Principal's Report 

Term 4: Principal Report

Acknowledgement of Country 

South Oakleigh College acknowledges the traditional owners of the land on which our school is situated, the Bunurong and Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation.  We pay our respects to elders past, present and emerging and extend that respect to any and all Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people. 

You are central to everything that they do in our school and know that you continue to be their priority.

In writing this final newsletter, I have spent a lot of time reflecting over the past year. Every year has its challenges and this year once again, We have certainly had a diversity of challenging experiences.  But through it all what has provided me with the energy and motivation to get through has been our students who have continuously demonstrated growth both in their learning and achievements that comes from challenging times.   They have continuously drawn from College values: High Expectations, Respect, Responsibility, Resilience and Teamwork, to manoeuvre through the challenges and opportunities.   Their care, compassion for each other and flexibility has ensured that they have readjusted and supported each other to the new normal.   

To our parents, carers and families, as partners in our school community your continued support of the school and our students have been greatly appreciated as we have worked together to with a greater appreciation of each other and this has amplified our strength of community as a partnership.    

To our staff, as teachers, education support staff and administration team you have continued to step up to the mark and do the best for all students throughout the year and for this we are truly appreciative. 

Congratulations to the South Oakleigh College Class of 2021

For the class of 2021, two years in and out of Remote Learning has made it both difficult in their final years of secondary education, but also inspiring as our young people transition out of secondary school and into the next phase of their educational journey. Be it into Tertiary Education, the workforce or an alternative pathway, they have a resilience and determination to succeed where others would fall.   

I am so proud of all our students, who pushed through the challenges that 2021 presented them and through extraordinary perseverance achieved the best they could in these unusual times. Not only the most able and diligent, but also those who strove for personal success and maximised their results through resilience and perseverance without the comfort and routine of everyday on-site contact with their peers and teachers. The challenges 2021 presented and the extraordinary dedication and flexibility displayed by all Year 12 teachers to support our students through it all.   

Congratulations to 2021 College Dux, Bei (Burgess) Chen. Burgess, who was understandably delighted with his  ATAR, was closely followed by Sayako Kaburagi and Tuan Nguyen. Burgess is now ready to embark on his tertiary journey by pursuing Civil Engineering at Melbourne University. Burgess wanted to thank the College and all his teachers for their support and the way we handled the remote learning challenges so effectively. He has demonstrated that through perseverance and hard work results can be achieved despite adversity  - with this in mind we would like to mention Burgess’s family who are also thrilled with his result and supported him on his journey as a student at South Oakleigh College.  

Congratulations too to Lilit Dabagyan who received the VCE Baccalaureate for aching excellent results in high Level Math, Language and EAL, a great achievement. 

The percentage of students who scored in the 60 – 95.95% range increasing from 68% in 2020 to 75% in 2021 and 43% of those students receiving above 70 ATAR score. Well done to these students, but also congratulations and thank you to all the Unit 3 & 4 teachers who invested so much time, effort and expertise in teaching, coaching, supporting, mentoring and advising each and every student in their care. 

We thank Ms Aviva Mulloy and Ms Grace Terdich who have worked tirelessly with our students to guide them and present choices to them which supported our students on the road to successful pathways.

Once again thank you to all members of our community for your support during the year; it was greatly appreciated.  On behalf of our community I wish you all happy and safe holiday and look forward to reconnecting in 2022.

Presentation and Awards Ceremonies

Over the last two weeks, we have had the opportunity to celebrate the outstanding achievements of our students from across the College. On Wednesday we once again celebrated this year’s Presentation Night virtually and were thrilled that our families could join us as we streamed to our local community but also to other parts of the country and globe as extended members of the family also joined to celebrate our student’s success,  the feedback from the school community was very positive and appreciative at the opportunity. The evening recognised students across all year levels with awards across the school ranging from Outstanding Academic Achievement, Academic Excellence, Music, Sport, Community Service and Leadership and Valedictorian.

