Middle School

Year 9

At the end of Term One I am pleased to say that the Year 9 student cohort has shown a huge improvement in getting to class on time compared to this time last year when they were in Year 8. In fact, as of 23rd March, the Year 9 cohort has 2163 less lates than this time last year – a huge feat!  Attendance is very good overall – the cohort has 92% attendance – next term our aim is to reach 95%! 

In our end of term Celebration Assembly, we congratulated 66 students with 100% attendance and the 45 students who have not been late to any class throughout Term 1. We also celebrated the student with the highest GPA – a perfect 4.0! and the student with the highest SWPBS points for Term 1. 

It has been an eventful term; the Careers team was busy organizing the Morrisby testing of all Year 9 students which creates a profile of each student based on their responses. This is aimed at helping students prepare for future areas of interest and possible careers. The people from Morrisby have been at the school this past week meeting students one on one to discuss the results of their testing and talking with each student about what areas of study and careers might be of interest. 

Our Year 9 Student Leaders are Zoya Khokhar and Karthikeya - these students are extremely passionate about improving the experiences for all students within the cohort and will be working with an executive student group discussing ideas that will enrich the experience of all Year 9 students.  As leaders we are looking forward to discussing the ideas that are brought to us by these students. 

Nearly all students continue to be in full school uniform, working with their teachers and behaving in a mature and polite manner. It is pleasing to see that most of our students understand they are now the role models for Years 7 and 8 and are transitioning into Year 9 with an improved attitude to school and their learning. 

Attendance and lateness will remain a focus this year and we will continue to work with students and families to improve these areas across the cohort. 

Teresa Hayes -Year 9 Leader 

Angus Thornton – Year 9 Coordinator

Chaney Ke – Year 9 Coordinator

Year 9 Mandarin Students

Our Year 9 Mandarin students recently transformed their classroom into an international meeting hub during a virtual exchange with our sister school, Lianyungang Xinhai Experimental Middle School. They kicked things off with confident self-introductions in Mandarin, followed by school introduction videos they created for their recent CAT.

What began as a formal exchange quickly evolved into a lively Q&A, with students comparing everything from school schedules to the vivid traditions of the Spring Festival as it’s celebrated in China.

This wasn’t just a language lesson. It was a cross-cultural, behind-the-scenes pass that showed our students aren’t simply learning Mandarin; they’re using it to build meaningful connections across an 8,000 km distance. 🌐✨

Year 10 

As Term 1 comes to a close, we are proud to celebrate the many achievements of our Year 10 students at Cranbourne East Secondary College. This term has seen strong effort across learning, attendance, and engagement, with Year 10 achieving an average GPA of 3.3. We congratulate our students on their progress and encourage families to continue working in partnership with teachers to support success throughout the year.

A number of students have made a positive start to the year, and we celebrate the commitment shown across classes and programs. At the same time, if your child’s GPA is 2.5 or below, we strongly encourage you to contact classroom teachers as soon as possible so that we can work together to support improvement. For students below the year level average, increasing attendance should be a key focus, as regular attendance plays an important role in academic growth and future success.

Attendance remains a major priority as students begin preparing for senior school pathways. To be successful in VCE or VCE-VM, students need to develop the habits and routines that support consistent learning now. We ask families to check Compass to ensure attendance is above 90%, as this is the minimum expectation for students to maintain strong progress.

Next term, we will be celebrating students who achieve 100% attendance from Term 1 with our EPIC reward program. Students who attend every period on time and with consistency will be recognised with a pizza lunch, because being present and prepared makes a real difference. We also want to continue improving punctuality, as late arrivals to class have been a concern this term.

To support this, we are launching our new “On Time Club” for students with the highest number of late arrivals in Term 1. This will be a rolling program, with students identified on a fortnightly basis and supported to improve their punctuality. In addition, students who record no lates each week will go into a Friday raffle for a prize, helping us reward consistency and positive habits.

We are also looking ahead to work experience for Connect Groups A to H, with the remainder of the year level completing placements in Semester 2. Students are encouraged to choose work experience that links to a future career interest, so they can gain meaningful insight into an industry they may wish to pursue later on.

As Angela Duckworth reminds us, “Grit is passion and perseverance for very long-term goals.” This is a timely message for Year 10 as students continue building the resilience, commitment, and discipline needed for future success. We look forward to a strong and successful Term 2 and thank all families for their ongoing support.

Kevin McCall - Year Level Leader

Paige Dwyer and Sienna Armstrong- Year Level Coordinators