Principals' Report

Principal Team Report

Well here we are, already week 2 of Term 3. I hope all of our students and staff members have enjoyed a nice break and have returned to Koonung rested and ready to embrace the new term and all the challenges and opportunities it will deliver.

I would like to warmly welcome our new students, their families and the new members of staff who have joined our College. I hope you are beginning to settle in and feel comfortable and supported by our community.  

We are also currently hosting a visiting group from Matsudo. Welcome to our Matsudo guests, I am sure they have experienced an enjoyable time in Australia, seeing our part of the world and making new friends. Our relationship is a long standing and valued one.  Thank you to the host families from Koonung who have generously shared their homes and lives with our Japanese guests.

For many members of our College, the holiday period was not a break but an opportunity to get a lot of work done, generally without interruption. Work was completed around the College to refresh some facilities with painting, gardening, upgraded furniture, general maintenance and cleaning. All of us need to take pride in our College and look after our environment: it is a demonstration of respect and gratitude for what we have and for those who do the work to maintain our facilities. We also had a number of our administration team in attendance working on staffing, timetables and enrolments and managing the business of running a large institution and all that entails.

Our Musical Production troupe, which is made up of students, parents, staff members and past students worked very hard during the holidays to prepare “Legally Blonde, the Musical" for the performance season which begins on Thursday 25 July. Yesterday was a full dress rehearsal which was enjoyed by guests from Box Hill North and Greythorn Primary Schools. Again, we need to recognise their commitment and support their work by attending the show. They have committed eight months of their time and effort to this show and I am sure it will be a wonderful event.

Our teachers continued their work over the holidays to plan and develop resources for the term ahead and many students also completed revision and homework tasks as well.  Thank you for your endeavour, hard work does provide rewards. I hope you managed to balance these efforts with some rest and recreation.

I would like to thank all staff members, students and parents who contributed their ideas towards the planning submission for our facility upgrade. Last Thursday afternoon members of the Victorian School Building Authority (VSBA), along with three design consultants, visited for a close look at our school. The design consultants represent the architect agencies who have been shortlisted by the VSBA to work with our College. They are:

Minx Architecture       https://www.minxarchitecture.com.au/projects

Searle and Waldren    https://sxwa.com.au/  

Fppv Architects            http://fppv.com.au/

They were aiming to gain an understanding of our culture, strengths and visions, as well as to see firsthand what is needed. They have now gone away to work on some ideas to present to a panel consisting of representatives from our College, a regional representative and the VSBA. This panel then decides which architect will be employed to develop our Master Plan. Our intention is to work to deliver the best outcome we can with the 6 million dollars delivered in the budget. This process is managed and directed within some fairly tight department constraints and controls so it will be an interesting challenge ahead. We will keep you informed and seek input along the way. 

There has been a recent anniversary of a significant moment in the history of the world, as it is It has been half a century since Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon.

“One small step for man; one giant leap for mankind.”

These were the immortal words uttered by Neil Armstrong upon stepping onto the surface of the moon just over 50 years ago.

For two hours, Armstrong and Aldrin explored the moon’s surface. Armstrong’s televised image was watched around the globe, with the astronaut’s immortal words heard by an estimated 650 million people. I can remember as a small child in primary school in QLD sitting on the floor with my school mates watching a very small black and white TV. (Clearly I started primary school very young!!)

What is the significance of this?  In some ways this technological development resulted from a battle for supremacy between the USA and Russia as both nations desired the accolades of supreme technological advancement, and space was the arena for this battle. However, I think it is more importantly an example of the power of innovation, problem solving, setting a goal and working towards it. We may not be aiming to explore the universe but the ability to think creatively, to be a visionary and innovator should always be celebrated and encouraged. Thus, I am encouraging all of us to set lofty goals, because the sky is the limit!  Have a fantastic term everyone.

Marianne Lee 

Principal