From the SRC

Term 3 Update | Sub-School Structure

Term 3 Update

Already almost halfway into Term 3, the SRC has been working on exciting and engaging initiatives we are happy to share. Firstly, this semester we have welcomed Ms Spiteri as our new Director of Student Agency and we have been working closely at our biweekly meetings to change around not only our meetings but how we engage different year levels in student voice.

You may have also noticed that posters produced by the SRC last semester on how to report bullying and harassment are now up around the school.

This term, we have begun a rotation of year levels who run our SRC meetings so that everyone gets an opportunity to practice their leadership skills and share the issues they feel their year level has in particular. The SRC has recently been discussing a proposed change to the sub-school structure and held a forum where students could vote on their preferred organisation. 58% of students who voted wanted to keep the sub-school structure the same as it is now, while 42% of student votes went to structures that saw a change to a 10, 11 & 12 senior sub-school. A Google form has been posted on all sub-school Google classrooms about these changes and we urge all students to fill it out so we can advocate for changes you want. More information about the sub-school structure can be seen below this article.

Another goal of ours has been to increase communication on the whole but particularly between SRC and the rest of the school population so you can expect more forums and open meetings in future.

Applications for 2024 leadership positions will be opening soon, so please keep an eye out for that. We would love to see more students come and make a difference at our meetings!

Campbell Hall

on behalf of the SRC

Sub-School Structure

The Leadership Team is evaluating our current sub-school structure (the way we group students together) and is looking for the best option for the College. An SRC working party came up with three different structures that were presented to the student body for their input. The working party was also open to hearing any other ideas the students may have had or other different structures that could have been considered.

This is an important decision to make as it could lead to other changes throughout the school, for example:

The design of new facilities
Curriculum and subject choices
Extracurricular and engagement opportunities
Clearer pathways

On Monday, 31st July at lunchtime, the SRC held an interactive session to get the input of the student body into the sub-school structure used at the College. 58% of students who voted wanted to keep the sub-school structure the same as it is now (7&8, 9&10, 11&12). While 42% of student votes went to structures that saw a change to a 10, 11 & 12 Senior Sub-School.

In a follow-up survey, students expressed the following reasons why they would like to keep the sub-school structure as it is now:

Familiar
Students are close in age so share similar needs
No need for change - currently no notable problems
The current system is evenly spread

In the same survey, students shared a number of reasons as to why or why not move to a Year 10 - 12 Senior Sub-School.

Senior Sub-School: Years 10, 11 & 12

Positives	Negatives
Greater access to VCE and VET subjects Greater focus of the future beyond school Clearer understanding of the VCE requirements (introduced earlier) Clearer career pathways Strengthened study skills	Year 10’s may distract VCE students The Year 12’s may feel less special No need for change Too many students in one sub-school Physical space not able to cater for additional students (Study Centre) Takes away a year of necessary growth before stepping into the Senior School

The SRC Sub-School Structure Working Party will keep the student body updated on the progress of this evaluation. There will also be further opportunities for input in the coming weeks.

Allegra Kirk

on behalf of the SRC