PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

Dear Parents and Carers of the Mount Eliza Secondary College Community,

Welcome to our first Newsletter where our college has been functioning at full capacity, aside from the Year 12 VCE cohort, who are currently sitting their end of year exams.

As I pen this missive, it is hard to believe that Term 4 is now over the half way mark and there is still so much to do before the end of the year. This newsletter is adorned with pictures of our students involved in their learning in a positive climate for learning.

This newsletter is also reaching our newest members of the MESC community and I would like to welcome you all to your new school, where your sons/daughters learning journey will continue. There will be an opportunity to greet all our new parents/carers onsite, as Covid 19 restrictions ease. Further, our very active School Council, led by our College Council President, Lisa Massey, are very keen to meet with all parents to discuss college governance and gauge your interest in supporting our college to grow and flourish. We are committed to dispelling the belief that parent involvement ceases once your son/daughter enters secondary schooling.

The statewide Transition Day for all Victorian secondary school is definitely going ahead on Tuesday, the 8th of December; however, we are still waiting from advice from both DET (Department) and DHHS (Health Authority) that will assist us in putting together the program for the day, mindful of groups mixing, wearing of masks and social distancing. Information associated with the advice will be communicated to our community as soon as we receive it.

For our current student cohort, classes and learning tasks continue as normal. Year 11 and Year 10 will commence examinations shortly and this is another learning experience for them. There are high expectations that students study for their examinations, be prepared and on time and respect the importance in embracing the sense of occasion. Thus, the advice for our students is that they produce their absolute best! Examinations are not about ‘good luck’ but ‘excellent preparation’

In my wanderings around the College and dropping into classes, I have observed the following:

Orderly classroom environments
Students not only engaged in their lessons, but being able to clearly articulate their learning intentions
High end tasks in numeracy, differentiated accordingly
Year 11s deciphering the bias in media articles
Cross marking MYP Community Projects
A busy study centre
Independent research on civilizations
Indonesian translations
Examination revision sessions
Meeting with students to discuss a proposal of a mural on one of the walls

The list can go on and on – another highlight outside the teaching and learning was the great relationships that teachers and students shared.

We look forward to working with our entire community in growing our college and we are very invested in assuring and encouraging all our students to take advantage of the breadth of opportunities available to them. Moreover, we welcome your feedback and communication, as we need everybody working towards a positive, flourishing community that is friendly, professional and respectful.

Regards

James Barut (pronounced BARRETT)

Acting Principal

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL REPORT

The Senior Pathways Program has been a very busy hub in recent weeks. Our year 12 students are doing us proud in the way they are embracing their exams. The Chief examiner has shared– “ I would like to mention how terrific the students were during the exam considering the year they have had. I also wanted to let you know how surprised and delighted I was to have 3 students come and thank me and the other supervisors for looking after them during the exam. What a credit to their parents and the school culture at MESC.”

All students have now received their subjects for 2021 and hopefully looking forward to the challenge of year 11 and 12. An email was sent out last week, pertaining important end of year dates for year 10 and 11 students. It looks a little different this year as we are not having a Jumpstart program for years 7-10. This decision was made based on student and teacher feedback about wanting to spend time in their current year level, with their teachers due to the time lost during remote learning. There will be a revised Jumpstart program for the 2021 Unit 3/4 students (this includes a year 10 student completing a 3/4 subject in 2021). They will spend a couple of hours with their 2021 teacher getting to know each other a little, discuss study designs and find out summer study expectations. Year 10 students will also have this time at home to revise for their English and Math exam.

Staff recognition

Amy Leonard, one of our Science/HPE teachers, has been recognised for her excellent teaching and collegiate support during remote learning. Amy has been invited by the Governor General to have lunch in Melbourne. She will be representing all of the teachers in the South Eastern Victoria region.

Lynn Swannell (Librarian) has been awarded the School Library Association of Victoria “Penny Geoghegen Award” for 2020. This award recognises an active member of the association who has “contributed significantly to the governance, collegiality, network and learning community of the association”. It is also recognition for all of her efforts to support teachers and students in our school, as well as other school library staff across the State.