Principal's Report

2022 VCE Achievement 

I would like to thank every staff member, parent and member of our wider community, particularly La Trobe University for supporting our Year 12 students of 2022 in their journey from Year 7 students in 2017, to accomplished young adultswho leave Reservoir High as future ready learners. 

As we know, the mpacts of COVID have been wide reaching- especially the case of our young people. Our Year 12 leavers this year spent Year 10 and 11,  key formative years in developing approaches to study and revision, learning from home. As such, their achievements and results this year are not only excellent, but outstanding given the difficulties face by each individual student over the past few years.

The danger of publishing VCE results is that it places a higher than needed importance of the ATAR. The ATAR is just a rank, it does not define a student or young person and is not a true reflection on the learning, achievements or a predictor of future success. While we are proud of the achievemens of our students in their ATARs in 2022 , I am also proud of the students who didn't achieve ATARS in the 80s and 90s, but who have worked hard and will achieve their pathway of tertiary study in 2023. One of the best parts of the Principal role at Reservoir is seeing students who are both first in family to complete the VCE (including the new Vocational Major VCE pathway) and be first in family to attend university. Our partnership with La Trobe University, saw over 25 students receive Aspire Early Offers for their courses prior to the ATARs and end of year exams. La Trobe Univeristy is the number one destination of Reservoir High students and is an exceptional, world class university. It is great that we have such a strong partnership with them.

Given my words just now, it might seem incongruous that I now praise our students for their high level excellence and success, but it is worth acknowledging.

In 2022, 16% of our students achieved an ATAR higher than 90. his is an exceptional number. 27% of our students achieved a rank higher than 80. Reservoir students are high achievers.

Congratulations also to Chloe Smith, who with her ATAR has been acknowledged as School Dux for 2022. Congratulations Chloe and we wish you all the best on your journey into Medicine as you undertake your dream course at the University of Melbourne in 2022. We will ackowledge th edestinations of our other students in our newsletters next year. 

Staff Farewells

I would liketo acknowledge the staff who are departing Reservoir High in 2022. 

This year, we had a number of staff who we employed from the University of Melbourne and Monash University who were final year Education students. They took on classroom teaching roles in Semester 2 and were all exceptional in their roles and have been snapped up by schools to begin their professional careers.

Thank you to-

Nick Gale- Eng/Hums- employed at Ashwood College

Liam Van Ingen- Eng/Hums- employed at Melbourne girls College

Will Ryan- Eng/Hums- employed at Albert Park college

Dorothy Meng- Maths/Science- employed at Strathmore College 

A big thank you to following members of staff who will be taking 12 months of leave in 2023-

Joseph Sirianni, Peter Cattapan, Geoffrey M Barker, Daniel Price and Lynh Au

We wish all the best to the following staff who will be joing other schools in 2023

Andrew McNeil- Koonung Secondary College

Peny Keaughran- Norwood Secondary College

Louisa D'Ortenzio- Loyola College

Christine Hawes- Keilor Downs Secondary College

Ken Sinderberry- Elevation High School  

Finally, congratulations to Tony Marcus. Tony is retiring after over 48 years of service to the Department of Education, and 43 years of service to Reservoir High School. Tony began at Kingsbury Tech in 1978, and taught at the school as it merged to form Reservoir District in 1992, and as it changed again to Reservoir High in 2010. Tony has been an exceptional Chemistry teacher, as well as organiser of many camps and excursions, but a key driving force in the development and embedding of the Advance program and Duke of Edinburgh Award at Reservoir High School. Tony is well known for his exceptional multimedia skills and has constructed countless high quality videos for the school over the years. Have a well earned retirement Tony!

Early finish on Mondays in 2023

In 2023, Reservoir High School will be operating on a shortened school day on every Monday. School Council has approved a finish time of 2.30pm on Mondays. 

All students who require it will continue to be provided with supervision until the regular finishing time of 3.05pm if required. This shortened day will support staff of the school to continue to work collaboratively to provide exceptional programs and instruction to our students. Homework club will continue to be provided to all students until 4.30pm on Mondays, as well as all other days of the week

Parent Payments 2023

Reservoir High School is looking forward to another great year of teaching and learning and would like to advise you of Reservoir High School’s parent payment arrangements for 2023.  Reservoir High School makes every effort to keep the cost of items and activities to a minimum and affordable for all parents. Please log in to Compass  and check the Parent Centre for notifications regarding Fees and Contributions. If you have any concerns, please call the General Office from Monday 23 January 2023

Acting Principal Term 1 2023

Following my announcement that this year is my last year at Reservoir High School, the position of Acting Principal for Term 1 2023 was advertised. The process for this position has now been completed and I can announce that the Acting Principal for Term 1 2023 is Fran Mullins. Fran is an experienced educator and school leader and joins the Reservoir High community from Eltham High School

Farewell

This is my final newsletter as Principal of Reservoir High School. I leave Reservoir extremely proud of what I was able to achieve in my time here at the school, but mostly proud of what the students and staff of the school have achieved and will continue to achieve into the future. 

The academic achievement of our students is exceptional. We see this in the achievement at VCE, but also in NAPLAN and in teacher judgements. Our students growth in the key 21st Century skills of Literacy and Numeracy, as well as in team work, communication and critical and creative thinking means that they are preparing themsleves to be future proof and ready for whatever challenges they face as they get older.

I am particulalry proud of our work in supporting the well-being and social and emotional dvelopment of our young people. Reservoir High has both exceptional people and programs to support every young student to be who they want to be in a safe and caring learning environment. This is a strength of the school and one that will continue for many years to come. 

I am also proud that the school is finally starting to change in a physical sense. It is about time the school has been funded to provide modern, safe and comfortable buildings to ensure the built environment matches the exceptional teaching that occurs in the classrooms. I would like to thank every parent who has advocated for the school with local politicians, and a big thank you to the past Member of Preston, Mr Robin Scott for his support of the school. There is still much more to be done, so please continue to advocate not only for your children here at the school now, but every young person in the Reservoir and Kingsbury area who deserves the best facilities to support their future learning.

I will sign off by thanking you, the parents, guardians, carers and families of our students. Your support of the school, our direction and of me in my time here is greatly appreciated and has made a siginificant difference. I wish you, your families and your children all the best in the future, and leave Reservoir knowing it is in great hands and will only continue to get better.

Have a safe Christmas and fantastic break. 

Andrew McNeil

Principal