Epping Secondary College Newsletter

Principal's Report

WOW!  What a term it has been!

 

Thank you to our amazing school community – students, staff and families for the sustained response, support and commitment to learning that has been demonstrated throughout this period of lockdown and remote learning.  Our school community has once again responded to this situation in such a positive manner and a way that supports our most important community members, our students.  Thank you to our students who have maintained their learning momentum throughout the term by constantly connecting with their teachers, completing and submitting work and importantly taking steps of self-care and moderation to ensure that their social and emotional wellbeing is looked after.  We know you all enjoyed the opportunity for some non-screen time on Wellbeing Wednesday last week.  Thank you to our staff team for their relentless support of students, not just academically but by also ensuring connections with our school and their peers, not to mention the health and wellbeing supports that have been provided and available to support all students.  The support, care and consideration demonstrated by our staff team has been top rate and is a real testament to our staff, their professionalism and what they stand for as individuals.  Finally, learning from home would not be possible without the ongoing support of our families.  Thank you to those parents and carers who have adjusted their routines and commitments to support student learning, health and wellbeing during this term.  You continue to be your children’s first teacher and your supports during this term cannot be measured but are highly visible in your children’s learning and something that will be remembered for years to come.

 

Planning for Term 4

As much as I would like to be able to inform you all of a return to school for the start of Term 4, this is still an unknown and something that will be guided by public health advice and directives from the Department of Education and Training.  As soon as this information becomes available about any changes or arrangements for Term 4 we will notify you via our XUNO Platform.  Parents, carers and students will receive any notifications about next Term via their XUNO News Feed, so please read any notifications or emails that you may receive over the term break.

 

What we do know about Term 4 is that our senior students who are studying a Unit 3/4 subject will be required onsite on Tuesday, 5th October, to undertake the GAT.  The GAT will be conducted under COVID safe conditions including room density limits, ventilation through the buildings and mask wearing by students and supervisors. Further information will be provided to all relevant students via our XUNO platform.

 

Welcome to the Principal Team for 2022

Over the past term we have combined the opportunity provided by a School Review together with an examination of our leadership structures and supports for our College community and our future improvement plans.  After careful consideration the College will be implementing a new leadership structure in 2022 and I am pleased to be able to announce the outcome of our Assistant Principal recruitment process.

 

In 2022 we will have three Assistant Principal’s, each with discrete and complementary responsibilities and leadership portfolios across the College. Our Assistant Principal Team for 2022 includes:

  • Frazer Thomas who will lead the major portfolio area of Positive Climate for Learning, in addition to providing support and leadership across our Year 7/8 student cohort. This is a great opportunity for Frazer to continue the work he has started over the last few years and continue to develop our structures and supports that enable student connectedness and sense of purpose across the College.
  • We will welcome Joshua Wolter to the College at the start of 2022.  Joshua will lead the area of Excellence in Teaching and Learning, in addition to providing support and leadership across our Year 9/10 student cohort. Joshua joins us from Coburg High School and brings with him a wealth of experience around curriculum and pedagogy to support our students and staff as we continue to focus on improving the literacy and numeracy skills of all students across the College.
  • We will also welcome Annette Spence at the start of 2022.  Annette will lead the portfolio of Community Engagement in Learning, in addition to providing support and leadership across our Year 11/12 student cohort.  Annette will be joining us from The Lakes College in South Morang and we look forward to the influence that Annette will have on linking us with our broader community and continuing the journey of improvement in our senior school.

Welcome to the Leadership Team for 2022

In 2022 we will be expanding our College Leadership Team to include Learning Specialists. Our Learning Specialists are highly skilled classroom practitioners who continue to spend the majority of their time in the classroom delivering high-quality teaching and learning and have a range of responsibilities related to their expertise, including teaching demonstration lessons, observing and providing feedback to other teachers and designing and facilitating school-based professional learning.  They also bring their strategic thinking and instructional knowledge to the Leadership Team and School Improvement Team.  We are delighted to be able to announce the following successful candidates to our recent Learning Specialist recruitment drive:

  • Laura McCarthy – Literacy Learning Specialist
  • Ranjeeta Anand – Numeracy Learning Specialist
  • Antoinette Rehak – Inclusive Practice Learning Specialist
  • Rosa Neri – Digital Technology Learning Specialist
  • Fabiano Nigro – Instructional Coach.  Fabiano will be joining us from Macleod College at the start of the 2022 school year and we look forward to welcoming Fabiano to our team.
  • Joshua Marchbank – Instructional Coach

Parent Student Teacher Conferences  

We were delighted with the level of support and engagement with our recent parent Student, Parent, Teacher Conferences.  Feedback from students, parents and staff about the convenience and effectiveness of utilising the MS Teams platform was very encouraging. Whilst we have no plans to totally move away from face to face conferences that provide parents with the opportunity to visit our school, we are discussing the possibility of a hybrid model where Semester 1 conferences are held on site and Semester 2 conferences are conducted remotely.  Further information will be available via our XUNO News Feed in early Term 4.

 

Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic

As we have seen this term the COVID-19 pandemic continues to challenge our communities across Victoria.  As a school we will continue to make parents, carers and students aware of our COVID-19 practices to support the safety of our school community.  We will also continue to keep you informed of the opportunities available through the Victorian Government, including information about vaccinations and making informed decisions in this space.

 

As a school community we continue to need your support to keep our community healthy and safe.  You can do this by ensuring that if you are unwell, you stay home and get tested if displaying any COVID like symptoms.  Most importantly though, if you or a family member have tested positive, please notify the school immediately so that we can support you but also our broader school community to minimise the risk of exposure and spread across the College.

 

Over the next two weeks, please take the time to recharge the batteries before Term 4, stay safe, stay healthy and we look forward to seeing you all in Term 4, either onsite or via MS Teams.

 

Brad Moyle

Principal