Principal's Report
“Village is a place where you can find peace, unity, strength, inspiration and most importantly, a natural and beautiful life.”
Minahil Urfan
As we wrap up the year that was 2020, many of us would rather forget than reflect. We all had experiences as a result of COVID and lockdown that were challenging and at times overwhelming. It is these sort of experiences that lead me to one of our CORE values of optimism. There were certainly challenges in every level of our lives, professionally and personally throughout this year. There is a wariness that we are all feeling as the year comes to an end. However, there are also many learnings that reaffirm our connection to family, education and community. Our families reconnected, as the home became a workplace, school and center of family interactions. Schools adapted to the circumstances and adjusted operations and supports to ensure continuity of care, connection and curriculum delivery. Beaumaris Secondary College was well placed as the learning moved from on-site to remote and the transition was smooth. Teachers' work shifted to home which presented an additional set of demands. Our teachers did a magnificent job and were committed to students throughout these challenging times which has continued as we returned on-site. Our communities bandied together across the state to support local businesses, families in need and isolated individuals. There are residual effects to the year that was “2020” but we have also learned about ourselves and each other. Beaumaris Secondary College provides high quality learning experiences that ensure students have strong foundations for their pathways into senior years. We continue to focus on wellbeing as well as learning.
BE Program
All of our students commenced the inaugural BE program on Monday 30 November 2020. I was impressed with the students' approach to change and the smooth transition of all Year levels. Whilst walking around the College and checking in with learning areas all students looked engaged in their new learning sessions.
The Year 9 and 10 specialism program is centered around student choice and interest. The learning is authentic and connects both hearts and minds to the learning.
Our Year 9 and 10 curriculum provides students with comprehensive individual pathways that are linked to the Victorian Curriculum and Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority VCE Study Designs. The curriculum sets out what every student should learn during their years of schooling.
At Years 9 and 10, Communicate and Relate and Mathematics run as year level specific specialisms. All other learning areas provide curriculum that is a continuum across two years. This allows us to run combined learning teams of Year 9 and Year 10 students. In 2021, Languages will also run as a year level specific specialism.
Our offerings provide our students with a broad range of specialisms across all other learning areas. The Year 9 and 10 specialisms program prepares students for a rigorous academic senior pathway.
Remote Learning Day-Tuesday December 8th
Tuesday will be a remote learning day for students in Year 9 and 10 (as per the BE program for 2021) so that we can run the Year 7 2021 Orientation day. Year 9 and 10 students will attend sessions on Teams and teachers will mark the rolls. Lessons will continue as per the timetable. Year 8 2021 students will be at school as normal. We are awaiting the delivery of portables to accommodate our numbers for next year while Stage 2 is completed. Thank you again for your support.
School Production
The internet is distract – Oh Look a Kitten by Ian McWethy
We held our production on Thursday 26 and Friday 27 November via on Broadway on Demand. I would like to thank Amelia Ghirardello for the enormous amount of work and detail that went into providing two outstanding performances by our students. We are so proud of our talented students who also worked extremely hard rehearsing and filming their performances remotely through lockdown. Our performing arts program will continue to develop as we grow.
Parent Q and A Evening 15 December – Year 7 2021
We will be hosting a virtual 30min Q&A session to answer questions parents may have about their child’s transition at 6.00pm. The parents will provide us with the questions they may have about their child’s transition. We have included Parents’ Association to speak on behalf of parent’s experience with the move to secondary.
Presentation Evening
We will be hosting a virtual Presentation Evening via Webex on Thursday 10 December 2020 at 7.00pm. We are aiming to have the virtual event last 1 hour. We will have Tim Richardson and Tim Wilson attending and presenting on the evening. Parents and students will get a program of the evening via Compass before the event. Below is photo of the drumming ensemble performing for the night.
Micro-Credentials Week
The last week of December 14 to 18 is Micro-credentials Week with no timetabled sessions. We have organised a number of options at school for students. We will also provide some literacy and numeracy support sessions to help students with their skills before the break. Further details will be sent out once finalised.
School Holiday Celebration Safety Message from Local Police
With many of the traditional venues and options not available to gather in, due to the current Chief Health Officer restrictions that are in place, there have been a few locations which have become increasingly popular for large numbers of young people to come together. Some of these areas are bound by water and major roads.
We know from experience there is significant risk for alcohol affected people when it comes to water and roadways and we are particularly concerned when large numbers gather in those areas.
We understand the importance of young people coming together to socialise and support each other at this time of the year.
We want them all to celebrate, not just the end of the school year with friends, but also to be fit and healthy to celebrate Christmas with their family. This is a reminder to keep safe and find other areas to socialize in.
To ensure they and the rest of the community can all enjoy these areas safely and responsibly, our police officers will be patrolling popular locations to make sure people are adhering with the current restrictions and council by-laws.
Transition of Year 6 to 7 2021
We are excited to host our 2021 Year 7 students onsite on Tuesday December 8th for Orientation Day, commencing at 9.15 am in the College Gymnasium. The program will conclude at 2.30 pm.
All students attending Orientation Day are required to wear face masks indoors. We have planned for a number of outdoor activities as this is a new experience for Grade 6 students.
Upon arrival, students will find out their 2021 GOAL Group and Learning Team.
The program will be as follows:
- 15min Principal’s welcome and address to students
- GOAL (Pastoral Care) session for Year 7 students
- School tour for students
- Learning Area specific activities
- Sport