Principal's Report

Learning Conferences

A big thank you is extended to the many parents/carers and students who made their way in to school on Tuesday 5th April for our Term 1 Learning Conferences.  It was wonderful to see the school a hive of activity as families connected with teachers to celebrate the achievements of students and to map out goals and targets for the term ahead.  As a school we really appreciate the support of our families at these events, as we strive to ensure a three way partnership between parents, students and our school, in supporting each student to bring out their best.

Our Learning Conferences, together with our Interim Reports, provide students and families with a range of feedback on each of our students.  In taking away what you have heard and read over the last few days about your son or daughter, we ask that you remember that We want students to develop academic resilience and persevere when things aren’t easy. When your child comes up against academic challenges encourage them, acknowledge their battles, but expect them to move ahead and manage by giving them strategies to assist. Remind them that learning involves getting things not quite correct. It requires effort and if they learn one thing from each struggle then they are making progress.

The message for your children as they navigate secondary schooling is to do the best they can each day, accepting that some days they are able to do better than other days. Learning well is about persistent and thoughtful effort.

Thank you to our teaching staff for their preparation for the conferences and the support that they provided to students and parents on the day.  We also need to say thank you to our Education Support Staff team for their management of logistics on the day such as vaccination checks and entry / exit point management.

A special thank you is extended to a small group of students who volunteered their time to assist on the day.  Thank you to Year 9 students James Davidson, Theodore Williams, Leah Saveski, Daniel Badral Nizam and Fiona Nguyen.  We genuinely appreciate your involvement and the support you provided to students, parents, carers and staff on Tuesday.

Athletics Carnival

The weather was kind to us and our students and staff were amazing!  Monday provided us with our first opportunity for a whole school extra-curricula event in 2022 and our students and staff did not disappoint.

It was great to see strong numbers of students supporting our Athletics Carnival and either competing, spectating or doing a combination of both on Monday.

Camps – Term 2 & Term 3

We are delighted that Term 2 brings with it the return of our school camp program at Epping Secondary College.  After two long years without these valuable extra-curricula opportunities and experiences it will be wonderful to see our students enjoying these opportunities.

In Week 1 of Term 2 we will see approximately 100 Year 7 students head off on their adventure camp to Anglesea.  The following week we will see approximately 80, Year 11 students head off for a combined study, adventure camp at the YMCA facility at Camp Dewar.  Both of these opportunities will help build connectedness, empathy and understanding between students in these cohorts, as well as providing a fun and enjoyable experience.

Term 3 will bring opportunities for our students in Year 8 and Year 9 to both attend camps and we look forward to releasing details of these FREE opportunities to our students and parent community early next term.  Keep your eye out on XUNO for more details early in Term 2 to secure your spot at these free school camps for Year 8 and Year 9 students.

NAPLAN Practice and upcoming NAPLAN in Term 2

A huge thank you to our teachers and students in Year 7 & 9.  It was fantastic to see the concentrated effort students were putting into their practice assessments over the last couple of weeks.  Most importantly, students have had an opportunity to experience what NAPLAN Online looks and feels like and will be better prepared as they head into NAPLAN next term. It was pleasing to see the amount of students who had ensured their laptop was fully charged and ready to go.  Well done to all involved.

Important Dates for NAPLAN:

Catch up sessions will be conducted on Tuesday 17th, Wednesday 18th & Thursday 19th May for any students who were absent from school on assessment days.

Happy Holidays

As we make it towards the final days of Term 1 I would like to take this opportunity to thank our parents, students, staff and broader community for their ongoing support of our school.  Our team have worked hard this term to rebuild connections, support the positive engagement of students and to ensure the academic, social and emotional development of each student.  This isn’t possible without us all working together and in the same direction, so thank you.

We hope that you all enjoy the school holiday break and look forward to seeing all students back at school on Wednesday 27th April.