Welcome to 2018!

Dear Students, Staff, Parents and Friends of Cobram Secondary College,

Our school returned to life on Thursday following a staggered start to the year on Tuesday with just Year 7 and VCE students. We welcome new students and families, as we welcome back all students and families.

Students and staff were happy to resume the routine of school following a six week break. It showed in the crispness of the uniforms, the genuineness of greetings and the quality of conversations.

My appreciation to members of the administration team and finance and administration personnel, to the facilities and grounds staff and academic staff for their important preparations in readiness for the past week.

Appreciation also to parents and students who ensured they were ready for the first day of school this year.

This newsletter contains information about student expectations and attendance, as well as other information relating to the new school year.

Attendance – Every Day Counts!

We all want our students to get a great education, and the building blocks for a great education begin with students coming to school each and every day.

Students develop good habits by going to school every day – habits that are necessary to succeed after school, whether in the workplace or in further study.

Missing school can have a big impact on students academically and socially. It can affect their test results, including VCE, and, just as importantly, it can affect their relationships with other students, and lead to social isolation.

There is no safe number of days for missing school – each day a student misses puts them behind, and can affect their educational outcomes.

Each missed day is associated with falling behind in subject topics and assessment tasks, and lead to fewer subject choices and may impact on achievement in years 11 and 12.

SCHOOL CHARGES

Cobram Secondary College offers a high quality education to our students, and in recent years we have made major improvements to the school facilities and environment. This has been brought about by the outstanding support we receive from parents in relation to our school charges and voluntary contributions. The partnership that exists between our School Council and parents demonstrates a real commitment to, and investment in, the education of students at Cobram Secondary College.

THE 2018 LEVY

The school provides a range of services to students including: the use of a school locker; local bus transport and activities; library activities; computer resources; local incursions and network levy.

PRIVACY POLICY

The Victorian privacy laws, the Information Privacy Act 2000, and Health Records Act 2001, provide for the protection of personal and health information. The school will at all times adhere to the privacy requirements. From time to time photographs are taken of students participating in sports events, school productions or special events, or other activities around the school. These photographs may be used in our school newsletter, school magazine, school website and our facebook page. They may also be used by the local media for an article about the activity, or they may be placed on our home page on the internet. If the photograph is published, it will only be in the context of the activity in which the child is participating, and whilst names may be used, no other information will be provided.

If any parent does not wish their child’s photograph to be published in any of the mediums outlined above, please complete a form at the general office.

SUNSMART POLICY

Cobram Secondary College is a Sunsmart School, and as such, each student must wear a broad brimmed hat when outside, whether it be walking from the lockers to the canteen, playing sport on the oval or simply walking around the school.

PERSONAL PROPERTY BROUGHT TO SCHOOL

Personal property is often brought to school by students, staff and visitors. This includes mobile phones, calculators, toys, sporting equipment and cars parked on school premises. Please note the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development does not hold insurance for personal property brought to school and will not pay for any loss or damage to such property. Staff and students are discouraged from bringing unnecessary or particularly valuable items to school. Please ensure that all belongings your student does bring to school, including school and sport uniform, bags, books, towels etc have their name clearly marked on them so that we can return lost items when they are handed in to the general office.

LOCKERS

Each student will be allocated a locker for the year. The lockers are school property and it is the responsibility of students to keep their locker in a clean and tidy state. Naturally it is important that a good lock be purchased to ensure security.

If students have sums of money or valuables at school for a day they may like to give those to their Year level leader, Assistant Principal or the General Office to lock in a cupboard for the day.

BRING YOUR OWN DEVICE (BYOD)

At Cobram Secondary College we have a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) acceptable use and policy for our students. This is where students are able to bring their own laptop or tablet to school rather than having to purchase a specific device through the school.

When a student brings a new device to school they must also complete the BYOD Agreement and return it to the IT office before their device can be connected.

We would like to encourage all students and families to purchase or bring a device from home, as it is a very important educational tool for our students. This year we will again be looking to provide more opportunities for our students to access curriculum and resources on line and also seek to communicate further with our families through technology.

BYOD Device Specifications and Recommendations

Further Considerations:

WINDOWS 10 Home is not recommended as this is not compatible with the school network and students will not be able to print
Students and parents should consider transport and carrying options of their device. This may include;

A backpack with netbook/laptop compartment
A soft/hard cover
Touchscreen and 2-in-1 netbooks/laptops are becoming more common. These should be considered in relation to your educational pathway.
Consider the ergonomics of your device for your intended educational use, including factors such as the weight, size and durability of your device.

FAREWELL TO STAFF

The following staff have left our school to further their career at other schools or to undertake other pursuits. We wish them all the best in their future endeavours.

Bryan McKenna
Lauren McKeown
Kim Forge
Sally Moore
Liam McManus
Sheldon Kendrick
Karen Chuong
Sophie Kimpton
Shane Grasso
Yulin Ding
Sharra Beasley
Mellissa Crowe

Student Dress Code

At Cobram Secondary College all students are expected to be in full school uniform each day. Please refer to the Uniform Policy listed below. School uniform items are sold at the office. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact the College.

The SRC are tasked with reviewing school uniform, including piercings this year. They will be consulting students, parents and staff. Watch this space for surveys and information from our SRC!

School Council Elections

NOTICE OF ELECTION AND CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

An election is to be conducted for members of the school council of Cobram Secondary College. Nomination forms may be obtained from the school and must be lodged by 4.00 pm on Monday the 19th February, 2018. The ballot will close at 4.00 pm on Monday the 5th March, 2018. Following the closing of nominations a list of the nominations received will be posted at the school.

The terms of office, membership categories and number of positions in each membership category open for election are as follows:

If the number of nominations is less than the number of vacancies, a notice to that effect and calling for further nominations will be posted in a prominent position at the school and in the school newsletter.

2018 Leaders

The following staff have been appointed to important leadership roles to assist staff and students at each year level.

Middle School Assistant Principal- Kate Bird

Middle School Leading Teacher: Jayne Black

Year 7 Leader- Jane Grenfell

Year 8 Leader- Marie Sattler

Year 9 Leader- Karen Furphy

Senior School Assistant Principal-Dianne Ferguson

Senior School Leading Teacher: Lauren Scott

Year 10 Leader- Jenny Dumble

Year 11 Leader- Julie Ferguson

Year 12 Leader- Randall Jones

Congratulations to our 2018 College Captains

Captains: Baneen Alrubayi and Josh Sim

Vice Captains: Audrey Sproules and Deniz Habiboglu

Library

Library Lovers' Day- February 14th!

NEW Books!

Books, Books and more Books!

See the attachment for just a few of the latest titles hitting the shelves.