Melbourne Girls' College

Principal's Report

Welcome Back!

Our dedicated staff returned on 28th January to prepare for the professional learning underpinning the vision of – “A school with an outward looking, global perspective on girls’ leadership, academic, social, sporting, ethical, creative and civic success so that all Melbourne Girls’ students will lead and succeed throughout their lives” - based on the school values of diversity, excellence and teamwork.

The impetus for the learning began with consideration of some of the risks the world faces and how we can equip our young people to evaluate and contribute to solutions. The recent bushfires, novel coronavirus, cyber safety and statistics on adolescent health are front of mind, for example.

Preparing with this focus develops young people like our former MGC student Alice Mahar. Alice is a social and environmental entrepreneur doing great work sequestering carbon in East Timorese communities. Barack Obama recently referenced her on Twitter. Please click here to see the following clip where Alice explains her work and some famous MGC faces are also in the background!

We celebrate Flick Edmondson, Jade Leung, Vivienne Carey and Tyana Tsai who won one of two places in the Women in STEM and Entrepreneurship (WISE) program held by Monash University. They designed an electronic glove that converts gestures into text called Hand2Heart. The prize was a trip to San Francisco where they visited Stanford University and numerous companies to pitch their ideas and work with other entrepreneurs to develop their prototype.

 

Sarah Tregallas of Year 11 who lives in Hawthorn was visiting her family in Mallacoota when the fires came through. The images of the evacuation by sea from this small coastal town are emblazoned in memory. Sarah organised her friends to collect food and take it to the relief centre for use by the 107 families whose homes were destroyed. We are proud of her leadership and efforts.

 

The 28 January was an opportunity to get to know our new colleagues and build this understanding of our learning community with them.

We welcome:

  • Daniel Childs – Outdoor Education and Health
  • Katrina Gu – Mathematics
  • Brittany Killer - Psychologist
  • Maeghan McKenzie - Mathematics
  • Rachel Meads - Outdoor Education and Health
  • Kyle Monaghan– PE, HPD
  • Olivera Nikolovska– English and Humanities
  • Lori Perry – Our School Alumni Coordinator
  • Mingming (Olina) Qu – Chinese
  • Madeline Rigoni – French
  • Alex Steer – Mathematical Methods
  • Luke Thompson English and Philosophy
  • Katelyn Walters – Food Technology
  • Lukas Willig – Chemistry and Science

We welcome back:

  • Chris Jurgens – Science
  • Olivia Day – English EAL
  • Susan Cole - English

The day was also an opportunity to reflect on the excellent VCE results attained in 2019. Our inspirational Dux, Sonia Li, attained an ATAR of 99.85. The students overall attained a median of 33 and 16% of study scores above 40. 30% of students attained a study score above 90, 53% above 80 and 70% above 70. Seven perfect study scores of 50 were attained in the following subjects, congratulations to our students and expert staff:

  • 2 in Legal Studies, Sefija Demirova      - Business Management, Alison Lam
  • English, Paul Carter                         - English as an Additional Language, Hamish Thomas
  • Literature, Terry Donnelly               - Health, Anna Crosswhite    

We are proud of every student no matter the ATAR. Persistence, lifelong learning and grit are what is most important.

WELCOME Year 7!

The 29th January saw our 231 excited Year 7s settling into the newly refurbished Level 3 and the world of high school. They will be guided by Ms. Tellefson, Ms. Miller and their Wellbeing teachers, welcomed them to the first day of high school.  Each address at assembly discussed an aspect of wellbeing with a focus on kindness, gratitude, respect and high expectations.

A reminder of 2020 Student Free Days approved by School Council:

  • Friday, 24th April, 2020 – Curriculum Review
  • Friday, 12th June 2020 -  Assessment, Reporting and Planning
  • Monday 10th August 2020 – Curriculum Review
  • Monday, 2nd November 2020 – 2021 Curriculum Planning      

 

General School Council Election Information

The 2020 -2021 Melbourne Girls’ College School Council will meet at 6.15pm on Tuesdays 25 February, 17 March, 19 May, 23 June, 18 August, 27 October, 17 November, 8 December and 23 February, 2021.

Membership of School Council is rewarding and ensures students and parents contribute to and have a close understanding of the direction and strategic planning of the school. The dates for our Council election process are detailed below and I look forward to working with Councillors throughout 2020. Nomination papers and instructions will be attached to a Compass newsfeed tomorrow. Please deliver, mail or email signed nomination forms to Stephanie Valencia in the front office by 4pm Friday 15th February. There are five parent positions, one student position and one staff position due for election and the time line is as follows:

  • Friday 7th February- Call for nominations
  • Friday 14th February 4pm- Nominations close
  • Thursday 20th February- Ballot papers and information on the candidates distributed if an election is required
  • Friday 28th February 4pm- Close of Ballot

 

Parent involvement is important at MGC. Parent evenings, student-parent-teacher meetings, the Sustainability Collective, School Council, Aerobics, Rowing and the Parents’ Association are all excellent ways for us to meet.

 

I look forward to a great year for you all.

Kind regards,

Karen