Altona College Newsletter

Principal's Reflection

Dear families,

 

Saturday June 22 marks the Winter Solstice, our shortest day of the year and the longest night. For our school community, that means that by the time we reach our holiday break, we will be on our way toward longer warmer days. Unfortunately, the coldest of our winter weather generally doesn’t correlate, and we still have plenty to endure before Spring warms our bones again. We are continuously trying to improve our school and many of the updates provided below align to the challenges that come with winter. While not all can be addressed immediately, I hope this attention to the feedback and needs of our community provides some comfort and reassurance for all. Your feedback matters and will be acted on!

 

Uniform Review

Aligned with this colder weather, comes the regular feedback regarding uniform. Thank you to the many students, staff and families who provided feedback regarding our uniform and SunSmart policy. The feedback revealed general satisfaction with our uniform, particularly the sport options. There was strong alignment attached to the importance of having a uniform that helps students feel safe, connected and ready to learn. There was also strong feedback regarding equitable access to uniform and some obvious dissatisfaction with some formal elements of our uniform. The survey also highlighted the reality that there are a broader range of views and opinions than ever before. In response to this, school council met and have come to the following understandings (special thanks to Jarrah Farmer who took time to gather student feedback and demonstrated a strong but sensible student voice on behalf of his peers! I was so proud to see such a confident example of student voice in action!

 

Commencing immediately:

  1. Blazers, ties and knitted jumpers will all become ‘optional’ elements of the ‘formal’ school uniform terms 1-4.
  2. The soft-shell jacket and rugby jumper will be options for both sport and formal wear.
  3. All other aspects of the uniform policy will remain in effect for now. Secondary students will still be required to wear button up shirt, and either grey pants, shorts, kilt or dress as formal uniform items, but can wear the rugby jumper and/or soft-shell jacket as warmth layers.

In preparation for 2026:

  1. Noone will be renewed as our school uniform provider.
  2. A revised uniform policy will be tabled at the next school council meeting to reflect updates, including the removal of branded shorts, pants, skirts and socks. Colour requirements will remain in place.
  3. Exploration of the following items will commence, but are not guaranteed depending on style, affordability and durability:
    1. Addition of a ‘puffer’ style vest – based on student feedback.
    2. Addition of a cap for secondary students. Although not SunSmart compliant, feedback indicated a strong preference for ‘something, rather than nothing’. Student voice supported this also.
    3. A winter coat as an optional rainwear/outdoor item. Noting that at present any form of raincoat/overcoat can be worn to and from school but should not be worn during school hours as students are allowed indoors during rain and now have multiple warmth layers available to them.
  4. Efforts to improve SunSmart signage, education and access to sunscreen will be planned and implemented at the earliest convenience.
  5. Based on feedback and in line with policy requirements, hats will remain mandatory in terms 1 & 4 for primary age students and encouraged for staff and secondary students. 
  6. Staff will be encouraged to support, normalise and model SunSmart behaviour as often as possible.

We hope these updates balance the needs of families who wanted more flexibility, with those of families who value our formal presentation.

In addition, we are working on a range of ways to support equitable access to uniform in the hope that we can continue to raise expectations, without imposing additional stress and difficulty for families. Our next uniform review will be scheduled to align with the next uniform contract review.

 

Sport

 

I have received and acknowledged feedback regarding the provision of school sport, particularly in the primary school. Since we lost our previous sport coordinator to the bright lights of the AFL, we have been continuously seeking a suitable replacement. We have advertised a range of roles, while our existing team of PE teaching staff do their best to fulfill what they can. We have also been well supported by a team of parents who are willing and ready to get involved. 

Unfortunately, there are many aspects of school sport that cannot be filled by parent volunteers alone and while we continue the search for a suitable staff member, some activities may be affected in the short term. I acknowledge that sport (along with arts and many other extracurricular programs) is an important platform for students to express their skills, talents and interests and will continue to deploy available resources to support these endeavours.

I have commenced planning for 2026 to ensure a fully dedicated primary school Physical Education and Sport coordinator will be in place for the commencement of the school year. I have also made resources available to fill the role sooner, with a panel underway to fill a role to support this endeavour for the remainder of 2025. Once fully deployed, I am confident we will be well placed to rapidly accelerate the effectiveness of our Sport and PE programming. In the meantime, please keep in mind that our existing team are an exceptional group of people doing the very best they can in this challenging time. 

