School News

School Council Elections 2017

What is a school council and what does it do?

All government schools in Victoria have a school council. They are legally formed bodies that are given powers to set the key directions of a school within centrally provided guidelines. In doing this, a school council is able to directly influence the quality of education that the school provides for its students.

Who is on the school council?

There are three possible categories of membership:

• A mandated elected Parent category. More than one third of the total members must be from this category. Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DET) employees can be Parent members at their child’s school as long as they are not employed at the school.
• A mandated elected DET employee category. Members of this category may make up no more than one third of the total membership of school council. The principal of the school is automatically one of these members.
• An optional Community member category. Its members are appointed by a decision of the council because of their special skills, interests or experiences. DETD employees are not eligible to be Community members.

The term of office for all members is two years. Half the members must retire each year, creating vacancies for the annual school council elections.

Why is Parent membership so important?

Parents on school councils provide important viewpoints and have valuable skills that can help shape the direction of the school.

Those parents who become active on a school council find their involvement satisfying in itself and may also find that their children feel a greater sense of belonging.

How can you become involved?

The most obvious way is to vote in the elections, which are held in Term 1 each year. However, ballots are only held if more people nominate as candidates than there are positions vacant.

In view of this, you might seriously consider

• standing for election as a member of the school council
• encouraging another person to stand for election.

Do I need special experience to be on school council?

No. What you do need is an interest in your child’s school and the desire to work in partnership with others to help shape the school’s future.

What do you need to do to stand for election?

The principal will issue a notice and call for nominations following the commencement of Term 1 each year. All school council elections must be completed by the end of March.

If you decide to stand for election, you can arrange for someone to nominate you as a candidate or you can nominate yourself in the Parent category.

DET employees whose child is enrolled in a school in which they are not employed are eligible to nominate as parents for the school council where their child is enrolled

Once the nomination form is completed, return it to the principal within the time stated on the notice of election. You will receive a Nomination Form Receipt in the mail following the receipt of your completed nomination.

If there are more nominations received than there are vacancies on council, a ballot will be conducted during the two weeks after the call for nominations has closed.

Remember

• Ask at the school for help if you would like to stand for election and are not sure what to do
• Consider standing for election to council this year
• Be sure to vote in the elections.

Proposed Timeline for Election

• Wednesday 22 February Call for nominations
• Wednesday 1 March Nominations due
• Friday 3 March Post ballot papers
• Friday 10 March Ballot closes
• Tuesday 14 March Ballot counted and declared
• Tuesday 21 March First School Council meeting post-election

VET/Career News

Most VET classes have commenced this week. Students need to make their own arrangements to and from their VET venue. It is important that students attend their VET classes on time as per arrangements.

Students still have the opportunity to order WEC uniform tops & jumpers for their VET programs. Order forms are available from the Careers Office.

New Careers Website

The Careers Office is pleased to advise to parents that Melton SC has its own careers website. It can be found at: http://meltonsecondarycareers.com/

Senior students will become very familiar with the information on this site in the coming weeks through the Tutorial program.

2016 Year 12 Students

The Careers Room has commenced making phone calls to track the pathways destination of our 2016 Yr 12 students. We are pleased to report that 98% of Year 12 students with a VTAC account has received first and/or second round offers for tertiary studies.

Year 10 Work Experience - Important Dates

Parent Information Night: 28 February 5.30pm – 6.30pm

Work Experience program: 28 August – 1 September, 2017

Wellbeing News

The Wellbeing Team would like to welcome all student back to a new school year and in particular welcome Year 7 students to Melton Secondary.

The wellbeing team run a number of programs throughout the year, with our current programs summarised below:

Respect and Me Program

The “Respect and Me” Program is a 30 minute Year 7 program facilitated by the wellbeing Team. The aim of the program is to introduce students to the wellbeing team and our role in the school by looking at what is respect and way we can demonstrate respect to others.

 We have enjoyed getting to know some of our new students during these sessions.

Breakfast Club

Breakfast club runs daily from 8am-8:40am in SL6. All students are welcome.

The wellbeing team would welcome any uniform donations so we are able to help out other families. Any uniform items that you no longer use and is in good condition, please bring to the wellbeing offices.

Thank you from Amanda, Chris, Dani and Stacey (Wellbeing Team)

2018 ACE Program Applications

Round 1 Applications are now open for the 2018 (ACE) Accelerated Curriculum and Enrichment Program at Melton Secondary College.

This application round is for students who are currently in Year 6 and wish to apply for a position in the 2018 Year 7 ACE class. MSC’s ACE program is designed to cater for the educational needs of advanced, gifted and talented learners. Classes in this program move at a faster pace than others and delve deeper into the curriculum. The program also provides students with access to additional extra-curricular opportunities designed to develop a broad range of skills.

Applications are competed online and must be finalised by Friday the 21st of April. Students who have completed the application and paid the $50 fee will sit the ACE test at Melton Secondary College on Saturday the 29th of April. For full information on the application process visit the Melton Secondary College website: http://www.meltonsc.vic.edu.au/the-ace-program

If you have any questions please contact the school.

Host Familes

Would you like to host a Japanese female assistant?

Melton Secondary College are seeking host families who are able to host a female assistant teacher who is joining us from Term 2, 2017. Host families have always found the experience to be a wonderful way of learning about a new culture. This is also an excellent language learning opportunity for families.

Hiroka Yasui is very keen to introduce Japanese culture and share your own culture.

As a host family, you would need to provide

• A bedroom
• 3 meals a day (you don’t have to cook a special meal)
• Transport to school

Host families will receive an allowance of $150 from the college each week to support their expenses.

If you have any questions or wish to become a host family, please contact Ms. Mori.