Assistant Principals
Our ‘Culture and Service’ to the students of the College and to the community underpins everything we do. This past fortnight has been busy settling into lessons, establishing effective routines and ensuring that we meet the needs of our student population.
There are two documents that the College uses to centre its teaching and learning program: the GANAG Instructional Model and the Positive Learning Behaviour model. These models support excellence in teaching and learning and drive the curriculum and student engagement. Students can view their lesson plans on the Compass lesson page each day and this is important particularly as we have instances of isolation at home due to covid-19 exposures. Students can still access their work and communicate with their teachers. Progress Reports will be available for families by the end of the term.
Staff professional learning featured a veritable array of options to pique the interests of staff. These sessions included a focus on Formative Assessment , Differentiation, Good Stress vs Bad Stress, Staff Wellbeing toolkit. One professional learning session was run by two Year 11 student leaders, Alyssa Soldato and Jackson Smith. The session was a practical approach to supporting student voice and agency in the classroom and provided terrific insights from the student perspective about how teachers can enhance their connectedness to students and students to their work. Congratulations Alyssa and Jackson! You continue to inspire.
Our young student leaders were involved in Student Leadership training day this week and were coached by leaders of the Maroondah Youth Services and mentored by their fellow peers. It was a happy, productive day which improved student confidence in taking on leadership responsibilities in the College and providing students with the opportunity to show leadership in many areas. Their learning and leadership will be put into practice as we begin our school tours. Tours commence in the Presentation Space of the Junior School building and prospective families will tour the college with Year 12 Prefects, Years 11, 10, & 7 leaders.
There was a packed school hall at the Music Recruitment night on Monday with the turnout exceeding everyone’s expectations. A great many instruments were on offer and our music staff were delighted with the try outs. Thank you to our Year 7 families for attending and to our music students, staff and the Music Association for being part of such a delightful evening. A wonderful aspect of this event is talking to parents, particularly those who were former students and who were taught by a number of staff in attendance. Seeing their children connecting with the Music department brings a great source of pride.
Lunchtime programs from the vibrant and pro-active Wellbeing Team are up and running and provide a safe and comfortable space for our students. Each lunchtime there is an opportunity for students to participate in the following activities:
Monday- E sports (invitation only);
Tuesday -Elite sports & Raise Mentoring; Wednesday- Year 7 Girls Group;
Thursday- Standout;
Friday - Book Reviewers Club.
Every Wednesday Breakfast Club runs from 7.30am and is open to all students. Meanwhile, momentum is building for the annual Mental Health Carnival, a favourite event on the College calendar and one which has been sorely missed these past two years. The theme is ‘Get your groove on.’ Families have received communications about the dress up theme, activities and prizes and we hope the weather is in our favour for a wonderful carnival.
Our Junior and Middle Schools are preparing for two long awaited events – the Year 8 Celebration Day at Gumbuya World and the Year 9 Camp at Phillip Island. These exciting events on the calendar signal a chance for students to reconnect with their peers and enjoy the kinds of activities they missed out on over the past two years. The same can be said about the sports program. Staff are excited to take out teams of students to compete in the interschool sports competition in their preferred sport.
Finally, College photo day was on the 28th of February and ran smoothly. There is a catch- up day on Tuesday 8th March for students who missed the day. Full school uniform is expected and we thank families for ensuring that students wear their uniform correctly.
The Tutor Learning Initiative (TLI) is once again running in 2022. Our tutor teachers have been focusing on building positive relationships and working with students across Years 8, 9 & 12 over the past four weeks to support their learning in the areas of literacy and numeracy. These tutors will soon be in communication with specific parents and students about their participation within the program for the remainder of Semester 1, before our tutors will then begin working with students from Years 7, 10 & 11 in Semester 2. Our tutor teachers are very excited to support many students in this program throughout 2022.
Eleni Stathatos, Agatha Fedrizzi
and Matt Tucker
Assistant Principals