Dear Families, Students and Community Members,

Successful Open Events

On Thursday 4 May we held a most successful Open Night for prospective students and parents, with over 600 visitors to see the whole school in action. The success of such events is testament to our strong sense of community where staff, students and parent representatives from our College Council all played important roles. The level of support and enthusiasm from everyone involved was extremely positive and affirming. My sincere thanks to Mr Simon Cummins, Acting Assistant Principal, who was the main organiser, supported by Catherine Boulton in the office. I would also like to thank all staff for their attendance out of school hours and for organising some terrific displays and highly engaging interactive workshops; to all the students who acted as tour guides or assisted with the interactive workshops, they were so proud to showcase their school; and to the parent representatives from College Council, who were very enthusiastic and proud to speak about Mordialloc College to prospective parents.

A special thanks to our student speakers in the formal presentation part of the evening. They all did an outstanding job articulating what it means to them to be a student at Mordialloc College. Congratulations to Amelia Davidson and Jeremy Thai-Chan, speaking in their capacity as School Captains; and Alley Worner, Charlotte Ellem and Owen Norton representing Year 7, and speaking so confidently about their experiences to date. Please see the feedback summary page containing lots of positive comments from prospective parents:

Congratulations to Elissa Le Sauvage who won the $100 Westfield gift voucher, one of many who went into the draw after completing the learning journey passport on the night.

Progress Reports

Progress Check 2 for this semester will be released to parents and students on Friday of this week on Compass. These progress checks focus on our students’ learning behaviours which link to our school values, their attendance and their academic progress. Please download and discuss with your child/ren. In addition, continuously during the semester, students will receive specific written feedback from their teachers on benchmark tasks and SACs - they will be given some class time to reflect and identify areas for improvement. Please ask your child/ren about the feedback they have received to date on their benchmark tasks and SACs.

Winter Uniform and Jewellery

I would like remind students of their responsibility in relation to uniform. The College expectation is that all students will be in the correct winter uniform, and that this uniform is worn correctly (shirts tucked in, ties done up properly) just as would be expected in any workplace. This also means no hoodies worn under or over your jumper. Sneakers or black runners are not part of our school uniform (only for PE and Sport lessons). All students should be wearing the correct school shoe - black polishable leather lace up shoes with a small heel. Our uniform is a very important part of the image we project of our College community and therefore I expect all students to wear their uniform correctly and with pride to, from and at school. I would ask parents to reinforce these expectations at home.

A reminder of the rules outlined in the College uniform policy regarding jewellery. Jewellery is not to be worn apart from a wristwatch and a plain stud or sleeper for students with pierced ears. Piercing of other body parts must not be visible.

House Cross Country

On Tuesday 2 May, the College Cross country was held on a very pleasant autumn afternoon. Congratulations go to Iwala (red house) on their great win, closely followed by Bunurong (yellow house); and to each age group champion (reported in last week’s newsletter). It was a terrific contest between the four houses with a high participation rate across the whole school and shows how important it is to participate to the best of your ability whether running or walking the course. Congratulations to Sport Coordinator Cory Watters for his organisation of this event, all students and staff for their positive involvement during the afternoon.

VCE Careers Expo

Last Friday our students in Years 10 and 12 attended the VCE Careers Expo held at Caulfield Racecourse.

This is the largest Career Expo in Melbourne and is the best opportunity for students to explore their options, in terms of possible future career, their future secondary school program and post-secondary pathways to ensure that their subjects meet the pre-requisites for their future career and course options. We have our Senior School information sessions later this term, leading into course counselling interviews early Term 3 for subject selection for 2024 for Years 9-11 students entering Years 10-12 in 2024. Thanks to our Careers and Pathways leader, Emma White, for organising this event and all teachers who attended to help supervise our 380 students in attendance.

Year 9 Morrisby Testing

Thanks to our Careers and Pathways leader Emma White for organising the Morrisby vocational online assessment for all our Year 9 students on Tuesday morning. This is a program for all Year 9 students in government secondary schools. It is considered to be a very comprehensive vocational assessment and our students have found it very useful in the past to start to try and think about future careers and pathways. This program will help students:

Learn about what skills and abilities they could bring to a job.
Find out about what jobs match their abilities, interests and personality and the subjects they need for those jobs.

As part of the program, students will complete a series of online questions and quizzes (on the Morrisby Profile website) at school. It was run over the first two periods on Tuesday (the test itself is in sections over 90 minutes).

Students will receive a Morrisby Profile Report showing the results from the questions and quizzes and possible jobs that match their abilities, interests and personality. Later in the term they will have a 30 minute meeting with a Morrisby-trained Career Practitioner, who will explain the report to them.

Jobs of the Future

What does the future hold for young people yet to enter the workforce in a world of work that is fast changing and uncertain? The 100 jobs of the future project report carried out by researchers at Deakin and Swinburne Universities can be found by clicking this link: https://100jobsofthefuture.com/report/

For students, the message is clear: be aware of your strengths, follow your interests, gain an expert qualification but mix this with a variety of skills and interests; develop your data and technology skills, develop your capacity for creativity and being organised. The ability to communicate, work effectively in teams and collaborate with other people, along with the need for flexibility and adaptability in the face of change, will also be important.

