Principal's Report

NAPLAN 2023

It has been a big week for our Year 7 and 9 students as they have undertaken elements of NAPLAN 2023. This week has seen students undertaking assessments in Writing and Reading, with assessments in Numeracy and Language Conventions scheduled for next week.  The attitude, disposition and readiness for NAPLAN by our Year 7 students has been exemplary, with high levels of engagement and completion. Whilst our Year 9 students started slowly on Wednesday, it has been pleasing to note improvements as the week progressed and we thank parents for their support in this space, as we have supported some of those more reluctant students to engage with these assessments.  

We cannot stress enough the importance for our students to engage with these assessments as another tool to provide students, parents and staff with an indication of student achievement and growth in their learning. When NAPLAN reports are released later in the year Each child’s report will show how they’re tracking against their peers using four easy-to-understand standards: developing, approaching proficient, proficient and highly proficient.  The proficiency standards will give a more meaningful measure of how students are progressing at time of testing and will make it easier to identify and support students who may be falling behind.  Reports to parents and carers will be clear as to whether their child’s skills are at the level they need to be for the child to get the best out of their schooling.

Harmony Day – Tuesday 21st March

As one of the world’s most successful multicultural countries, we know that a rich cultural diversity is an absolute asset to our students and school community.  We are privileged at Epping Secondary College to have a rich diversity of students and staff, that reflect the broader population of our country and the many talents and opportunities that this diversity brings. Next Tuesday we will be celebrating this diversity with our 2023 Harmony Day celebrations.

Did you know? 

• Nearly half (49 per cent ) of Australians were born overseas or have at least one parent who was. 
• We identify with over 300 ancestries. 
• Since 1945, more than 7.5 million people have migrated to Australia. 
• 85 per cent of Australians agree multiculturalism has been good for Australia.  
• Apart from English, the most common languages spoken in Australia are Mandarin, Arabic, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Italian, Greek, Tagalog/Filipino, Hindi, Spanish and Punjabi. 
• More than 70 Indigenous languages are spoken in Australia. 

These facts are taken from ABS 2016 Census Data.

The Wellbeing Team has partnered with the Whittlesea Community Connections to run a number of activities, that include:

• Student Leaders address to the school at 1pm
• Distribution of Badges to commemorate our diversity
• Where are you from? Continents of the world activity in the library/or out the front of the library in the courtyard area (depends on the weather) Place a mark on the Calico Map of which continent your family originated from. 
• Aboriginality will be acknowledged and commemorated.  Nonindigenous and indigenous students can add pins to acknowledge that they were born on this continent.
• Soccer activity – 9 teams, three 10-minute games on three pitches. Football Victoria and Whittlesea Community Connections are supporting this activity. All lunchtime matches will commence at 1.20pm, 1.30pm & 1.40pm. 
• Live band and music or a Spotify playlist of cultural songs.

Year 7-12 Student/Parent/Teacher Conferences

We are pleased to be able to invite you to face to face Parent/Teacher/Student Conference on Thursday 30th March.

These conferences are a great opportunity to meet with your child's teacher and to formally discuss your child's progress at school and to also make us aware of any issues that are of interest or concern. 

In addition to being an invaluable source of information for both parents and teachers, our conference also reinforce to our students the importance and value of the home-school partnership in creating and ensuring a successful school experience.

We strongly recommend that students are part of this conversation and as such no classes will ruin on this day to allow students to join their parents and teachers for the individual conference discussions.

Bookings are ready to be made through your parent portal in XUNO and will close Monday 27th March at 6pm.  Please note that we will not be able to accept late bookings.

Brad Moyle

College Principal