 

Improving communication

 

Some time ago, I mentioned a review of our school communication systems. I am pleased to announce some exciting achievements that you may or may not have noticed already.

  1. Health Services Officer: Sarra Chhabra now fills this position full time. Her role is to support families with health, medical and inclusion related administration. This includes updating medical information, resources and plans, managing first aid full time, supporting our wellbeing and inclusion team and helping allied professionals relay appropriate information to staff. Sarra is already having an impact, and our admin team are also noticing the difference in their daily operations.
  2. Communications Officer: Melonie McGuinness has joined our admin team and is working to support correspondence in and out of the school via Compass, newsletter, weekly bulletin and social media. While she is not a dedicated recipient of complaints, she is very willing to take constructive feedback or act on helpful community information that we can support. Our recent PTV strike action was a great example of her ability to monitor potential issues for families and communicate accordingly. We hope her role is helping families and welcome your feedback.
  3. Website: Planning is underway to rebuild our College website for 2026. Our current site is tired and lacks contemporary features such as a translator feature. We hope to improve both the quality and clarity of information available to families on our website.
  4. Policy guides: We are trialling some ‘policy quick guides’ which combine policy extracts, commentary and guidance to support families with common issues. While still under development, our goal is to address the following in each guide:
    1. School stance on the issue in clear and simple terms
    2. Key policy and resourcing points to support the position
    3. Clear guidance about how a rule might be monitored or enforced
    4. How to access support
    5. How to raise a concern or complaint

Reviewing our first attempts, addressing ‘smoking and vaping’ and ‘toilets and cubicle sharing’, we recognise that the documents may come across somewhat assertive. In these cases, this is because the two issues are cases of seemingly obvious expectations that can cause significant anxiety among our community. While I prefer to remain focused on the strengths of our College, I will address some of these more confronting positions over each coming newsletter. In this case, the following thinking underpins my position and the complexity of managing these issues in schools:

  1. Smoking and Vaping:
    1. Is strictly prohibited and in no way condoned by the school.
    2. Can range from an impulsive decision to a complex health/addiction issue
    3. Requires a balance of deterrence and supportive education
    4. Is often made difficult to combat when parental and broader societal modelling does not support the school position.
    5. Can be a confronting issue for teachers to police when they are trying hard to build positive relationships centred around learning.
  2. Toilets and cubicle sharing:
    1. Involve issues where students enter or interfere with an occupied cubicle.
    2. Are most common across years 3-9.
    3. Are never acceptable
    4. Are often the starting point for more serious issues which would otherwise be avoided (consider issues of privacy, consent, vandalism, bullying, vaping, mobile phones)
    5. Are not justified by any health-related reasons and therefore warrant a clearly defined expectation
    6. Can be understood by students of all ages.
    7. Are often not modelled for younger learners at home or in early learning settings and therefore younger learners need support to understand bathroom boundaries.

Considering the above complexity, we have developed resources that are firm and direct but still allow space for discretion and consultation. Our intent is not to offend and so again, we will welcome feedback as each item is provided with a view to improve. As our website evolves, our plan is to shift to a much more supportive and engaging version of these guides that will eventually include video content and visual resources. It is a work in progress and your support and feedback will assist us in helping everyone feel connected and supported in all aspects of school life. I will table these two items at our next council meeting for feedback. Please feel free to contribute via council members or via our school email. You can also see the first draft of these policy guides in the pages that follow.

 

End of semester

With assessments, exams, report writing, excursions, a winter formal and many other exciting activities ahead, we still have a very busy three weeks ahead of us. This can be a stressful time for everyone, please stay connected and access supports as needed. I sincerely hope that you will enjoy the pages that follow, along with many of the additional posts that celebrate how incredible our school is! We are almost halfway through another incredible year and as always, I am appreciative of all of the passion and energy our staff, students and families bring to each day.

 

 

Nathan Guthridge

Principal

 

 

Smoking and vaping.pdf
Toilets and cubicle sharing.pdf