The Beacon 

Principal Message

Message from the College Acting Principal

Dear Parents and Carers, 

 

We have had a very busy Term 2, but it has been wonderful and so many exciting things have happened. We have had camps, athletics days, rep breakfast, swimming programs, excursions, incursions, book fair and much more. All of these things have been exciting and the students have thoroughly enjoyed participating in them. We are always incredibly proud of how our students represent our College at events, both here at school and within the community.  I would like to extend a very big thank you to our wonderful staff who have given up their time to organise and support these events.

 

This week our Reporting Portfolios will be sent home. These Portfolios are a celebration of your child’s learning, through authentic samples of student work. Our reporting portfolios are intended to provide both parents and students with additional information regarding student progress, including areas for continued improvement and a progressive record of student achievement. We hope you enjoy sharing and celebrating your child’s Semester 1 achievements. If you have any questions regarding the Reporting Portfolios, please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s teacher or a member of the College Leadership Team.

 

Over the past two weeks we have been fortunate to have Semper Dental visiting our school. They have been teaching students about the importance of a healthy diet and how to brush and look after their teeth. A large number of our students have also visited the dentists for a comprehensive oral examination and treatment. Parents of students who have seen the dentists will receive a written copy of their child’s treatment plan. 

 

This week we received the long awaited results from the Berthe Mouchette French Recital competition, which is organised by the Alliance Francaise of Melbourne. This year we had 22 students from Year 4 – 8 who achieved a perfect score of 20 out of 20. This is an outstanding achievement for these students and we are extremely proud of all students who participated in the competition. The 22 finalists will be competing against finalists from other school in August and we look forward to sharing their results with our community next term.

 

A reminder that next term we will be releasing the Compass Pay module which enables parents to make payments and give permission for camps, excursions and incursions through the parent portal. We believe this will support our parents by streamlining the administration process. More information will be sent home this week for parents with instructions on how to provide permission and pay for events. We will also be hosting parent workshops on how to use compass next term. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact our College Administration on 9749 0506.

 

Once again I would like to thank our students and families for a wonderful Term 2. Stay safe and enjoy the holidays. We are looking forward to seeing you all on Monday 15 July ready to commence a great Term 3.

 

Kind Regards

Paris Spencer

Acting College Principal

Messages from Assistant Principals

Dear Parents and Carers,

 

Year 2 Swimming

Recently, our last group of Year 2 students participated in our swimming program at Aquapulse. It is an exciting and very important time for each student, as increasing swimming skills - regardless of different swimming levels, is very important - as being safe around water is a priority.

I would like to thank our parent/carer community for our high participation rates and for continuing to support and value our swimming program. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Mr Adam Yates, our PE PLT leader, for organising and ensuring the smooth running of the program, as well as our Year 2 teachers for making it a positive experience for your children.

 

Book Fair

Thank you to all our families who supported our Book Clubs and Fair recently. We hope you are enjoying your purchase and are continuing to read/read with your children, developing the love of reading. With your support, The Lamont Book Fair raised over $2700 worth of books for our libraries, which provides a greater selection for your children. A special thank you to all the parents/carers who volunteered their time and assisted us with the fair again this year. Much appreciated.

 

Semper Dental

Over the last two-weeks of Term 2, we have had Semper Dental at our school, supporting our students and families around dental hygiene and issues.  Dental problems, such as dental decay and cavities are largely preventable. However, many young children suffer pain from and complications associated with dental decay.

Healthy Primary or baby teeth are important as they:

  • Are part of a child’s general health and wellbeing?
  • Assist in the development of a child’s eating ability and speech patterns
  • Are a guide to positioning of permanent teeth
  • Impact on a child’s physical appearance and self-esteem.

Dental Health Services Victoria advises that dental checks start with toddlers and then dental reviews should be on a regular basis as advised by the dental professional. If there is a problem, there should be no delay in seeking treatment to prevent the onset of pain and complications.

Dental professionals are either private dentists or dental therapists at the Community Dental Service.

The location of the Community Dental Service in our area is:

IPC Health

117/129 Warringa Crescent

Hoppers Crossing VIC 3029

Ph. 8743 1400

 

Kind Regards

Matthew Naudi

Assistant Principal Prep - Year 2

 

 

Dear Parents and Carers,

 

Although we had some ordinary weather we were lucky enough to have a break in the weather to have two great experiences for our Year 3/4 cohorts. The Year 4's spent 2 days at Lady Northcote camp just outside of Bacchus Marsh, with the highlights being; jumping off the giant swing and eating freshly made damper on a camp fire. Our Year 3's will be going on camp in week 1 of Term 3 to Creswick and the staff are looking forward to it. After having to reschedule the athletics carnival the weather was kind and there are some fantastic action shots below. I hope all students have a safe and relaxing holiday and come back refreshed and ready to learn in Term 3.

Kind Regards

Mark Zahra

Assistant Principal Years 3-4

 

Dear Parents and Carers,

 

We have had an extremely busy few weeks in the Middle Years. Our Year 5 students attended Alexandra Adventure Resort last week. Camp provided the perfect opportunity for students to realise their potential, build confidence and experience success as part of a team by taking part in a variety of adventure-based activities in the great outdoors. They braved the cold conditions to complete a variety of fun activities including the Giant Swing, Leap of Faith and Raft Building. Students had a fantastic time and it was great to see so many of them achieve success outside of the classroom.

Our Year 6 students competed in the Winter Sports Gala. This was a fantastic opportunity for our students to meet other students from around the area and test their skills in their respective sports. Our girl’s netball and both the boys’ and girls’ volleyball teams both won their respective competitions and will progress to the next stage of the competition. Well done to all students that took part, they all represented our college with pride.

 

I hope everyone has a fantastic break and look forward to seeing all of our students return well rested and refreshed for a big Term 3.

 

Kind Regards,

Barry Devlin

Assistant Principal Years 5-6

 

Dear Parents and Carers,

 

Our Year 7-9 students have had an eventful and busy conclusion to Term 2. Our Year 7 students experienced English and Mathematics exams and were successful in their completion. All students gave their exams 100% effort and will be provided with feedback over the next week. This feedback will be looked at later next semester when they experience these exams for the second time.

Year 7 students had also taken part in the Digital Technology excursion Exploring 3D Worlds and Game Development at the Wyndham Tech School. Students were given the opportunity to experience

9D – Virtual Reality in the pods pictured below; as well as developing their own computer games.

Our Year 8 students have also taken part in exams and experienced a science and humanities exam for the first time. Our Year 9 students had the experience of sitting 5 exams in total with the addition of a P.E exam. All students learnt new revision strategies to assist them in achieving maximum marks and help them recall content that they learnt earlier in the school year.

Year 7-9 students took part in the rescheduled Athletics Carnival on the Wednesday 19 June. The day was a massive success. Students and teachers took part in a range of events and represented their College houses with pride. Cowie House was the lucky winner on the day with a total of 530 points.

All our Secondary students have had a great term that has had a range of different learning activities both inside and outside the classroom. I would like to wish everyone a fun and restful break and I look forward to seeing everyone in Term 3.

 

Kind Regards,

John Eskander

Assistant Principal Years 7-9