Principal's Report
Principal Report
The teaching and learning program at our College forms the core foundation of our operations and is, of course, central in our thoughts, planning and implementation. What occurs outside of the classrooms, however, is also of extreme importance and reflects a great deal of what students perceive as their sense of satisfaction, pride and connection to their school.
Sometimes we find great success and pride in being able to achieve amazing outcomes and offer incredible experiences to our students in a very literal sense.
This week, our student talent show – ‘Attitudes, The Show Must Go On’ has been conducted at the College, including two day-time performances and a well-received community concert last night.
Our Year 8 students will next week have the opportunity to participate in a wonderful camp experience in the South Gippsland.
Two weeks ago, our Year 11 students were participating in camps set in the majestic Ski Fields of North-East Victoria and in the sunny splendour of the Gold Coast, Queensland.
Our Year 10 students will undertake their work experience placements in the last week of this term in a wide variety of vocations and locations.
Advanced planning has begun for our 2024 NASA tour in the USA in a great trip that includes visits to Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama, Nashville, Tennessee and Orlando.
And finally, our senior students studying Italian are now only seven months away from departing for the wonderful and exciting Italian trip in March next year, that will offer experiences in Rome, Venice, Florence, Pompeii, Sorrento, Pisa, Siena and at our sister school in Novara.
These experiences are fantastic opportunities to add yet another dimension to the richness of school life for our students.
We are very proud of the wide range of opportunities for such experiences available to our students and for the maturity and growth we see from our students when participating in such wonderful programs and tours. When you move daily experiences from the classroom to broader community, interstate or international settings, students get an opportunity to lift their horizons. Their cultural understandings are broadened and meaningful engagement in local and global communities are immeasurably strengthened. The learning and growth is immense!
‘Attitude -The Show Must Go On’- Student Performances
There was a real sense of excitement and anticipation this week as the College’s traditional student performance concerts, ‘Attitudes - The Show Must Go On’, was presented over two performances this week to allow for both our Senior and Middle School students to attend. An evening performance of the show was staged on Thursday evening with great support by our local community. Yet again, it was great to see the level of participation from our young and talented students cheered on by enthusiastic support from an engaged audience. The diversity of performances was yet again a testament to the talent that many of our students display.
Congratulations to Evan Jones, Scott Copeman, Alana Schwalger, Megan Thompson, Norm Grimmett and the Student Leadership team and the staff and students who assisted in the organisation, production and backstage management of the show.
It was a great event and showcased the diversity and talents of our students – well done to them!
We would also thank and acknowledge our Parents and Friends Association who served refreshments prior to the show.
Student Achievement
The last weeks have been rich with fantastic individual and collective student efforts.
We would like to share and acknowledge the following students and teams;
Flynn, 11G who has regularly been mentioned in our newsletters for his considerable achievements in the sporting fields, recently travelled to Canberra for the Athletics Australia Cross Country Championships. Flynn finished in the top 50 competitors in the Under 18 event – finishing the 6km in 21:14. This outcome places him in an elite bracket of the top cross-country runners in our nations. Well done Flynn!
Yet again our senior badminton teams have excelled themselves, adding to the rich history of success we have developed in this highly competitive sport. Two weeks ago, our Senior Girls Badminton Team won the State Championship.
The Senior Girls team consists of: Yee-Yuan, 11B, Serena, 11B, Odette Song, 11M, Kishen , 10N and Genevieve, 12B. Yet again, they were expertly coached by Lenny Permana, our parent coach who now boasts an amazing number of state titles under her guidance.
Very well done to the team and to Lenny for her valued assistance!
Finally, our school was the only government state school that competed at the Victorian Secondary Interschool Gymnastics competition last Tuesday at the State Gymnastics Centre.
In an outstanding effort, the girls finished 1st in the state as a team – an amazing outcome!
The team consisted of Tyler, 10J, Alexis , 10H, Catelina, 10H, Samyue, 10J, Victoria, 10A and Ava, 10J.
The team were expertly coached by an ex-student Cassandra Robinson from the class of 2014 and we thank Cassandra very much for her efforts and the time she devoted to the assistance of our team.
On an individual basis the following results were also full of merit:
- Samyue finished 2nd in individual points
- Victoria finished 3rd in individual points
- Ava finished 5th in individual points
- And Tyler finished 6th in individual points
Thanks is also extended to our teachers Bec Morris and Paul Haydock who took the team out to the finals. Well done girls, an outstanding achievement.
Parent – Teacher - Student Interviews Thursday 8 September A further reminder that our Parent – Teacher - Student interviews are to be held on Thursday 7 September. We encourage parents to avail themselves of this important opportunity to meet our teachers to discuss student progress. Students are not required to attend school on Thursday 7 September but are encouraged to attend interviews with parents and teachers.
Interview Times are as follows:
Afternoon Interviews 1.00pm – 4.45pm Evening Interviews 5.30 pm – 8.00pm
Year 10 Work Experience
The last week of Term 3 promises to be both a busy and productive time at the College. For our Year 10 cohort, however, there will be some distinct opportunities and challenges as they participate in Work Experience.
It is well documented that Work Experience programs offer students the opportunity to:
- develop employability skills
- explore possible career options
- understand employer expectations, and
- increase their self-understanding, maturity, independence, communication skills and self-confidence
Apart from the earlier starts and later finishes, the challenges of work experience placements are numerous. The program does, however, offer students an insight into the world of work and the pathway possibilities. I wish all our Year 10 students all the best as they enter our wider community.
PARENT AND FRIENDS ASSOCIATION
Our monthly Parents and Friends Association meeting last Monday evening was marked by yet another significant contribution. The latest initiative of PFA was to purchase a defibrillator as a replacement for the unit we keep in our Health Centre. This is the second defibrillator that the PFA have purchased for the College. This was yet another tangible outcome from PFA that has enriched our College facilities. We thank them very much for their ongoing efforts and commitment.
John Roberts
Principal