8 and 9 students.  Our Headstart Program allows our students to be able to cover some of the learning and assessment tasks across their subjects for the year ahead.  Our Headstart Program will conclude on Friday, 6 December with our 2024 End of Year Program beginning on Monday, 9 December – please contact our General Office on pH – 5945 1433 if you have any queries about our 2024 End of Year Program.

Our 2024 Presentation Evening will be held at the Cardinia Cultural Centre, Thursday 5 December, commencing at 6:00pm.  We are very much looking forward to this important event as it is another opportunity to celebrate student achievement across the year levels.  There will be many End of Year Awards presented to students as part of the night with families and staff in attendance to help acknowledge and celebrate the achievements of our students.  We thank Michelle Scheiwiller (Assistant Principal) and her team for their hard work in organising our 2024 Presentation Evening.

Our Buildings and Grounds continue to improve with some major projects planned for over the Summer School Holiday break.  We are expecting to have in place by Day One next year a new Locker Bay, a new Bike Shed, some further landscaping and painting works, together with some line-marking throughout some of our car parking and sporting areas within the Grounds.

Tuesday 10 December is the State-Wide Orientation Day with approximately 240 new Year 7 students for 2025 to visit our College on the day.  In combination with the State-Wide Orientation Day, we provide a further Orientation Day for our Year 6 into 7 students on Monday 9 December at the College.  We are proud of our Transition Program as it supports our new Year 7 students and families to the highest of standards.  We are really looking forward to our Orientation Days and we warmly welcome our new Year 7 students for 2025 together with their families to our great school.

As our College Community would expect, we are involved in some high-level planning as we continue to move into 2025.  For example, we are currently developing our 2025 Annual Implementation Plan (AIP) to further support student outcomes for the year ahead.  Whilst our AIP is still to be confirmed, our College Community can expect us to focus on areas such as Explicit Teaching, Student Learning Growth and Achievement, an Orderly Learning Environment, the Use of Data to understand Student Learning Growth and Needs, together with engaging students in their learning and the broader co-curricular program – we are looking forward to the work in 2025.  Please contact the College on pH – 5945 1433 should you wish to know more and / or contribute some ideas regarding the development of our 2025 AIP.

Increasingly, we are the secondary school of choice in our local area.  Our enrolments from Year 7 to 12 have increased by approximately 300 students over the last three years – this increase signals a very strong interest in our College due to the outstanding outcomes we are achieving for our students.  As per our College Motto, We Grow Through Connection, the sense of team work amongst families, staff and students remains very strong; there is a real sense of community at our great school.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to our General Office on pH – 5945 1433 should you have any queries – we are here to help,

Regards

Aaron

Aaron Smith

College Principal – Pakenham Secondary College