Principal's Update

Dear Families, Students and Community Members,

Parent/Teacher/Student interviews

This year we are again allocating a full day with altered hours of attendance for this important event in Term 1. School Council have endorsed Wednesday 18 March from 11am until 7.30pm for our parent/teacher/student interviews, in Week 8 of this term. Classes will be cancelled for this day and students are required to attend the interviews with their parent/guardian, wearing their school uniform. Bookings will open this week after 5pm on Wednesday 4 March. A map of teacher locations will be available via your Compass log in to assist you in making your bookings in the most efficient way. We expect that parents and guardians will value the opportunity to speak with teachers about their child/children’s progress and will therefore be in attendance at the interviews. If you have any issues with making the bookings on Compass, please contact the General Office for assistance or Assistant Principal, Andrew Moffat.

Reporting to Parents

On Friday of last week the progress checks reports across Years 7-12 were released on Compass for student and parent access, focused on student learning behaviours. Please make sure you check to stay informed about your child’s progress. Students will receive specific written feedback on benchmark tasks and SACs during class time with their teacher. This can be followed up during parent/teacher/student interviews and another progress check report will be completed by the end of this term.

Attendance Booklet

All parents/guardians should have received an email from me this week through Compass with our publication attached: Attendance Matters – A parent’s guide. As mentioned in my first newsletter article for the year, daily attendance is important for all children and young people to succeed in education and to ensure they don’t fall behind both socially and developmentally. Studies show that absence does affect learning growth and that there are no safe number of days. Please take the time to read this booklet and discuss with your child. If you are having difficulty getting your child to school, please contact the Wellbeing Team at the College or Year Level Coordinator to discuss how we can assist you.

Student Planner

A reminder to parents and students about the use of our student study planner as a valuable organisational tool to support learning and as an important means of communication between school and home. Students should take their planner to every class and keep it graffiti free and tidy. Students should record home study, important dates e.g. upcoming excursions and due dates for class work. Teachers will use the planner to inform parents about matters of importance within their specific class. I ask that parents check their student’s planner on a regular basis.

Facility Development Update

Last May we were allocated 10% of the $8.5 million promised in the 2018 state election. After the appointment of our architects in August we first revisited our masterplan and created a new masterplan to cater for 1100 students, and worked out our priority projects. We are currently in sketch development to be followed by design development on our major capital works project of a two storey Year 7 and 8 Learning Centre. This will be constructed next to the Discovery Centre for Science, after moving a locker bay and the cricket nets. After this significant facility is completed, the Year 7 Learning Centre will be converted into a Senior School learning hub and study centre. It is very exciting to be part of the architect meetings hearing the project taking shape and what a fantastic facility the two storey building is going to be. Of course, we are relying on the funding announcement of the rest of the $8.5 million in this year’s May budget. If the funding does come through, at best we would begin construction in Term 4 with the facility ready for occupation by the end of 2021. Therefore we felt it was important to refurbish D1 and D3 to cater for the larger Year 12 cohort and provide more focused study areas. The refurbishment included new carpet, freshly painted walls, furniture, other furnishings and lockers. Our Year 12 students have been most appreciative of their new surrounds and have reported back that it is making a difference. Over the summer holidays we also completed some refurbishments to the Year 7 Learning Centre to better facilitate team teaching in dedicated teaching spaces, with the installation of some glass doors/walls in parts of the centre.

School Production

On Tuesday 4 February the school production was launched to the student body and they were very excited to hear we are putting on the show “Legally Blond” under the direction of Adelle Stevenson, Mara Sears and Cameron Young. Our teachers will be supported by Year 12 students from 2017, Natalie Wood, Hannah Blavo and Imogen Kane, who are excited to return to the College again to assist in directing the show. We had huge interest in auditions with so many interested students which was fantastic to see. The final cast has been selected and rehearsals have begun! We are introducing a fifth performance night to meet the demand for tickets in recent years. So put it in your diaries now - Tuesday 11 – Saturday 15 August.

College Council Elections

In the recent call for nominations for parent vacancies on Council we received a number of nominations which was most pleasing. It is my pleasure to welcome back David Lawrence, Rosa Westrup, Amanda De Boer and Amelia Mastorakos; and welcome our new members to Council – Jenny McCulloch and Richard Evans. Tracey Bastin has been nominated for the one DET vacancy and has therefore been duly elected. I thank them for their commitment to Mordialloc College.

I would like to take this opportunity to extend my sincere thanks to outgoing parent members Andy Carter (member for six years) and Heath McMillin (member for three years) for their significant contribution to Council and their ongoing support of the College.

This week we are currently holding a ballot for the one vacant student position on council. We have three nominations: Thomas Clarke, Jeremy Thai-Chan and Timothy Whitford. Students have until Friday 6 March to cast their vote at Reception.  School Captains Elisa Barone and Jack Phillpotts join council as community members and James Vicendese has one more year to run in his two year student position.

Swim Carnival

On Thursday 25 February, the House Swimming Carnival was held and it was a most successful and enjoyable day.   The event was well supported by students and staff with the majority of the student population in attendance and all enthusiastically engaged with the busy program in lovely conditions.   Congratulations go to Iwala (Red house) on their great win and to the respective boy and girl age level champions who are listed in this week’s newsletter. Well done and thanks to our Sports Carnivals Coordinator Cory Watters for his excellent organisation of this eve