Principal's Report

Welcome

Family-school partnerships are a key feature of successful schools. One unintended outcome of COVID has been the increased collaboration and relationships built between staff, parents, carers, and other members of our community. Effective partnerships are based on mutual trust and respect, and shared responsibility for the education of the children and young people at the college and I have been inspired by everyone has come together to provide continuity of learning and support for each other. Thank you for the difference you are all making!

This week we made Wednesday a wellbeing day in recognition of the fatigue we have been witnessing in students, families, and staff. I hope everyone was able to have an opportunity to catch up, rest and recharge.

Will classes return on site this term?

We continue to be guided by the Department of Education acting upon the advice of the Chief Medical Officer on when we may potentially return to school. No matter when that will be our staff are committed to ensuring that the best quality of education will take place. When restrictions are eased, we will look to our community being reunited and empowered.

NAPLAN Publicity

This week’s media has reported that Victorian student’s NAPLAN results have come back as the highest in Australia. This news would be reassuring for many parents and carers who may have been concerned about the short and long-term consequences of lockdowns on children’s futures. It has been disappointing the number of media reports prior to this adding unnecessary concerns about- learning loss.

Victorian High Ability Program for Students

The Department of Education and Training Victorian High-Ability program provides for high-ability students in Years 5 to 8 at government schools. Students participate in a 10-week online extension and enrichment programs, in English and mathematics. Every term we have had students from Scoresby Secondary College invited to participate. Well done to the following students:

Zach Bissett (Maths)
Josh Zammit (Maths)
Rebekah Howarth (English)
Tipene Vincent (English)
Rebekah Howarth (Maths)
Addison Jones (English)

Tutor Program

Our strategic and whole school approach to the implementation of the tutor initiative has been recognised. Ms Ellen Sawyer, her team of tutors, and some of our students were invited to be major contributors to a Department Case Study which will be published. The case study will be highlighting our work in supporting student learning growth.

Ms Sawyer and I were also asked to share our work with the North Eastern Victorian Region (NEVR) School Improvement Team. The following are quotes are from two of the emails we received following our presentation

I am new to NEVR having spent 20 + years in SWVR mostly as Principal. Your ‘can do’ approach was so inspiring – I know it is so much harder in Secondary schools; but your ability to get ‘buy in’ and put your students at the centre with a learning focus has clearly made such a difference to the trajectory of these students lives. Best presentation I’ve heard all year!

Sally Naylor- Leadership Partners School Improvement, NEVR

“I cannot thank you both enough for the passion that you spoke with on Friday morning.

I received nothing but positive feedback from attendees, thanking you both for such a motivating presentation highlighting the exemplary practice which is in place at Scoresby. The presentation and conversations you supported will assist the NEVR team, as well as the wider conversation across the state. Thank you both again!

Chris Dossor - Student Achievement Manager, Outer East NEVR

Professional Learning Communities (PLC)

The College has been invited to be a Department of Education and Training Lead School for the Victorian PLC Initiative. This is recognition of the work undertaken over the past three years by Ms Michelle De Boer in leading whole school literacy and numeracy improvement teams. All teachers at Scoresby Secondary College have continued to work in PLC teams throughout lockdowns to continue to develop and implement strategies to improve student’s literacy and numeracy skills. The impact of these strategies is measured on student learning growth. It is so rewarding to see our students progressing in their achievement, especially when they are happy talk about how much they are learning.

Becoming a lead school brings benefits to our college as it provides resourcing for:

additional staff
show casing our work to other schools
access for our staff to world class presentations by experts at no cost

Year 7 Transition for 2022

Transition processes are well underway for grade six students enrolled for 2022. Parents have been receiving transition newsletters and transfer of information between schools commenced. Thanks to Ms Emily Phibbs and Mrs Michele Rogers for their work and the positive welcome they have provided.

Crazy Hair Day

Congratulations to all students and staff who joined in the fun for crazy hair day. There were some very creative ideas presented and deciding on the winners, with representatives from our partnership organisations, meant the voting was close. I am pleased to announce the following:

First Prize Harper Allen
Second Prize Jenna Cook
Third Prize Trinity Ward
Fourth Prize Karlia Buckley

All winners will receive gift vouchers when they return on site.

Class of 2021

Undertaking Year 12 is a milestone for students as they finish their thirteen years of schooling.

Last week I met with the College Captains to discuss what we are doing to ensure they leave their secondary years of schooling with many positive memories Whist it has been two senior years of disrupted and disjointed learning, I am confident that the work undertaken by the Senior School Team, Student Services Teams and classroom teachers is providing the class of 2021 access to the supports required to achieve success.

Next week there will be an online session for the Year 12 students with Erwin Diesta (Dux in 2019) joining them. Erwin will be talking about ways he was able to motivate himself after facing challenges during his Year 12 and how he has managed remote learning throughout his first two years at The University of Melbourne.

Food Hampers Available

We have once again been provided food hampers to support Scoresby Secondary College families who may be requiring some support during this extended lockdown. Please email me if you would like to receive one of the hampers gail.major@education.vic.gov.au. Previous recipients are also welcome to email me.

Update on Facilities Works

We are pleased that we have had our first meetings with the representatives from the Victorian Schools Building Authority appointed architects for our new fences and redevelopment of the Junior School courtyard. Both projects will be commencing soon.

Major Events

One of the low lights this term has been the cancellation of so many major events. It is important we put things into perspective. We have our health and even though the activities and celebrations may end up being different, we continue to provide extra engagement opportunities where we can.

New Staff Appointments

We have two new staffing appointments in our Student Services Team. Doug McDonald commenced as our new chaplain this week and has already met with a number of students and parents on-line.

In a fortnight we will be welcoming Suellen James. Suellen is a very experienced allied health nurse who has worked at Box Hill Hospital, for the Department of Education in the Southern Region, and has worked with adolescents in three large secondary schools across two regions.

Stay well and get tested if you have any symptoms. We want to see all students return soon. The best thing we can all do to achieve this safely is to get vaccinated.

Mrs Gail Major

Principal