Principal Introduction

Dear Students, Parents and Carers, 

I would like to officially welcome everyone back to Term 2 which will be an exciting time for the entire College as we settle into the year's rhythm and students start to enjoy the full range of extra curricular experiences across the College.  This term the College continues to implement a number of key improvement initiatives to ensure that students across all year levels are able to succeed and thrive. 

The first is our VCE Excellence program. VCE Excellence is about preparing our students with the study skills and routines to ensure that they arrive ready to perform at their best in the November examination period. Success at VCE requires more than just attending every class, students need to be prepared to engage in the extra work that allows them to achieve a study score that is reflective of their ability. There’s a Vince Lombardo saying: “The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary”. Our VCE students are in an education process with approximately 60,000 other students that will see them ranked from 1 to 60,000. The only way to move up in the rankings is to do the work. Our teachers are highly skilled and knowledgeable in the VCE areas of study, and I encourage every VCE student to approach staff seeking feedback on performance with past examinations and essay topics. English students are encouraged to regularly write responses to examination prompts and seek feedback from teachers to improve their performance. VCE English is the only compulsory subject and is therefore the one that students should aim to get the best result in. 

Secondly, the College continues to implement the 3L - Language and Literacy for Learning program across all year levels and subjects. This program gives students the skills and understanding to be able to read more complex written ideas and in turn write in a more academic way. As we continue to implement this training with our teachers, students will build their capacity to access new language, understand the role of visual texts, know how to use strategies such as nominalisation, and noun groups, and in doing so develop their reading comprehension of complex and challenging texts. This is an exciting time as we build a common approach to literacy across the College, which will positively impact all students. 

Thirdly, we continue our investment in ‘creating good humans’ with the implementation of a series of High Impact learning events. For example, this week the year 9 students have participated in the ‘Blurred Minds’ workshop on vaping and the role that marketing has on influencing student choices. I am really pleased to hear and see that the federal government is cracking down on vaping in an attempt to reduce the harm to young people. The College also continues to offer workshops by Sexual Health Victoria around consent, further enhancing students' understanding of respectful relationships. The College regularly engages in conversations about respect for self and others and it is important that the character traits of kindness and care are discussed not only at school but at home. As adults we understand that these character traits can have profound impact on the sense of belonging, engagement and learning at school, and so it is well worth taking time at home to discuss what respect, kindness and care look like and what behaviours we can use to demonstrate these, both in real life and via technology. 

The College has a clear mobile phone policy that is in line with the current legislation on Mobile Phone bans in schools. The purpose of this policy is to ensure that students are focused in class and they are maximising their learning, negating some of the negative aspects of mobile phone use. I ask for your support, and I know that our partnership can support the improvement of learning outcomes for all students. The following research on the impacts of mobile phones on young people is very interesting. https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Haidt%20Testimony.pdf. 

I wanted to thank students, parents and carers for their support of the College Dress Code. Students are presenting in correct uniform more frequently, which allows the leaders of the College to focus on the learning success of our students and ensure that we are able to meet their learning needs. As the weather starts to become colder, I encourage every student to consider uniform items such as the new winter jacket and undergarments, as increasing layers is a great way to remain warm. 

I would like to wish all students a productive and successful Term 2, and in particular wish the senior students the best of luck as they start to prepare for the end of semester examinations. I hope that their hard work is reflected in their successful results. 

Kind regards, 

Dean King

Principal.