PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

REFLECTIONS, AWARDS and CELEBRATIONS

Dear Parents/Carers,

It would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the year that was. We all know it was challenging. We all know there was so much uncertainty.

We all know that our world became a different place and ‘normality’ as we knew it, became skewed and confusing.

What is important to embrace is the strength and positivity that also grew throughout 2020. For all intents and purposes, our teachers did their absolute best to deliver the curriculum to all our students, via remote learning and most of our students stepped up to do the best they could, given the difficult circumstances. Our college was a shining beacon of hope, always open, always willing to support students and parents, always open to feedback. I cannot commend enough the professionalism and commitment shown by all the staff, teaching and non-teaching.

As such, our students deserve worthy praise too – so many social interactions were untimely ripped from them and school holidays were spent at home, with no friends visiting, no catch ups, no socialising. The world of Teams and Webex was the only safe place to be!

It is useful for each of us to think about how our students crafted new experiences and learning opportunities that displayed learning growth and attention to detail. The grit that was demonstrated will go a long way to creating successful future outcomes.

In 2021, the message is…’stay curious’

EXCELLENCE AWARDS’ EVENING

This final newsletter for the year is adorned with pictures of all our award winners from our presentation night. Congratulations to all these students for their outstanding achievements.

VCE RESULTS

The Year 12 VCE class of 2020 are nervously awaiting their results that will be released on the 30th of December.

I refer you to an earlier Compass post by Ms Leanne Paterson that reads thus:

MESC ACCESS:

If you would like to come into the school to share your successes and/or have a chat with teachers (not all teachers will be present) and Leanne (Careers office) the school will be open from 10:00am through to 1:00pm on Wednesday, 30th December.

FURTHER CAREERS ACCESS – 31/12/20 – 4/01/21

CHANGE OF PREFERENCE closes Monday, 4th January 2021 – 12 noon for January 1st round offers.

If you wish to discuss your VTAC preferences with Leanne Paterson, please email (lpaterson@mesc.vic.edu.au) or send a message via TEAMS to make an appointment. Appointments can be either via TEAMS or one-on-one at the school – this is available via prior appointment only.

We look forward to sharing the successes with the school community, working respectfully with confidentiality clauses and permissions given to us by our students.

STATEWIDE ORIENTATION DAY

Imagine nearly 200 Grade 6 students visiting their new secondary school for the first time? This happened at our college on the statewide orientation day. Skipping, jumping, running, slowly walking, in groups, chatter, smiles, nervousness, awe, etc, etc..I think that our parents felt the same exultation as they dropped off their son/daughter. Mrs Lombardi, our Assistant Principal, has written about the day in her report and my message to our new families is….WELCOME! Thank you, too, to the staff involved on the day.

STAFF DAYS 2021

School dates for 2021:

Wednesday 27th of January – Staff return (meetings and prep time)

Thursday 28th of January – Staff only (meetings and prep time)

Friday, 29th of January – Year 7 and Year 12 students only

Monday, 1st of February – Whole school return – classes start PD 2 after student assemblies

Thank you to the entire community for staying united in getting through 2020.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year – have a wonderful break everyone. We very much look forward to 2021.

James Barut

Acting Principal

SEMESTER TWO REPORTS

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL REPORT

At Mount Eliza Secondary College we know it is vital to involve students and families in learning. This includes providing a written report on student progress and achievement at least twice a year, alongside our continuous reporting of CATs and SACs and our 5 weekly progress reports.

The Department of Education and Training has adjusted the expectations around student reporting for Semester 2 in recognition of the continued disruption caused by COVID-19.

While our staff have continued to deliver a teaching and learning program and monitor the learning of each student, we have adjusted our usual program to reflect the period of remote and flexible delivery. Therefore, we have modified our final written report for the families of each student focusing on what progress had been made and what each child has achieved.

Reports will include:

a description of the areas of the Victorian Curriculum covered for each subject taught in Semester Two;
a comment on student participation and engagement in the learning program offered in Semester 2, 2020 with reference to the Personal and Social Capability in the curriculum.

For English and Mathematics:

student achievement information;
progress shown from the last time these curriculum areas were reported on;
for all other curriculum areas taught:
student achievement information represented through CATs or SACs. These can be accessed via Compass as part of our continuous reporting.

Families are welcome to contact teachers via Compass if you have any questions regarding your child’s progress. Thank you for your continued support this year.

ORIENTATION DAY

Orientation Day

We were very excited to be able to welcome our 2021 Year 7 students to the College for Orientation Day. Whilst the program was slightly different to adhere to the health guidelines, students were still able to meet with their new classmates, several of their teachers and experience a snapshot of what life will be like at MESC next year.

We are very much looking forward to welcoming our new cohort to the College next year!

Celeste Lombardi

Acting Assistant Principal