Principal's Update

Dear families,

This week our thoughts and prayers have been with Colac Secondary College as that community comes to terms with the tragic loss of a young life.

Situations such as this can be particularly troubling for other young people, so please reach out if you are worried about your own child so we can assist you by providing wellbeing support for them.

Following Premier Daniel Andrews’ press conference on Sunday, we are very excited to be in a position to welcome all our students back to full-time onsite learning on Friday. We are looking forward to finally having the school back to normal even if it is ‘COVID normal’.

Farewell to our Year 12's

While we are preparing to welcome all our students back, we also farewelled our Year 12 students this week.

Since returning after the holidays, the Year 12 students have been combining finishing all their course work with preparing for upcoming examinations while also enjoying each other’s company.

This year 12 cohort have been one of the worst impacted by COVID-19 as they have had to deal with lockdown after lockdown during both years of their VCE or VCAL. The resilience and perseverance they have displayed has been incredible and we all wish them every success with the next stage of their journey, whether that be completing the VCE exams or entering the workforce.

We have recently sent out correspondence relating to how we are responding to students and staff who have potentially come into contact with positive COVID cases or live with someone who has been classified as a primary close contact (PCC) of a positive case.

All primary close contacts are required to isolate for 14 days and follow the testing protocols in place for this, although for those fully vaccinated the 14 days will be cut to 7 days from Friday this week.

For our staff and students who reside with someone who has been deemed a primary close contact, we have now implemented the following procedures:

1. Those fully vaccinated should remain at home until the Primary Close Contact receives a negative result.
2. Those unvaccinated or partially vaccinated should remain at home until they get tested and receive a negative result.

This requirement has been implemented to keep our staff and students as safe as possible and to add an extra layer of protection for our students, who will be undertaking VCE Unit 4 examinations in the coming weeks.

The procedures for students deemed personal close contacts who are scheduled to undertake VCE Unit 4 examinations is different and separate information has been given to those students and their families.

As we have come to learn over the past 18 months, the regulations associated with COVID-19 change quite rapidly and we will continue to change our procedures in line with changes in government regulations and the best health advice available. 

Student Leaders

Last week we commissioned our 2022 student leaders. Our 2021 student leaders have done an outstanding job under difficult circumstances and it was lovely to be able to recognize and thank them for their work during the ceremony before they handed over the mantle to the incoming leaders.

While we consider all senior students as leaders, I would like to thank and congratulate all the Year 11 students who made the courageous decision to put their names forward for formal leadership positions in 2022.

The qualities of each applicant were outstanding and each one would have made an excellent leader.

The following students were those who gained the most votes and were therefore elected to the formal leadership positions on offer for 2022:

College Captains – Sophie Darroch and Ben Black

College Vice Captains – Bella O’Dowd and Hugh Daffy

College Prefects – Jack Evans, Jack Gibson, Rose Gittings, Immy Hutchinson, Molly McCrae and Dom Zampatti

Performing Arts Captain – Faith Duve

House Captains

Gleeson – Will Parkhouse and Jess Woods

McAuley – Ebony Higgins and Patrick Weadon

Rice – Rani Jamison and Lulu Riches

Glowery – Isabel Facey and Austin Harwood

Congratulations to each of these students. I am looking forward to seeing the positive impact this team has on our school community.

Paul Clohesy, Principal