Dear Families,

Well, as 2020 nears to an end… thankfully for most people I imagine due to the rollercoaster it has been...... it is a fantastic opportunity to reflect on the amazing resilience and achievement of our wonderful students at VUSC.

I have been blown away by our students' ability to navigate challenges and bend to the demands of the ever-changing restrictions placed on them throughout this extraordinary year.

This year has caused us to see our lives and work through a very different lens, to pause and to reassess what matters, what is worth spending time on, and what makes a difference. As a school community, we have reflected on and analysed what we have learnt as a result of the challenges, and the often surprising successes, of online learning. The challenges we have had to face will inform and shape our focus areas, aspects of the way we teach, work and connect with each other. We have learnt so much, and it is exciting to be part of many conversations regarding how we move forward and plan for 2021.

Whether on site or in the remote learning environment, I am very grateful for my staff’s commitment to our students and families within our community. Term 4 was a critical time for us to re-engage students, re-establish school routines, and prepare for successful transitions into 2021.

Supporting students who need to catch up, and inspiring students who have progressed well to continue to excel, is central to our planning for 2021. I know some students have thrived in the remote and flexible learning environment; others have maintained their progress, and some have fallen behind despite their best efforts and those of their families and teachers. We have made every effort to ensure successful transitions for the Grade 6’s moving into Year 7, and the Year 12’s moving into employment or further education and training.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank parents, students and staff for all the support they have shown the College over the last 6 months. During the year there have been so many twists and turns with new routines and rules, school closure and the back and forwards between remote and on-site learning. Through it all staff and students have been fantastic, living our college values of Respect Yourself and Others, Aspire to Achieve and Strengthen the Community.

Our Year 12’s have been impressive beyond belief throughout this year but especially over the last few weeks. Our Year 12 VCE students have just finished sitting their examinations and are anxiously awaiting their results. Regardless of their final VCE and VCAL results, I know they have all impressed me with their resilience and determination and I have no doubt that this cohort of young people, our Class of 2020, will be strong and successful having been through a year like no other.

End of Year Program — Year 7—9 Students

Students in Years 7—9 will continue with learning programs throughout the rest of this term, making the most of being back on-site together with their peers and teachers. Students will participate in a range of activities throughout the final weeks of term including reflection on their learning and general progress. This targeted reflection is important for the development of their learning goals for 2021. Students will complete a range of work programs aimed at ensuring they are prepared for their next level of schooling. The final week of school is a short week of just three days that we promise to pack full of fun activities and end of year celebrations. The End of Year Program will commence on Monday 14th December. Full details of the three day program will be available soon.

Year 12 Graduation

Our end of year assemblies, award presentations and graduation celebrations have been very different this year. It is sad in particular for our Year 12 students who have been unable to celebrate 18th birthdays, formals and celebration days, like in previous years. However, we have endeavoured to continue to provide moments of reflection and acknowledgement while at the same time ensuring we follow strict Department of Education and Training guidelines. One event that I am hoping Year 12 students will join us in is celebrating the Year 12 Graduation Day on Monday 7th December. This event will be held at the Senior Campus in our gym with staff. We feel this is the best way to bring together our students and staff to celebrate and recognise our class of 2020 graduating students.

Home Group Structure and New Bell Times 2021

We have restructured our home group model for next year and made some changes to our bell times. Our Junior and Senior SRC students met on Microsoft Teams on Monday 31st August during remote and flexible learning to discuss our home group structure and how they would want it to continue next year. The majority of the students preferred to have home group at the start of the day and they also suggested swapping lunch and recess times around so that students could have a longer break after periods 1 and 2. Students also asked for a longer period of home group time where they felt real connections and work could take place with their home group teacher. Please see the 'New Bell Times' page in this newsletter for more details.

College Captains Announcement

Congratulations to the following students for being elected to the College Captaincy and Vice Captaincy positions for 2021:

College Captains: Danita Caruso and Emily Kerbage

College Vice Captains: Regi Cruz and Brooke Moncur

I would also like to congratulate and acknowledge the remaining candidates who participated in the process: Camille Afa, Michael Chol, Toakase Ofamooni and Taiwania Pua. All the candidates will form the VUSC Student Leadership team. They will all have the responsibility of running campus assemblies and attending various meetings to represent the College, eg. Parent Information nights etc.

