Principal's Report

** Monday 31st October is a normal school day.

Year 12 exams started this week, with English being the first exam. Having spoken to a few of the students, nerves were always going to be a factor, but one student felt confident with how their exam had gone, having completed all three writing tasks.

Ross Wilson, Assistant Principal, who has been on leave since last year, has finally made the move to work within the Department as the Jobs Skills and Pathways Coordinator in the Shepparton area. Ross has been working in this role since the start of the year and was recently made permanent in this role. This now means that we will be looking for a replacement, substantive Assistant Principal and the position has been advertised on Recruitment On Line.

Ross was instrumental in starting our school’s Positive Behaviour Strategies journey, a Department initiative where positive behaviour is noticed and rewarded, rather than always focussing on negative behaviours. This approach is closely linked to referring to the school values. Ross also introduced the Human Powered Vehicle event into our program, which has been on hold during COVID. The event, often described as Formula One racing for students, has been taken over by Chris Greenhalgh and he is hoping to send a team off to race in November. Congratulations to Ross in his new venture; and I am sure that while no longer at the school, he will continue to be part of our community.

The school was successful in its application for a Shade Sail Grant, meaning a $25,000 shade sail will be erected, hopefully in the near future. Promoted to assist with outdoor classroom space, the sail will be in front of the Art Room, designed to provide a suitable area for students to work in, gaining inspiration for their artworks from the great outdoors. To make this a more useable work area, D&T Edmondson are doing some earthworks to flatten the compact the grassed area and we are planning to get more picnic tables that can be positioned under the shade.

While students completing a Unit 3/4 subject are in the middle of their exams, the Year 10 and 11 students have exams coming up in Week 7 of this term as well. These tips are taken from the La Trobe University website, https://www.latrobe.edu.au/mylatrobe/7-tips-to-look-after-your-wellbeing-during-the-exam-period/ accessed 27/10/2022. There is more in depth information contained on the page, so it would be worth a look when taking one of your breaks.

7 Tips to look after your wellbeing during the exam period. 

1. Put your worries into perspective.
2. Manage your caffeine intake.
3. Sleep.
4. Exercise.
5. Take breaks.
6. Schedule time for things you enjoy.
7. Remember, not all stress is bad.