Principal's Report

Term 1 Reflection

It is with great relief that we were all able to complete a full school term with no further lockdowns. It was this time last year that across Australia we all headed into our first lockdown. It has been wonderful to see many of our students really embrace the return to school and their learning after the year that was in 2020. I believe that as a school we need to continue to provide students with a range of opportunities for them to engage with in order for them to continue develop academic; social and physical skills. Some of the highlights for the term included:

Year 9/10 Camp Summit
Year 7 Camp Dewar
Interschool sport - all year levels
Outer Trade Training Centre experience for some of our Year 10 students
Cybersafety Presentation by Victorian Police for Year 7s
Athletics Day
Speaker Glen Manton
Community Leaders Project at Edgars Creek Primary school students
International Women's Day lunch event
Education Perfect Spanish Language Championship

Teaching and Learning

Tutor Learning Initiative Program – all schools have been given funding to establish the tutor program which will run for a minimum of 6 months across the year. The College has appointed two preservice teachers in this role who began work last week. Our tutors are:

John Hudson – Maths/Science (5 days)

Madeleine Charisis – English (3 days)

Both John and Madeleine are final year pre-service teachers. They will be with us during the rest of the year, taking breaks when they need to do their final placement. Leading Teacher, Sara Mamone, has been coordinating the Tutor program with me and setting up their timetable, induction and working with key instructional leaders to identify specifically which students they will work with. All students are identified via the use of assessment tools – ACER PAT testing; DET Ondemand testing; and Learning and Assessment Framework for Multiplicative Thinking (LAF) numeracy testing. You are able to read more about the Tutor Program further on in the newsletter.

Middle Years Literacy and Numeracy Strategies (MYLNS)– Year 8 & 10

The College has now begun to formally receive funding to provide further support to build teacher capacity in designing curriculum and learning tasks to improve literacy and numeracy skills in students who are more than 2 years behind the expected achievement level. Our MYLNS Improvement teachers for 2022 are:

Jem Rhodes – Numeracy

Jasmine Almatrah – Literacy

Sara Mamone/Taryn Godley – Coordinator and Professional Learning Community support.

As with the Tutoring program all students have undergone extensive benchmark testing both the end of 2020 and this term. This is combined with the analysis of teacher judgement and past NAPLAN results to determine which students fall into this category. The classes that have these students are now being identified and the Improvement teachers as part of their role will continue to work with teachers directly and occasionally with students to support their learning.

Stage 2 Building Update

The Sports gym is delayed with the new expected date of handover due for the middle of May. The one month delay is mainly due to COVID delays and the 4 weeks timeframe required for the installation of timber flooring. No other trades can access the Sports Hall while the timber flooring is being laid. The Performing Arts Centre building is currently on track with the Learning Neighbourhood building is also behind by approximately 1 month. It is important to note that the rest of the build is scheduled to be completed in August/September. Despite the delay, there is no doubt that progress is rapid and there are many workers on site.

Enrolments for 2022

Year 6 into 7 Information Evening & Sneak Peek of Gym.

The College conducted a successful initial Year 6 into 7 Information evening on Tuesday 23 March. A face to face crowd of 50 people made up of parents/carers and students were able to book and attend in person while we live streamed the presentation to an online crowd of over 140 people. There is no doubt that there are elements of technology that we have learnt to use for the better during the pandemic. To compliment our information evening all Year 6 students at our closest primary schools: Edgars Creek Primary; Harvest Home Primary; Epping Views Primary and St. Mary's of the Cross were all given an ECSC key ring with a QR code. Scan the code and this takes you to all the information you need about the College and enrolment for 2022. Try to scan the code below with you phone if you are reading the newsletter on a computer/tablet screen - it should work!

An open night is also scheduled for late April for parents and students to see the new sports hall facility. This evening is intended to be an informal ‘meet and greet’ with the gym opened and staff available for questions. Melbcon have stated they will deliver the completed landscaped section and part of the gym to enable new families to have a “sneak peek”.

School Council 2021

Having a committed School Council is the key to strong school governance so it is with pride that I would like to announce the School Council for 2021:

Melanie Taimani - School Council President (Parent Member)

Mary Timotheou - Parent Member

Shahidah Anguillia - Parent Member

Glen Cowan - Treasurer (DET Member)

Chantelle Gianinotti - DET Member

Anthony Asta - DET Member

Joanne Camozzato - DET Member

Cara Horner - Community Member

Vivian Fatupaito - Community Member

Siddhu Nadempalli - Student Member

Apar Acharya - Student Member

I would also like to thank 2020 retired councillors - Parent, Robert Micelotta and student members - Cooper Richards and Daniel Souza; for their contribution across the last two years.

Finally, congratulations to all newly elected members! We all look forward to collaborating and working together for the future of the College community.

Winter School Uniform

The College has a very distinctive school uniform and logo and all students are encouraged to wear the correct uniform with pride. Wearing a uniform with pride means to wear the correct pieces of the uniform in a neat and tidy manner. ALL students must be in correct Winter uniform by Monday 3 May - the start of Week 3 of Term 2. The winter uniform is set out clearly in the following pages of the newsletter but it is important to note that ALL students are expected to wear the College blazer as part of the winter uniform. The blazer can be worn all year round but MUST be worn during winter. It can be worn with our without the jumper. The sports jacket is NOT part of the winter uniform and can only be worn with the sports uniform.

Please support building our College culture and pride but ensuring your child is in correct uniform for Term 2 and 3. We want our students to look as polished and proud as other students at our neighbouring schools. We want local businesses to notice our students and consider them in the future for part time work and other employment opportunities.

Finally, I would like to thank teachers Anamaria Gheorghiu, Mina Mokhtarani; and Madeleine D'Ambrosio Scott for their work this term and wish them will as they go onto other endeavours.

Joanne Camozzato

College Principal