Once again, congratulations to all the candidates for their current and future contributions to VUSC. The Junior Campus Captaincy positions are currently being finalised and we will announce the successful candidates on Compass by the end of term.

Staffing 2021 – Valuing Staff and Building Capacity

A number of staffing positions have been advertised and filled for 2021. Victoria University Secondary College is now a destination school for quality applicants. With regards to workforce planning, the overall goal is to retain, develop and attract quality people to the school. With an increase in student numbers I have recruited staff to the school from diverse academic fields with specialist area expertise such as Chinese, EAL, English, Accounting, Numeracy and Science. Over 500 applicants have been screened over the past month. Newly appointed staff will be introduced to the community in the first newsletter of 2021 and to students at the first School Assembly of 2021.

School Strategic Plan 2021 – 2024 / Annual Implementation Plan 2021

Our school’s Strategic Plan for 2021 – 2024 sets out our strategic goals, priorities and targets. The three major goals of the Strategic Plan are:

Improve the learning growth and achievement of every student.

Identify and target the learning needs of all students.
Review, monitor and embed the school-wide instructional model.
Enhance the capacity of teachers to implement evidence-based teaching and learning strategies.

2. Empower all students to become confident and self-reliant learners.

Enhance student voice, agency and leadership across the school.
Review and monitor the attendance policy.

3. Improve the wellbeing of all students.

Further enhance the Positive Behaviour Model.
Review and monitor the college student wellbeing framework.

Annual Implementation Plan COVID response

The Department of Education and Training (DET) has made significant commitments

and guidelines for 2021 to support students through the impacts of COVID-19.

Our 2021 Annual Implementation Plan (AIP) will have three main priorities:

Learning catch-up and extension: Some of our students have thrived in the remote and flexible learning environment, others have maintained their learning progress, and some have fallen behind, despite their best efforts and those of their families and teachers. We will support both those who need it to catch up and those who have thrived to continue to extend their learning.
Happy, active and healthy kids: We will make sure we look after our students' mental health and enable every student to get back outdoors, get active and get creative. This means effectively mobilising available resources to support our students, especially the most vulnerable.
Connected schools: We will build on the stronger connections that schools have established with their families, carers and communities through 2020 to embed and spread improved ways of working to support our students.

Tutoring Program

A tutoring program for 2021 has been announced by the Victorian Government, designed to support students whose learning has been disrupted as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

To enable schools to employ more than 4,100 tutors to support more than 200,000 students, the Victorian Government announced total funding of $250 million, representing the largest initiative to support individual student learning in the history of the state.

To ensure every school is able to participate effectively in the program, each school, irrespective of size, primary, secondary or specialist, or level of disadvantage, will receive a base level of funding of $15,000 to engage tutor support, with additional loadings reflecting levels of both enrolments and disadvantage. VUSC has been given a budget of $436,867.00 to fund this program. We are currently planning and recruiting for this program.

Our New Buildings

Stage One of our new school buildings are well and truly underway at our Cairnlea campus. SJ Higgins builders were appointed to our Cairnlea campus upgrade project. The $23.9 million project will see the campus receive a new Learning Village building, Performing Arts building and STEM building. Construction on this project has started and there is a lot to look forward to, especially after seeing the designs and watching slabs and the framework for the buildings go up (see photos below).

At our last site meeting we were told that the anticipated completion date for stage one is looking like approximately September 2021. We certainly will be busy next year buying furniture and moving in.

Booklists and Essential Items/Electives Fees

Students have been given their booklists for 2021. Copies are also available at the office. The Essential Items fees and electives fees for 2021 are now due. Parents who pay these in full will receive a FREE Stationery Pack, valued at $48.95, which includes all of the stationery on the booklist.

Booklist collection orders will be available at our Junior Campus on Thursday 21st January from 10.00am to 1.00pm.

Finally, I would like to wish all of our school community a very happy Christmas and a safe and healthy New Year. I look forward to seeing you all in 2021.

Elaine Hazim

College Principal

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Child Safety at VUSC

Victoria University Secondary College is a child safe organisation committed to protecting students from all forms of abuse.

Our College has stringent protocols in place and endeavours at all times to be fully compliant with the Child Safe Standards set out under Ministerial Order 870.

Our College has the following documents and policies in place to achieve compliance with the Standards. All of these documents are available for downloading on our website or contact the school for a copy.

Commitment to Child Safety
Child Safety Policy
Child Safety Code of Conduct
Child Protection Policy and Procedures