PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

Minister’s visit to the College

On Wednesday October 5th, the College hosted a visit for the Minister for Education, Natalie Hutchins. It was Minister Hutchins first visit to schools in the Barwon Region and we were fortunate to be one of three schools that she conducted a tour of on the day.

Minister Hutchins was accompanied by myself, Our College Captains Archie and Melody as well as Year 10 student Toby.

We visited the Arts classrooms to show the Minister the amazing creative talents that we have at the College. The Minister requested some art from our school for her office, which we will happily oblige! We also visited the Hands on Learning program as the Minister had asked to see this in action at our school. Our College is well known for operating a high functioning HOL program and is playing an important role in retaining students at school, creating purpose for students and linking them to positive future pathways. We then visited the Year 7 learning space to see FUSE in action and showcase the team teaching, integrated approach that we have at SCSC.

We have been very fortunate to have several visits over the past 12 months from many of our Federal and State parliament members. This is testament to the good word that others hear about the teaching and learning programs of SCSC. 

Celebrating our Year 12 Students

As this newsletter is being published, our Year 12 students in the VCE and VCAL and completing their final full week of classes at SCSC. Both an exciting and nervous time for them all, we are so proud of the way that all students have approached their final year of school and supported each other to strive for being the best version of themselves and bringing that to all of the opportunities that their final year of secondary schooling offers to them.

The trial exams held over the term break had a wonderful attendance rate with over 75 students completing the English trial exam and over 80% of t he VCE students attending for trial exams over the first week of the break. A huge thank you to the staff that co-ordinated this and came in to supervise these exams. Our students are approaching their exams with focus and an ambition to achieve their best, which has created a great atmosphere in our senior study centre to start the term.

Monday October 17 and Tuesday October 18 will see our year 12s engaged in ‘celebration days’ at the College. A final year 12 assembly will be held on the Monday afternoon which Year 11 and Year 7 students will also be involved in. Our Culture Committee of year 12s have also planned some other fun activities and dress up days. More information will be directly sent to year 12 families so keep an eye on Compass emails for this.

We look forward to the Valedictory Evening on Thursday November 17th where families will join us in celebrating the end of their child’s schooling with us at SCSC. I look forward to seeing you all there. 

Health and Safety Measures for Term 4

DET have advised schools that there are no changes to the operations and expectations of schools in relation to COVID 19 cases until further advised for the first two weeks of term 4. We can expect an update after this and I will communicate changes to the community via Compass when I receive notification.

This means that families are still asked to report any positive cases of COVID 19 to the school email of covideresponse@scsc.vic.edu.au and also advise of any household contacts via the same email.

Household contacts are asked to wear a face mask whilst indoors at school during the period of required isolation for their family member.

Currently, a COVID positive person is required to isolate for 5 days or 7 if they still have symptoms after day 5. We understand that the isolation requirements are due to change soon.

We appreciate your continued support with ensuring that if your child is unwell for any reason, that they remain at home and that you let the College know about this absence via Compass. Hopefully with warmer weather arriving, we will have less illnesses during term 4 than we did in term 3.

Attitudes to School Survey results for 2022 

The annual Attitudes to School Survey for students was conducted later term 2 and results received in term 3.

Our students rated their experience highly, compared to other schools in the State, in the following areas:

• Differentiated Learning Challenge 
• Community Connections 
• Help Seeking (find it easy to seek/find help) 
• Peer Relationships 
• Life Satisfaction 
• Resilience 
• Not experiencing bullying 
• Rate of physical activity 

We are proud that many of these factors in the survey relate to our students’ wellbeing and connectedness to school and the community which has been vital in getting our students back to face-to-face school this year.  We look forward to continuing to foster positive experiences for our students at the College and focusing on some of the factors that are deemed improvement areas for us moving into 2023 also.

Scholarship Opportunities for 2023 from DET

Scholarships are available for eligible students in Grade 4 to Year 11, and for Year 12 students planning to undertake tertiary studies in 2023. 

The Department of Education and Training administers a number of scholarships that are available to eligible students who are currently enrolled in Grade 4 to Year 12 in 2022. 

Applicants for these scholarships will be evaluated on their:

• participation in school activities
• community involvement
• academic record for the current year.

Scholarships are either one-off payments or cover the duration of the student’s course or annual study.

Many of these scholarships have specific eligibility criteria so please refer to individual applications for more information. Applications are open and close on Wednesday 1 February 2023.

For more information and a list of available scholarships, see the 2022 Student scholarships for Grade 4 – Year 12 fact sheet. 

For information on how to apply, refer to  Student scholarships

Erin Wright

College Principal