College Principal's Report

The last month has been very busy with the countdown for the last weeks of learning for our Year 12 students, transition grade 6 – Year 7, Challenge Week and developing budgets and workforce plans for 2020. Term 3 is the busiest time for planning for the following year in schools and has also coincided with much illness in the community. Despite staff having been vaccinated, the flu hit us hard. I myself had to have some time off when I was diagnosed with Influenza A and I know for families who experienced the flu this year, how it impacts on your energy levels. I therefore apologise for my delay to responding to emails and calls.

Despite the staff absences, our strong teaching and learning programs continued. I thank our staff for their dedication to provision of curriculum and resources in their absence. Students who have missed work for illness should be ensuring they complete any required assessments with their teacher’s so their semester two results are not impacted.

Principal for a Day

On Thursday 5 September , Glenn Weir, Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner, was Principal for a Day at Scoresby Secondary College. The students enjoyed hearing his words of advice and were encouraged by commitment to safety in our community. He discussed his experiences working for Victoria Police, how the decisions they make now can impact on them in the future, and encouraged students to be persistent in following what they want to achieve.

Glenn started the day speaking at the College assembly, participated in meetings with the College Leadership Team, staff and students, visited classrooms and engaged in all aspects of the role of his role as ‘Principal for a Day’.

Glenn congratulated the College on the students work with the Knox Police Community Safety Network and has committed to our partnership with police.

Following his visit, Glenn sent a reflection on his day. Below are some of his comments.

“I was really taken by the obvious pride and ownership that the students and staff take in the environment at Scoresby Secondary College.”

“The leadership shown, both formally and informally, gave me great confidence that the students will get the most out of the opportunities that are presented, and will allow them to have great options for making choices in the future.”

“One thing that really struck me was the structure and format of the learning environment, it was clear to me the teachers and students were all on the same page in terms of what was trying to be achieved”

I look forward to our continuing a relationship with Victoria Police.

Our Continued Success

One of the most satisfying parts of the role of a teacher is knowing you are making a difference. I congratulate our students and their teachers on the news we received about our NAPLAN results for this year. Scoresby Secondary College has been recognised for our student’s high growth in Reading, Writing and Numeracy. The growth is measured by the students results in Year 7 and how much they have grown in their results by Year 9. In other words our results show our students have a greater opportunity to achieve more at Scoresby Secondary College. The following graphs show the growth for each of the areas where the high growth occurred and how we have already exceeded the four year targets in the first year.

Department leaders have already been in touch to congratulate us and a great deal of interest has been placed on our quality teaching and learning practises. Individual results have been posted home.

VCE Revision Program

Parents of students undertaking Unit 3 and 4 studies would have received information regarding a revision program during the break to support our students that our College has organised. The highest quality presenters have been booked for this program. We have led this initiative and invited all other government secondary students in Knox undertaking the studies to participate. Raising achievement in Knox benefits the entire community.

Uniform

Term 4 requires all students to be in their summer uniform. Please check the details in the uniform policy, especially regarding shoes (the policy clearly indicates that no runner type are permitted), length of dresses, black school bag and jewellery. Students are not permitted to have non-natural hair colours or have piercings other than one plain gold or silver stud or sleeper per ear.

Facilities

During the term break works will commence to replace cracking brickwork and replace with a new exterior for the College. These works have been scheduled to minimise disruption and coincide with senior students preparing for exams and a reduction of students in classrooms towards the end of the year.

Throughout the works the rear car park facing Harcrest Estate will be fenced off. This reduction in car parking space means that no vehicles other than staff, emergency services or deliveries will be permitted to enter. Drivers who do not observe this notice will risk registration details being forwarded to authorities or towed if blocking authorised vehicles.

2020 Enrolments

We are continuing to receive enrolment enquiries for next year across all year levels. If you know of anyone who is still considering Scoresby Secondary College for next year, it is important that they complete an enrolment application to finalise our staffing numbers for 2020.

Allocation to electives for Years 9-10 and VCE subjects for Years 10 -12 is well underway. All students will be notified of their subjects and final materials charges in term four. Students who have not returned their preferences together with the deposit may now find they may be limited on their subject choices.

I am requesting that anyone who may be moving out of the area or not returning next year to please contact us. Currently we have a waiting list for some of our Senior School programs, including VCAL. We prioritise placement of current enrolled students prior to accepting external applications, therefore if we know of any student who may not be returning, we can offer the place to others hoping to join our community.

I wish all students, staff and families a great break and look forward to seeing everyone next term.

Mrs Gail Major

Principal