PRINCIPALS REPORT

From the Principal Team

Dear Parents/Guardians, Staff, Students and Friends,

Vale Sal Gargano

It is my sad duty to inform you that our Facilities Manager, Mr Sal Gargano, passed away last weekend. He had suffered from a severe medical emergency at home the week before and, unfortunately, was unable to recover from it.

Sal held the role of Facilities manager since 2007. He had a great sense of care for the school and its students. Beneath his gruff exterior, he was a keen and committed mentor to some of our students with the most challenging life circumstances. He was particularly good at mentoring and nurturing students who he employed on his “G Team” of workers during school holidays. Many of these students who worked with him acknowledged that Sal was instrumental in giving them a sense of purpose, direction, and fulfilment in their lives.

Sal had a wicked sense of humour, and many staff will miss his various pronouncements on the ills of the world as he saw them. He cared deeply about the school, and was completely and personally invested in making it as good as it possibly could be.

He passed away peacefully, surrounded by his family, including his brother, our Assistant Principal, Pat. 

Our heartfelt condolences go out to Sal and Pats’ families for their loss. He will be sorely missed both as a colleague and friend to many.

School Canteen

I am pleased to announce that we have let a new contract for our canteen operations. Mr Hollands Catering, a private concern, have taken over from this term. The team will be familiar to you, as they will be led by Sue Burke, who was the previous canteen manager.

Unfortunately, in the past week or so, a number of students have been observed stealing from the canteen. The school will co-operate with the operator to identify any person stealing from the canteen, and the operator may impose permanent bans and make referrals to Victoria Police for anyone found stealing. For the avoidance of all doubt, please understand that theft from the canteen will not be tolerated by the operator, and it is up to the operator to decide what actions are taken in respect to such activities.

Tutor program

You may well be aware that the Victoria Government is implementing a tutor program to support students, across all ability levels, whose learning growth was impacted by the periods of remote learning in 2020.

The school has been collecting a variety of data to identify which students will be offered this additional support. In line with government expectations, groups of up to five students will be offered the services of a tutor three times a week. It is likely that the majority of this support will be given during, and within, the students’ normal classes. 

The main focus of the program will be on the catching up lost learning growth in the core learning skills of literacy and numeracy. 

At this point in time, we believe we will be able to employ the additional tutors by increasing the time fraction of some of our part-time staff. Given the program is funded for six months, we believe this will allow us to have the most impact with those students in need of assistance, as our staff will already be familiar with the school and our students.

We expect the program will be operational in mid-March. Parents of selected students will be informed, and their consent will be gained before students participate in the program.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Richard Minack

Principal