Toilet Access

Our student toilets are open for students to access before school, recess, lunch and afterschool. During class time all toilets are locked. However, students can access them by using their ID card to unlock, after getting a toilet pass from their teacher which is recorded on the student’s chronicle on Compass. We need to be able to account for all students at all times. Students are encouraged to utilise the bathrooms during break times to minimise disruptions to their learning time during the day. We have our main student toilet blocks, new individual toilets outside the new Year 7&8 learning centre, and Year 12 students have access to the toilets in the Glasshouse which is part of the Senior School Centre.

Teenagers and Sleep

While we know sleep is essential for good health, research shows that many children and young people are not getting enough sleep on school nights. This can affect thinking, concentration, memory, reaction times and mood.

Research shows about 12% of primary school-aged children, a quarter of 12 to 15-year-olds and half of 16 to 17-year-olds don’t get enough sleep on school nights. The recommended amount of time to sleep for primary school-aged children is 9 to 11 hours. For teenagers, it’s 8 to 10 hours.

Signs that your child is not getting enough sleep can include:

Low mood and irritability during social interactions
Reluctance or arguing about getting off devices and going to bed
Falling asleep during the day
Difficulties waking up for school and sleeping in late on weekends to catch up
Changes to communicating or interacting at home

You can help your child to improve their sleep by:

Establishing a regular sleep pattern and consistent bedtime routine
Supporting them to avoid using electronic devices such as smartphones before going to bed and in bed
Encouraging your child to exercise and spend time outside in daylight, steering clear of vigorous activity in the hour before sleep
Encouraging them to wind down and relax before going to bed

Please refer to our new parent resource “SchoolTV” on our College website: https://mcsc.vic.schooltv.me/newsletter/sleep

For a range of articles and videos to support parents and students on this topic.

Year 12 Tutoring available reminder

Each year we utilise the services of some of our former top Year 12 students to provide tutoring support to our current Year 12 students after school onsite. Thanks to our Year 12 Year Level Coordinator, Mr Randell, for organising the following students from last year who are returning to offer tutoring in the following subjects. We highly recommend that our students studying Unit 3 and 4 subjects take up these valuable opportunities for some extra support during the year. These sessions started last term after school and our current students need to register their interest in attending on the shared Google doc provided by Mr Randell.

	Day - 3.30-4.30pm	Subjects offered
Aaliyah Zaph	Friday	English/History/HHD
Max Telfer	Thursday/Friday	Japanese
Tamsyn Russell	Wednesday/Friday	General/PE/Accounting
Indi Tsiros	Friday	Psych/Legal
Tristan Cox	Mon/Tues/Thurs	Methods/Specialist/Physics
India Thomas	Monday	English/Psych/PE
Tomislav Krivacevic	Friday	Chem/Methods/Physics
Tim Whitford	Thursday (some Tuesdays)	General/Methods/Specialist/French (oral)
Jeneya Tran	Wednesday/Monday	English
Aston Hewet	Wednesday/Thursday	Japanese
Yash Kishore	Mon/Wed/Fri	Physics/Vis Com/PDT

Staffing Update

Cheryl Lim – a P-12 Maths teacher, who started with us this year, has an infant child and, as such, wanted to work closer to home and secured a position at her local primary school. Cheryl finished here last week. This position has been advertised and, while we work through the recruitment process, we have employed a trained Maths casual relief teacher, Eve Lui, to teach these classes.

James Sadler – English and Humanities teacher who has been teaching here for the last 6 years has found a position outside of teaching working with a local council. He has been granted leave for the rest of the year. We have appointed Tara Fearn, who will be coming to us from the private system. While we negotiate a starting date, Madeline Hatton, who is known to the students, has been employed to take these classes. However, this term she can only work 3 days a week. We have another well-known casual relief teacher, Simone Fallon, taking these classes on the other two days.

Nathalie Foos – a new French teacher this year, resigned at the end of Term 1 due to personal reasons and returned to France. I have appointed Ivy Ma from Wantirna SC, who can start from May 22. We have a qualified French casual relief teacher, Molly Lamb, who is taking the classes this term until Ivy can start.

Aerial photos of the school

Here are some recent aerial photos taken above our school showing our whole school site. Our new outside courts clearly stand out!

VALE Dorothy Meadows

We are saddened to learn of the passing of an inaugural Mordialloc College Alumni Association committee member Dorothy Meadows. Dorothy was a very popular teacher at MCHS (Mordialloc College), teaching Home Economics, Junior Science and Needlework. She had a special interest in textiles and was a very accomplished needlewoman.

Dorothy taught at Mordialloc from 1954-1958 and after a break to raise a family, resumed her teaching career in 1967 and was a valued member of staff here until 1978. Dorothy then took up a position as Senior Mistress in charge of student welfare at Heatherhill Secondary College in Springvale South.

In response to numerous cycle accidents involving students riding to and from school, Dorothy produced a feasibility study for a cycle path from Edithvale Road to Mordialloc Creek and a footbridge over the creek opposite Chute St. The footbridge over the creek was opened in 1984.

Dorothy had many interests over her life and volunteered in several community organisations including Friends of Edithvale/Seaford Wetlands and Quilts of Valour Australia Inc.

In 2000 she was awarded The Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for services to the community in Education and Welfare.

Dorothy spent countless hours collecting and archiving photos and memories from past students and staff, contributing to a valuable record of our school’s history. Dorothy also assisted us in providing the history behind our four house names. She was a really lovely lady who was so keen to give back to the school she worked at and she will be sadly missed.

Our sincere condolences to her family.

Ms Michelle Roberts

Principal

Dandenong Priority Primary Care Centre