Macleod College Newsletter

Principal's Report

Welcome to 2022

 

Welcome to our first newsletter of 2022. I hope that you will enjoy our new format; the digital interactivity of this platform will add a great new dimension to how we can celebrate the achievements of our community.

 

I would like to thank the wonderful Joan Cave and Emma Wagner in the office for pulling this newsletter together, as well as to all of our contributors. If you have any comments or suggestions, please do not hesitate to reach out.

 

Introduction

 

I am humbled to be joining the Macleod community while College Principal Mario Pannacio is on leave. Filling in for someone who is such an integral part of the fabric of a school like Mario is daunting, but I am fully committed to taking on the work he has led here at the school and continuing to build upon it with the College Council, staff, students and families until his return.

 

As a little background about me, I come to Macleod College after 14 years at Gladstone Park Secondary and 5 years at Melbourne Girls' College with responsibility for Curriculum. During this time I oversaw a number of curriculum and operational innovations and a number of small and large scale building projects (including a project of a $4.5m theatre renovation which is nearing completion). In 2021, I was appointed acting Principal of MGC, have the great privilege of leading the community through the second year of the COVID pandemic.

 

I am a proud father of 2, husband of a fellow music teacher, dog lover, technology and sci-fi aficionado and part-time professional musician. My key philosophies are around equity, supporting diverse needs and building the capacity of others, and I feel truly blessed to have been given the opportunity to work with the Macleod community over the next few months. 

 

Back to school

 

Last week saw our welcome to all the new families joining Macleod College. It was wonderful to be out meeting the new preps and their families and to see the transition program in full flight for the new year 7 cohort. I managed to meet a great number of parents and students and the feedback has been that students are settling in well and feeling welcomed.

 

 

2021 VCE Results 

 

The 2021 VCE results were released late last year, and overall our students have done themselves proud. Even though our students and staff pushed through their second year of the COVID19 pandemic, 47.6% of our students achieved an Australian Tertiary Entrance Ranking (ATAR) of 70 or above, placing them in the top 30% of students in the state. The average ATAR also increased from 55 in 2020 to 67.45 in 2021 - an amazing effort all round!

 

This is a huge increase from the previous year and a testament to the resilience and hard work of each and every one of our students, not to mention the herculean efforts of Macleod staff and the families who supported them all the way through. 

 

Our Dux was Clarissa Indranada with an amazing ATAR of 95.05 (placing her in the top 5% of students in the state) and she will be going on to study Science and Teaching at Melbourne University

 

 

Macleod students have since been offered and accepted University and TAFE places in courses such as Engineering, Law, Biomedical Science, Business, Pharmaceutical Science, Fashion design, Music Industry, Nursing and Nutrition, showing that Macleod College is truly a place where you can achieve great things.

 

Science Wing Opening

 

This week saw the official first classes in our fabulous new science wing. This new building is stage one of a five-stage commitment from the state government which will see an almost total refresh of learning spaces for our students and staff. The excitement of those who were able to undertake science experiments in these brilliant spaces this week was palpable, and you could see the pride in the faces of every person who walked in.

 

The finalisation of the primary campus play areas is our next milestone, and we look forward to sharing images of the official opening once the whole project has reached completion. 

 

As noted in my newsfeed this week, we are also working hard towards a permanent solution for the concerns raised about the toilet facilities at the college. I can assure the community that we have listened and are acting on these concerns, and will keep everyone informed as soon as we have confirmed how we can proceed.

 

I would genuinely like to thank those who reached out to voice your concerns, in particular the students who continue to advocate so strongly for themselves and their peers. We are all working hard to make Macleod the best place it can be, and I am always open to hearing from any member of the community who would like to share feedback or ideas on how we can continue this journey.

 

2022 Goals and Foci

 

The Macleod leadership team are continuing their work on the 2022 Annual Implementation Plan, including a re-focus of efforts on a set of common and core priorities: the most important things our school must deliver in 2022. Schools across the state will continue to focus on student wellbeing and increasingly focus their efforts on numeracy to support student learning.

 

The 2022 Priorities Goal 

Some of our students have thrived in the remote learning environment, others have maintained their learning progress, and some need extra learning and wellbeing support despite the best efforts of their teachers and families. In 2022, we will continue to focus on student learning – with an increased focus on numeracy – and student wellbeing through the 2022 Priorities Goal, a learning Key Improvement Strategy and a wellbeing Key Improvement Strategy. 

 

The two priority KIS for 2022 are:

  • Learning – Support both those who need scaffolding and those who have thrived to continue to extend their learning, especially in numeracy 
  • Wellbeing – Effectively mobilise available resources to support students' wellbeing and mental health, especially the most vulnerable

Our Annual Implementation Plan discussions to date are centring around focussing on:

  • Differentiation and increasing capacity of staff use of data to assist in this
  • The roll out and ongoing refinement of the Holdfast program
  • Continuing the work towards creation of Individual learning plans for all students in the college
  • Embedding the new college values into our every action and every word

 

More broadly, we are also discussing:

 

  • The marketing of the college and enrolments
  • Implementation of the VCE Vocational Major 
  • Continuing to advocate for the next round of budget funds for stage 2 and 3 of the building project
  • Continuing the work of developing the primary campus facilities

It promises to be an exciting year at Macleod, and there is a sense of energy and hope from staff and students that with fewer interruptions we can continue to build upon all the fantastic work that the community has done to date to make Macleod the school of choice of our area. 

 

Thanks again for reading!

 

Andrew Arney

Acting Principal