From the Principal

As usual, Term 1 has flown by and already we have many reasons for celebration.  As I walk around the school, I see teachers and students engaged in purposeful learning, which is challenging our students to be 21st Century independent learners who are becoming adept at transferring their skills and knowledge to think creatively and critically to solve new problems.  Just as importantly, all members of our community continue to uphold our school values.  Such behaviour continues to enable our school to maintain an inclusive, supportive safe school environment where everyone is free to be themselves and do their best.  

School Data Indicates That We Are Thriving Compared To Similar Schools

Our school has recently received information from the Federal Government that informs us about our progress compared to similar schools across Australia.  Similar schools are those with similar demographic variables as our school.  As it happens, most of these schools are from the private sector.  When we look at our NAPLAN growth data by tracking our students in Year 7 - 2011 to Year 9 – 2013, the results are very pleasing.  In Writing and Numeracy our students’ growth in this three year period is better than that in similar schools from across Australia.  Also our Students' Responses in the Student Attitudes to School survey are significantly better than students from similar schools.  This means for example, that our students feel they are in a very safe environment with low levels of bullying, that classroom behaviour is excellent and their motivation to learn is high compared to other similar schools.  In addition, they believe their teachers have great empathy for them, are very effective and provide learning opportunities that are inspirational and challenging.  Such data enables us to be justifiably proud of our outstanding reputation as a high performing school of academic excellence. 

Parents Are Invited To Have Their Say About The Future Direction Of Our Great School 

2014 is our Year of Review whereupon we analyse our progress since 2010 and identify priorities for the next four years.  We would like to consult parents about what actions they regard as critical, to be undertaken in the next four years for the continued success of Frankston High School.  Parents are invited to attend either the PFA Meeting on Tuesday, 13 May at 7:30pm or our School Council Meeting on Tuesday, 20 May at 7:30pm to share their ideas.  Please RSVP by contacting the school on 9783 7955 by Friday, 9 May. 

Year 7 Wine and Cheese Evening:  Great Turn Up Reflects the Quality of the Cohort

We had many parents attend our recent ‘Meet the Year 7 Parents’ Evening with feedback being overwhelmingly positive about their childrens’ transition to high school.  Such a great attendance was very affirming about the quality of this special group of students, given their excellent behaviour and approach to learning that we had already experienced.  I would like to thank all teachers and Junior Sub School Coordinators who have shown great care and support of these students as they embark on their secondary school life.  

Rowing Teams Do Us Proud at VSSA Championships and Head of School Girls Regatta

Thanks to Mary Hunter and Glenn Fischmann’s dedication as Frankston High School rowing coaches, we fielded some very impressive rowing teams at the government school championships with the Year 9 girls team becoming State Champions in their division.  We are also very proud of our Year 9 and Year 11 quad teams, who competed valiantly against the top private schools in the state at the Head of School Girls Regatta.  This is the largest rowing regatta in the Southern Hemisphere and provides an amazing learning opportunity for our girls.  It is about time we investigated purchasing a boat for our teams (cost: $10,000).  If you have any contacts who would be interested in contributing to this fundraising and would like to have their businesses advertised on the boat, please let me know. 

Sports Leadership Camp - Developing Inspiring Young Leaders

I am in awe of how our young sports leaders underwent a rigorous process to be selected as Sports Leaders for Frankston High School and would like to thank all students who applied for these positions.  To those who weren’t successful, make sure you uphold our value of persistence; keep trying and keep participating in sport and you will have success in the future. 

The Sports Leadership Camp was very successful and I am confident our sports leaders will inspire the student body to lead fit and healthy lifestyles and enjoy participating in sport, to develop skills and values which will allow for successful lives in the future.  Many thanks to Ms Deb Anderson for her invaluable leadership on this camp. 

District Swimming Champions Yet Again!!

We fielded another very strong swimming team at the District Sports recently, resulting in our school becoming District Champions.  All except two relay teams have won their way into the regional level which is a great effort.  We wish those going through to regional finals all the very best!!

Working Bee Gives Senior Campus a Facelift!

We had many parents, students and staff working as a great team at our recent Working Bee.  Thanks to all those parents, students and staff for giving up their Sunday morning to make such a difference to our beautiful grounds.   Much work was undertaken on the Senior Campus, leading to eventually much improved street appeal for our new refurbished building.  A special thank you as always to Ms Lee Anne Smith for her terrific leadership in coordinating a highly successful Working Bee. 

Chaplaincy Dinner a Huge Success Thanks to a Hard Working Team that Saved Us All

On the day of the Chaplaincy Dinner we were informed that our guest speaker was unavailable.  Ms Toovey, Ms Long and Mr De Valle leapt into action and organised Chloe Jaegar of Year 12, Lara Smith, Karina Strange and Elise Burt, all of Year 11, to present about their World Challenge experiences.  These wonderful students had less than a day to compose and practice excellent presentations, together with the production of an excellent slide show.  Such preparation resulted in an incredible presentation with the feedback of audience members showing great admiration for the quality of our young presenters.  It made me think how fortunate we are to have such outstanding staff and students, who go to extra lengths to allow our school to shine in such difficult circumstances.

Year 10 Students Accepted Into The Monash Scholars Program

Year 10 students, Chaya Tiktin, Natalie Broome and Taylor Hay have been selected by Monash University for the Monash Young Scholars Program.  This is an extremely prestigious award and is provided to a select number of students who have demonstrated academic excellence.  These students will join with the best of students from other schools across the state, to form an exciting community of scholars, who will participate in programs to help them in their preparation for a future learning pathway at university.

James Savage:  All Round District Lions Youth Of The Year Champion

Last year, as many of you will remember, James Savage (Year 12 School Captain) won the Frankston Lions Youth of the Year Award.  A few weeks ago James competed in the District Finals and became Public Speaker of the Year.  We wish James every success as he competes against all the champions at Lions regional level. 

Record Number Attend Parent/Teacher/Student Interviews

I greatly appreciated the many parents who took the time to inform me about how happy they are with the school and the opportunities that are provided for their children, during our recent parent/teacher/student interviews. Parents and their children benefited from very productive discussions in being aware of the future challenges that need to be addressed for ongoing improvement.  Our students certainly value the learning opportunities provided by our school, and this is because their parents have instilled in them, the importance of education.  I thank our parents for their wisdom in encouraging their children to value learning.  Such a positive partnership will ensure our students continue making great progress this term.

We have Moved Into Our Amazing New Senior School Building

Staff and senior students have just moved into our new refurbished block on the Senior Campus.  We couldn’t be happier with this new facility.  It has been financed totally from locally raised funds without any government funding, so this makes us all extra proud of such a contemporary teaching and learning space. 

Osaka Seikei Girls High School Enjoy Their Stay

Currently we are enjoying hosting staff and students from Osaka Seikei Girls High School.  

Thank you to our host families and students for your warm welcome to our valued friends and especially for generously opening your homes to host.  Our visitors are telling me about the wonderful time they are having because of the friendship offered by our students and their families.  I am sure this has once again proven to be a worthwhile intercultural exchange for everyone. 

We remain indebted to Mrs Anne Thomson for her excellent coordination of this most successful visit.

In Conclusion

I wish everyone a happy, relaxing safe holiday break over Easter.  My wife and I, as parents of students in the senior years, will be encouraging them to earn their breaks for surfing, shopping etc by studying hard over the holiday break.  This teaching and learning business is hard work for us parents!

Mr John Albiston, Principal