From the Principal Team
I am very proud of our students who have been completing their VCE exams. They have been focused and worked purposefully to achieve their goals.
If your child is a school leaver, the schoolies celebrations from Saturday 26 November to Sunday 4 December can be an exciting milestone in their lives. However, this shouldn’t come at the expense of impacting your child’s health and safety or causing problems for the communities where they decide to celebrate.
We encourage you to speak to your child about the importance of keeping safe and healthy at schoolies. Information about staying safe at schoolies can be found at Partying safely at schoolies — Better Health Channel.
You can also follow the Good Times Great Breaks Victoria Facebook page, which provides information on what wellbeing support is available in the main schoolies destinations of Rye, Surf Coast, Lorne, Torquay and Phillip Island.
I attended the Bayside Peninsula Principals forum last week. We worked through three topic areas, hearing from experts and colleagues:
- Workforce shortages and suggestions as to how to find suitable staff. There are significant teacher shortages, not only across Victoria but worldwide. All schools are working hard to ensure we are fully staffed for the beginning of 2023.
- Managing student behaviour post lockdown. This also has been an issue for some students across all schools. It is important to remember, as an example, since Grade 6 our Year 9 students did not have a full year on site until this year. We are very appreciative of the support of parents, the work of our staff and the engagement of our students. We have been seeking to support students in self-regulation and forming positive peer relationships. At the end of last term we had Darren Pereira speak to our students about resilience and he also conducted a workshop for parents. We have also had the community policing unit speak to students about being ‘upstanders’ rather than ‘bystanders’. Our staff, led by our wellbeing team, will continue to target these areas to support all students.
- New information sharing protocols to support student wellbeing and also related to family violence reforms.
I am delighted to let you know the members of the Leadership Team as of 2023
- Joining Aaron and Nick as Assistant Principal is Loveena Narayanen
- Leading Teacher Senior School – Jeff Micallef
- Leading Teacher Junior School – Jared Bandara
- Leading Teacher Wellbeing Leader - Nicholas Ford
- Leading Teacher Teaching and Learning - Daniel Bouchet-Hibbert
- Learning Specialist: Differentiation (Inclusive Practices) – Colin Shnier
- Learning Specialist: Teacher Practice and Pedagogy - Bernie Coghlan
- Learning Specialist: Teacher Practice and Pedagogy - Chizuko Inoue-Andersson
We will be having a planning day next Friday as a new leadership team.
Victorian Schools Agreement
All schools have been working through the implementation of the new Victorian Schools Agreement. Principals have been attending a range of forums designed to assist in ensuring that the industrial conditions of the agreement are met in a fair, reasonable yet financially responsible manner.
One of the new provisions is Time in Lieu (TiL) for teachers (previously this only applied to education Support Staff).
TiL for teachers must be provided where a teacher is required to work more than their 38-hour week due to their expected attendance at an out of work hours event. The TiL provision is required to be implemented in every Victorian Government school and typically includes important extra-curricular events (opportunities provided to students and the school community beyond what is required) such as camps, performance opportunities, parent information evenings and other required events such as Parent/Teacher interviews and so on. It is important to note that each school will deal with this in their own way depending upon the context and consultation processes of each school, however, funding for TiL is a relevant issue for all schools.
Schools must provide time-in-lieu to teachers in the form of payments or equivalent time offsets. If TiL is provided in the form of time offsets, it is most likely that the school will then need to source, employ, and pay for replacement teachers, also potentially causing interruption to continuity of teaching and learning.
We have been working on how to manage this through the consultative process with staff.
I am confident our staff will continue to work together to find ways to provide important extra-curricular events and opportunities; how and when they are provided is likely to require adjustment to normal school hours.
Term Dates
There have been changes to Victorian school term dates for 2026. This will provide an opportunity for Victorian communities to participate more broadly in the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
The 2026 Commonwealth Games will take place across regional Victoria from Tuesday 17 March to Sunday 29 March 2026, with Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat, Gippsland and Shepparton hosting a range of activities and events for 20 different sports and 9 para-sports.
