Principal's Message

Dear Parents, Guardians, Students, Staff and Community Members

NAPLAN RESULTS

You are no doubt aware that NAPLAN data has now been released, and as always there is much discussion in the media regarding results. 

I am excited to report that again for the second year in a row our students have blitzed the results at both Year 7 and Year 9.   

In all areas of NAPLAN at both Year 7 and Year 9 we have significantly outperformed:

• the state
• similar schools to us across the state
• schools in our local network 

A two-page summary of these results is attached below.  Please have a look. 

Make no mistake; we are one of the highest performing schools in all of Southern Melbourne. 

These achievements are significant, and words alone cannot express the congratulations deserved by all students, staff, and parents involved. These successes are the cumulative result of student effort, parental support at home, and strong partnerships with our school. They are also a testament to the relentless collaboration, planning, and quality instruction that our staff deliver across every subject, every class, every day.

To our students, I want to reiterate a message we often share with you: Results do not define you, but your effort and dedication do. It doesn’t matter what your results are as long as you can hold your head high, knowing you gave your best effort. No matter where you landed in NAPLAN, remember that you are all on a continuous journey of learning, and growth should always be your goal. Learning is for life. Congratulations to all of you for your efforts, no matter what the result on paper says. We are incredibly proud of each one of you.

PRODUCTION

The annual musical production wrapped up almost 2 weeks ago, and it’s fair to say they have once again shown us that performing arts is alive and well at Kambrya College! Their production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was extraordinary, and they had many sold out shows across the week. Massive congratulations to all the students who made up the cast and crew, and also to all of the hard-working staff who gave their all for the students. Special thanks to Ms Leya Mackus, Mr Adrian Violi, and Ms Liz Violi for their amazing efforts to lead the show.   

SCHOOL SAVING BONUS 

The Victorian Government is making life that little bit easier for families by providing a one-off $400 School Saving Bonus. This support will help cover the cost of school uniforms, textbooks, and school activities like camps, excursions and sports.

The School Saving Bonus is in addition to existing and continuing means-tested supports for Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) and the Affordable School Uniforms Program.

The School Saving Bonus will be provided to schools and families in Term 4, 2024. 

Please see further information under the Admin News Tab or the attached document below.

BUILDING UPDATES

We continue to see massive progress of our new building projects. Although these projects have had a major impact of our student flow and access to yard areas, the progress and outcome is looking fantastic. The college continues to work closely with the builders in relation to seeing the project completed by the end of this year and operational for the start of 2025. 

UNIFORM

Our new uniform items are really starting make their way into our school. It is fantastic to see so many students in our new rugby jumpers and other items. Please make sure that your child is continuing to adhere to our uniform policy as we move into hopefully our warmer time of year.

MOBILE PHONES 

A clear and firm reminder that mobile phones are not to be used in Victorian Government Schools unless an exception is granted by school principals. This is a Ministerial policy formally issued by the Minister for Education. All Victorian Government school are required to adhere to this order.  As mentioned, exceptions maybe granted by the college principal in relations to 3 categories. 

• Learning-related activity: (Example: A teacher may design a unit of work that requires a student to use a mobile phone’s camera to record the staged development of a product over several weeks, supporting the production of a folio)
• Health and Wellbeing related: Students with a health condition documented in the Student Health Support Plan
• Risk related to managing students offsite: Travel to and from excursions documented in risk assessment planning

All the above categories require documented principal permission.  

As per above information, this means that students cannot use their mobile phones to purchase items from the school canteen;  they will need to either order online, or use cash or card only. Staff in the canteen will be enforcing this strictly moving forward. All students have also been notified through their sub schools and year level engagement leaders. 

SCOOTERS AND BIKES

A reminder to all parents to please check that your child has a helmet and enforce that they wear it to and from school. Not only because it is the law, but obviously for their safety. Students have also been reminded that they must place their scooters or bikes within our bike shed. We have had some students that have been chaining their bikes to external fences on the footpaths. Unfortunately, one of these has had it locks cut and the bike taken. 

CAR PARKING

I know that traffic is difficult in this area, however I implore all parents to please ensure that you do not contribute to safety issues. Please do not use the bus stops at the front of the school for drop off/pick up.  Please do not double park. Please do not use the medical centre car park for your drop off/pick up point. Please attempt to use agreed drop off/pick up points with your child(ren) in some of the surrounding streets; picking up at the front of the school is not the only option! The council are enforcing parking laws and are issuing fines.

Kind regards,

Martin McDonald

Acting Principal

Kambrya College