Principal's Report 

ANNUAL VSC PRODUCTION – ‘HEAD OVER HEELS' 

Congratulations go to all the cast, staff, backstage crew and musicians, on an outstanding production of the musical ‘Head Over Heels’ delivering six fantastic performances as well as in house performances and multiple rehearsals. 

The production team was expertly led by Tori Adams with fantastic support from many staff. Thank you to all staff who devoted so much time, effort and energy towards the success of the performances. I also thank all the students and staff for their involvement in this wonderful yearly event that showcases the talents of our college community.   Thank you also to the parents and guardians who supported their child through this major event. 

Congratulations again and well done to all involved!

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION (DE) ANNUAL PARENT OPINION SURVEY 2024 – COMPLETION DATE EXTENDED

The DE have informed us that the 2024 Parent / Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey (PCGOS) has been extended until the end of Term 3, Friday 20th September. 

The number of survey responses and the response rate is % based on those who have completed the online survey. As of Tuesday 27/8/24, we have 139 survey responses, which is a response rate of 11% from1,234 families.

• An email was sent to all VSC families by ORIMA Research on Monday 29 July.  It may sit in your spam/junk mail, so please check. The college has also followed this up with several reminders.
• They survey opens on Monday 29 July and now closes on Friday 20 September
• One response per family is requested
• The Survey is available in 39 languages other than English
• Do not share your unique login details as each family has its own personal login

Vermont Secondary College is conducting the annual Parent Opinion Survey to gauge what parents / caregivers / guardians think of our college. The Opinion Survey is an annual survey offered by the Department of Education (DE) that is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behaviour and student engagement. The survey is optional, but we encourage all families to participate. Our school will use the survey results to help inform and direct, future school planning and improvement strategies. The school only receives anonymous, collated results which we then use in our future planning.

The survey is conducted online, only takes 20 minutes to complete, and can be accessed at any convenient time within the survey period 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.

In 2024 the college has its four yearly major review in Terms 2 and 3. The results from this survey, plus the annual staff and student opinion survey will help form a large percentage of the review and future planning plus the writing of the new 4-year Strategic Plan.

As the completion of the survey is anonymous, apologies to families if you receive a reminder but have already completed the survey. 

Thank you in anticipation.

COLLEGE COUNCIL REPORT 

College Council had its August meeting on Tuesday 20th. The Council was presented an overview of the recent school review that was undertaken and completed in the previous week. Every four years public schools are reviewed and are assessed in various areas. The results of that review will be the basis for the next Strategic Plan for the school over the next four years. VSC expects to receive the report by the reviewers in the coming weeks. 

The local primary schools continue to see an increase in their enrolments. That development, together with the strong results that VSC students achieve, gives rise to an ever-increasing number of enrolments at VSC. As a public school, VSC is obliged to enrol all students within its zone. VSC is also of the opinion that it is very important for the community that it can maintain the sibling rule, that is, once the first child is enrolled at VSC, younger siblings should be allowed to enrol at VSC. For those reasons, and due to development in the area, VSC is projected for the first time to have 13 classes for year seven students in 2025.

Council members received a set of policies that are due for their annual, or bi-annual, revision. These policies have been updated as required, and when accepted will be ratified at the next council meeting. VSC’s policies can be assessed on the school’s website.

The build of the new gym is well under way and council received an update on its progress. The council is very pleased with the development so far, especially since it has taken so many years to finally see the gym being built. 

The Council approved the Year 10 Darwin trip and the Year 9 Outdoor Education trip to The Grampians. It also approved the finance and student reports.

Frank Drost – College Council President.