From the Principal

Dear Parents/Carers, Students and Friends

Sister School – Lycee Jean Zay High School visit

On Tuesday 18 July, we welcomed 10 students and one teacher from Lycee Jean Zay High School as part of our French exchange program with our Sister School. They will be here for five weeks, departing on Monday 21 August. This program aims to foster cultural exchange, providing opportunities for our students to develop global perspectives, embrace diversity and create lasting international connections. Thank you to Mr Chris Sutcliffe, Mr Cam Heyes, Mrs Kate Forsyth and our Languages Learning Area for their efforts overseeing the visit. Thank you also to our wonderful host families who are hosting students during the visit.

Production – The Addams Family

WOW! Our school production each year really is a highlight and again we are fortunate to witness and share such a wonderful experience. What an amazing effort by our talented students to perform an incredible show! All of the four performances were of the highest quality and it’s fantastic to see such talent we have in Performing Arts. Thank you to our amazing Production Team who have again inspired their ‘family’ of students throughout the past six months to be able to perform to such a high standard:

Codirectors – Ms Briellen Gibson and Ms Alarna Summers

Musical Direction (Vocals) – Ms Peta Laughlin

Musical Direction (Band and Vocals) – Ms Kim Starr

Choreographer – Ms Ebonie Burley

Producer – Ms Bec Ginsberg

Thank you also to our talented members in the band who were fantastic throughout the shows – Ms Peta Laughlin, Ms Kim Starr, Mr Andrew McAdam, Dhani Handoyo (Year 12) and Kelly Weng (Year 10).

All of the students were sensational, particularly those in cast roles:

Gomez Addams Jack Fiala (Year 12)

Morticia Addams Alex Shacklock (Year 12) and Amy Staunton (Year 11)

Wednesday Addams Michaela Fitzpatrick (Year 9) and Maddie Bishop (Year 7)

Pugsley Addams Sinead Collins (Year 9) and Eliza Patston (Year 9)

Fester Addams Flynn Richards (Year 11) and Cate Zimmer (Year 10)

Grandma Addams Amber Watson (Year 12) and Chrisne Coetzee (Year 12)

Lurch Jordan Walterfang (Year 11)

Lucas Beineke Michael Rooke (Year 11) and Dylan Schwerin (Year 10)

Alice Beineke Lucy Duck (Year 12) and Danica Ross (Year 11)

Mal Beineke Jorden Lancaster (Year 12) and Archie Vaughan (Year 12)

Thank you to everyone involved who played a role in supporting our Production Team including Lily Donovan, Nat D’Ambra, Lee-Anne Waters, John Simon, Carolyn Florance, Sacha Fisher, Stav Smaragdiou, Nicole Drew and the Facilities Team.

Special mention to Kai Malcolm (Year 12), supported by Hugo Watson (Year 12) for overseeing and operating sound design for the entire show, and Blake Alford-Ryan (Year 10) for overseeing photography throughout the school Production!

NAIDOC Week - visit to Kurnai College

It was a great learning and privilege for myself to visit Kurnai College with Mr John Russell and seven of our students on Thursday 20 July to join their NAIDOC Week Celebration. Kurnai College are certainly a benchmark in their approach to community and their support and work with their indigenous students and the wider reaches of this, are inspiring. We look forward to continuing to strengthen our approach within our school and the wider community. Thank you very much to Mr John Russell for making this visit possible.

International Students

We welcomed 11 new International Students to Frankston High School to commence this term. These students and some of their parents/carers took part in an orientation program which involved meeting their teachers, learning about our school, choosing their elective subjects, followed by a tour of our school. Thank you to Mr Cam Heyes and Ms Sacha Fisher for all of their hard work in coordinating this day, supported by Ms Kelly Lin and Mrs Sharon Koning.

VCE/VCE VM Subject and Tertiary Expo

Term 3 is a big term for Careers Education and Course Selection! Last Thursday 20 July we ran our 2023 VCE/VCE VM Subject and Tertiary Expo for our current Year 9 and 10 students. We are excited to trial some new initiatives in 2023 (Taster Day and Middle School Careers Day) to continue to grow the profile and importance of careers ensuring students are empowered to make well informed subject and course selections. Thank you to Mrs Jess Bambridge for her leadership of careers this year, supported by Mrs Sharon Bourne and Ms Tiffany Greenhill.

Course Counselling and Subject Selections

Term 3 is an exciting time of the year for our students with a strong focus on pathway and career conversations. Years 8 through to 12 students will be selecting their 2024 subjects, programs and pathways.

VCAA VCE Leadership Awards

Congratulations to Alexandra Shacklock and Kelly Gilbert of Year 12 who have been nominated for the VCAA VCE Leadership Awards. These awards recognise students’ important and innovative community work, and highlight examples of exemplary leadership. The students were nominated for their outstanding:

Participation in school and community activities
Positive impact made on our school and local community
Leadership qualities

Final VCE Leaders will be chosen by a selection panel convened by the VCAA in August with an overall VCE Leader announced in September.

VCE Premier’s Awards

Congratulations to Dhani Handoyo (Year 12) and James Wylie (Class of 2022), on both receiving the prestigious VCE Premier’s Award in Media for their perfect study scores of 50 last year. Well done to our amazing Media teacher, Ms Annie Griffin, who was thrilled to join her students with me at the formal ceremony on Thursday 27 July at the Melbourne Convention Centre. We are so proud of Dhani, James and Annie!

Aerobics

On Saturday 22 July, our students competed in the Aerobic Victorian State Championships. They performed extremely well and have qualified for the Nationals in September. Thank you and to Ms Gen Donovan and Mrs Jodie Burton for their efforts at training sessions and competitions supporting our students!

State Cross Country

Congratulations to all students who represented our school at State Cross Country! Special mention to Evie E (Year 9) for her 2nd placing, the 15-year girls team for coming 1st and the 14-year girls coming in 3rd place.

All Schools Cross Country

On Saturday 22 July, our students competed in the State Cross Country event at Bundoora. They performed extremely well. Thank you to Mr Mal Burt and Mr Luke Rowe for their efforts supporting our students, along with Ms Tiffany Greenhill who was in attendance.

Netball

The Senior girls netball team went out on Monday 24 July to Gloria Pyke Stadium. They wone 2/3 games and came 2nd overall against the other teams.

Changes to NAPLAN reporting

NAPLAN results for students are being released from Monday 17 July 2023 and there are some changes to this year’s reporting. These are changes being introduced nationally by the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA).

NAPLAN will continue to measure student achievement in numeracy, reading, writing, spelling, and grammar and punctuation but the results will now be presented in four proficiency levels. These are:

Exceeding: the student’s result exceeds expectations at the time of testing.
Strong: the student’s result meets challenging but reasonable expectations at the time of testing.
Developing: the student’s result indicates that they are working towards expectations at the time of testing.
Needs additional support: the student’s result indicates that they are not achieving the learning outcomes expected at the time of testing.

This change will give schools, parents and carers clearer information that details student achievement against new proficiency levels. Students’ NAPLAN reports will continue to show how they are tracking against their peers and provide an indication of their skill levels against national averages and where we would expect them to be in order to get the most out of schooling. This provides valuable information to teachers about how we can continue to support your child.

Mr Andrew Batchelor

Principal