We also had the opportunity to celebrate the end of the year with the Graduating class of 2021. This was an opportunity for staff, students and their parents to celebrate and enjoy a wonderful evening together as the last formal event for the Class of 2021. The care, mutual respect and appreciation for each other was evident. To our Class of 2021, you have come so far and finished the journey. You are capable young adults equipped to tackle and further your life-long education. It has been an honour and a privilege to play a part in your journey throughout your time at SOC. The rest of your life awaits you and I have no doubt that you are well prepared to make it a meaningful and successful one.

From our Valedictorian :

“I would like to take this moment to thank my parents, my teachers, my boyfriend Dimitri, and my true friends for supporting me throughout my VCE years and making this moment possible. 

I think I speak on behalf of all year 12s when I say this year hasn’t been easy, but we can confidently say that we powered through and made it out the other side. 

I’ve learnt that self-belief is of paramount importance to accomplish great things - with this being said, hard work and dedication is just as important. 

I think along the year with Ms Terdich being on our backs about how Year 12 is a competition, we’ve forgotten that failure is not the opposite of success, but that it’s a part of success. 

We should all be beyond proud of ourselves for coming this far and achieving all that we have - but we should know that we never stop learning because life never stops teaching. 

Here’s to new beginnings and I wish all Year 12 graduates the very best, thank you!”

Dion Karellas

Valedictorian 2021

Orientation Day 2021

On Tuesday, 7 December we welcomed our 2022 Year 7 students to the school for a fun-filled day.  The Junior School Team, led by Mr Tzimourtas, welcomed the new students to our school supported by staff and our amazing Peer Support Leaders. Our new Year 7 students were great ambassadors for their families and their primary schools as despite their nervousness were happy and confident in their new environment.   The positive manner in which students conducted themselves was a delight to see and I would personally like to extend a very warm welcome to all of them; particularly our new families and look forward to working with you over the upcoming six years.

Staff Farewells

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge Mr Tim Columbus, Ms Emma Love and Mr Damien Landini who will be leaving the school to continue their education journey in Leadership positions at a number of schools.   Mr Columbus was a dedicated and valued member of the English staff and as leader in a number of roles at the school.  Ms Love commenced as a Master of Teaching Intern and taught Systems Engineering, Math and the Sciences – in 2021 she took on the role as Acting Learning Specialist as Head of Science working with her team and contributed to the Leadership Team. Mr Landini commenced at the school in 2020 as Director of Students Middle School and worked with his team to support our students at their most vulnerable time during the most challenging of times in 2020- 2021.  Ms Chloe Fang joined us in 2020 as a Master of Teaching Intern in the areas of Japanese and EAL.  We wish them all well as they pursue new challenges and opportunities in their new schools.

 Whilst it is with sadness that we farewell these staff, we are excited to welcome new staff to our College and look forward to introducing them to you in 2022.

Oakleigh Education Plan

Dear school community

As you may be aware, our school is one of several that is part of the Oakleigh Education Plan.

This plan has been implemented to improve education outcomes for our school and all current and future Oakleigh students.

Its focus is to bring our community together, sharing resources and experiences across all education levels and expertise in Oakleigh.

A community e-newsletter will be released at the end of the year to showcase the benefits of the plan and highlight how you might be able to be involved.

This newsletter will only be bi-annual but hopes to showcase some of the fantastic work being done by our Oakleigh community.

Click here if you would like to subscribe to the first edition.

The attachment also includes additional paragraphs for Early Childhood and Industry Partner community members if needed. Thanks as always for your support and please let me know if you have any questions or if I can help in any way..

I would like to take this final opportunity, to thank all members of our community for all that we have done together to ensure we have got through our challenges determined to provide for all our students and each other.  The efforts we have all made throughout the year has been incredible. Thank you too to our College Council for their support and commitment shown to all of us, particularly the wellbeing of students and staff. I wish you all a safe and happy Festive Season and look forward to working with you again in 2022.

Helen Koziaris

College Principal