From Holloway Road

Find your 'why'

It has been amazing to watch the Holloway Road community come together and really start to thrive again on our return to school for term 2. It is not always easy to come back to the autumn term as the mercury drops and the hours of daylight decrease, yet here we are, and I could not be more proud of our students for their resilience, their enthusiasm, and their community-mindedness. 

As an educator, I am always reading materials that I feel might sharpen my understanding of modern teaching and learning.  One such book is less about education and more about intrinsic motivation.  The book, 'Start with the Why '- Simon Sinek, instructs us to focus firstly on the core issues at hand. Rather than getting distracted by the 'how' we will get something done, or the 'what' we need to do, his advice is to focus on the 'why; we are doing it in the first place.

Part of our 'why', the reason we here at the College continuing to love what we do is the joy that we see as students take their early steps into life after school.  I cannot help but share in the excitement when students, who have worked hard for their results, find themselves taking those next steps into an apprenticeship; a place of regular employment, or that coveted tertiary course. 

The 'how' of this is in everything that we try to do at the school.   The formals, the excursions, the seemingly endless revision of curriculum, the pastoral programs; they all (with so much more) make up our 'how', while ever class ever day makes up our 'what'.

So let's celebrate our 'why' and focus in on our own personal 'why statements'.  They will be many and varied but if you as a student can take the time to establish a 'why' and start your thinking about your studies with that 'why', we will always support you as you move through the circles to the 'how you are going to get all this done' and the 'what needs to be done today to make that happen' phase.

You're invited to a parent webinar:                                     A Beginner's guide to VCE and the VPAC/Vocational Major Programs

Thursday 2nd June @ 7pm Sandringham College will be hosting a webinar to explain some of the core aspects of a VCE and to give some initial information on the VPAC/Vocational Major (the new VCAL) courses. Details will be released via Compass.

Year 12 Formal

A picture is worth a thousand words.  Needless to say, it was a great event.  A full range of photos will be shared with the Year 12 cohort shortly.

G10 Summit

The G10 Summit was the first of its kind at Sandringham College.  A day focused on our year 10 cohort with a past, present and future theme.   The day started with what was suppose to be a smoking ceremony and a welcome to country presented by local Bunurong Elder, Adam Macgenis.  The local Bunurong weather had something to say about that and we were pushed into the theatre where a smoking ceremony was no longer an option.  Adam proceeded to amaze with his story telling, indigenous healing techniques and his Yidaki (digeridoo) skills.   

Sessions on Drug and Alcohol awareness, meditation skills and benefits as well as a strong careers focus followed a bacon and egg breakfast.  At lunch the year 9 cohort and those Unit 3 & 4 students attending our Trial GAT session were warmed by some great student music and a sausage sizzle.  Our thanks go to our amazing PTF for their support of lunchtime offering.  Feeding 600 hungry students (and a few hungry staff) is no mean feat and Suzanne Trease (AP Wellbeing) and her team made it look easy.

It was amazing to have so many of our students here at Holloway road and really enjoying the sense of community and belonging again.

A subject expo, hosted by our amazing domain leads, finished off the day superbly.  I am very grateful to all involved with the day from the students, to the staff and of course the PTF.  It was a great day and we are hopeful that student feedback will help us improve on it in 2023.

The 'Why' of the Trial GAT

The Trial GAT is a vital piece to our VCE puzzle.  Our own statistics show a developing correlation between the student uptake in the trial GAT, eventual GAT results, and then in higher average study scores for the College. Despite the actual GAT being set for September in 2022, a good way off, we felt that the Trial needed to be completed early enough to ensure feedback loops are effective.  The early date also maximizes class time in the third, and oh so vital, term.   The 'why' of the Trial GAT;  put simply; it is an essential part of our VCE academic success strategy.