The 2026 Victorian school term dates are:
- Term 1: Tuesday 27 January to Friday 13 March 2026
- Term 2: Monday 30 March to Friday 19 June 2026
- Term 3: Monday 6 July to Friday 18 September 2026
- Term 4: Monday 5 October to Friday 18 December 2026.
For the list of school term dates until the end of 2030, refer to School term dates and holidays in Victoria.
Scholarships
There are a number of scholarships available for students. For information about scholarships offered at Glen Eira College please go to the Scholarships page under About Us on our website. The closing date for applications for 2023 scholarships is Friday 25th November 2022.
Term 4 Professional Practice Day
Thursday 24th November will be the term 4 PP Day for all staff to minimise disruption again.
Students will work from home and access work remotely from google classroom on this day.
Parent Education Sessions
As part of GEC's commitment to supporting our students through their learning, we recognise the important role that families can play to ensure that support continues at home.
We have one further opportunity this semester on 17 November: Tackling Tricky Conversations
Here is the link to register for the webinar:
Once you register (with an email address and name), you will be emailed a link to the webinar. You will also receive a reminder email on the day of the webinar as well as 15min before start time. The following day, you will receive a link to access the replay. It is recommended that even if you are unable to attend the live webinar, you register to ensure you can access the replay.
Transition
We will commence our 2023 timetable on Monday 28th November. Students going into Years 11 and 12 in 2023 will have one week of transition classes. They will receive documents relating to each subject and the expectations and also preparation that should be completed prior to returning next year.
Students going into Years 8 – 10 in 2023 will have just over two weeks of transition classes concluding on 13th December.
Uniform
Your support in ensuring your child leaves home in the correct uniform is much appreciated. Students abiding by the school uniform policy allows us to focus on the teaching and learning. If for any reason your child is not in school uniform please provide a note to explain. The vast majority of our students wear their uniform correctly and with pride. We are having an issue with jewellery and makeup.
The only jewellery permitted is:
- Two pairs of earrings (surgical sleepers or studs) in the ears only. These must be plain gold or silver (no colours). Maximum diameter of studs is 3mm. Maximum diameter of sleepers is 10mm. No other piercings are permitted.
- Watch
- Any other jewellery is not to be visible.
Makeup and coloured nail polish are not part of the uniform and must not be worn. Natural coloured foundation with SPF is the only permissible makeup. Nails must be of a reasonable length to participate in the curriculum safely.
If you have any wonderings, concerns or feedback, please do not hesitate to call me at the school to talk or arrange a time to meet.
NAPLAN results of which to be proud
We are very proud of our students and teachers who have worked very hard to produce outstanding academic results over the last 3 years despite lockdowns and remote learning. This is reflected in our recent Year 7 and 9 NAPLAN results, where Glen Eira College continues to achieve results well above the state in all areas – Reading, Writing, Spelling, Grammar & Punctuation and Numeracy. We are particularly pleased with our writing results at Year 9 where 23% of our Year 9 are in the top 2 bands of NAPLAN performance.
Smoke Free Schools
Parents, carers, schools, and community all play an important role in protecting children and young people from, and educating them about, the harmful effects smoking and vaping.
Research from the Royal Children’s Hospital shows many parents and carers are not aware of the harmful effects or how their views about smoking and vaping can impact the likelihood of a young person taking up smoking or vaping.
The Department of Education and Training has developed resources to help you learn more about the health risks of smoking and vaping, and some suggestions about how to talk to children and young people about vaping, and where to get support. To access the resources, go to https://www.vic.gov.au/smoking-and-vaping-advice-parents
You can also view this video on smoking and vaping from experts at the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne for health advice and tips for starting a conversation with young people.
Please find a link to smoking-vaping-ban-factsheet.
Should you require any support for your child, please contact the Wellbeing Team.
Sheereen Kindler, Principal
Nick Hamer-Smith, Assistant Principal