From the Principal Class Team

Dear Parents and Guardians

On behalf of the School Council and the school community, a very warm welcome to the 2019 school year. We especially welcome our new Year 7 students and the more than 30 students who have joined us in other year levels, and their families. We hope that your years at St Albans Secondary College are enjoyable and rewarding, both personally and educationally, and that you thrive in this community.

We are also pleased to have a number of new staff joining the teaching and education support staff teams this year. Marty Conboy, Ebony Kemeridis, Pat Lac and Yan Lau join the English/Humanities Departments; the Science Department welcomes Claudia Freyer, Kristin Oliveri and Linda Souleiman; Rupinder Grewal and Barbara Slusarczyk join the Maths Department and Dane Stammers joins the Commerce team. We also welcome Avril Good and Sandy Dorigo back from leave, and Bina Patalia and Bec Kinsella are commencing as members of the Wellbeing Team. We wish each of you all the very best for your time here.

Several staff have commented that this seems to have been the smoothest start to a year ever. It has certainly been very positive, and students have settled in quickly to their classes and work. Thank you to you, as parents, for all you have done over the summer break to ensure your children were prepared for school and studying. Your support is key to the work we do, and to your daughter’s and son’s success at school, and we value it enormously.

 

College Captains 2019

After a rigorous nomination and voting process held at the end of last year, we are delighted to announce our College Captains for 2019.

Congratulations to Captains, Habiba Habib and Daniel San Jose, and to Vice Captains, Vicki Le, Sarah Mollica and Tyler Winter-Boyle, on their election as our new school leaders. You will be excellent representatives of your peers and ambassadors for the school.

We look forward to working together with you to support and further improve the experience for all students at our school.

Year of self evaluation and review

Every 4 years, government schools undertake a process of self evaluation, followed by an external review in order to analyse progress and achievements, and to set strategic directions for the next four year period.

During Term 1, we will conduct a self evaluation covering all areas of policy and procedures in relation to student learning, wellbeing and engagement. The self evaluation will involve a thorough examination of our data, policies and practices. Central to this is the involvement of staff, students and parents to ensure that we capture the perspectives of all stakeholders.

This is followed, in Term 2, by a process of review and validation of the self evaluation. The review panel consists of an externally appointed reviewer, our Senior Education Improvement Leader from the Department of Education; two Challenge Partners, who may be principals, academics or from other relevant fields; our School Council President; and the Principal team. The review panel then consults with relevant teams of staff, visits classrooms and conducts forums to further discuss the evaluation. The reviewer provides a detailed report to the school community.

In Term 3, we will write our Strategic Plan for 2020-2023.

 

Connect Protect and Respect – Building a resilient school community

On Friday, 22 February, we will continue our work with Andrew Fuller on developing resilient mindsets throughout our school.

The focus of the day will be on how we support students to be aware of their mindset, and to provide them with strategies to develop their resilience. We are striving to create a school culture in which every individual feels Connected, Protected and Respected.

Students will not be required at school on Friday, 22 February.

 

Baby news

We welcome two of our youngest members of the St Albans Secondary College community with the arrival of two babies.

On 14 January, Mr Seijiro Nishioka and his wife happily welcomed Mirai to their family. 

Mr Giuliano Lasco  and his partner also welcomed new baby, Luciana, over the summer break.

Congratulations to you both and to your families. We wish you all the best as you get to know your newest family members.