From the Principal

Well, we survived, and in some cases thrived, another remote learning period, which will be forever known as RL2.0. I can categorically say that, whilst our staff can recognise the benefits of new skills and technology learned, we all very much prefer to see our students' faces and communicate in person.

Remote learning has had a significant impact, with some students struggling to return to mainstream classes. I would like to remind families that we have many support services for students that can make a big difference. Please contact Mandy Malseed for assistance in this area or your students’ Year Level Coordinator for additional support.

Our community has been coming to terms with the loss of Year 11 student Penelope Tutt over the past weeks, with many students receiving support from Mandy or counselling services to assist in understanding their feelings around grief, I urge anyone who wishes to talk to someone to seek assistance from Mandy.

We extend our ongoing sympathy and support to the Tutt family as they go through this very challenging period.

2021 Build

We are set to commence the early works renovations to the Library and later the girls toilet relocation, a huge amount of work, consultation and hours have gone into bringing the build to fruition and tenders are now being considered. It really is a ground breaking time for our school as we move into a new era and we are all very excited by the vision and expected outcomes. As explained previously, the library will be refurbished to allow for the relocation of the Administration staff at the Eastern end and the library will continue to function as before from the Western end of the building. Following this period of construction, Admin will relocate and the current reception and corridor will be demolished to allow for the new Capital Works to commence. We do not anticipate any disruption to classes but there will be some obvious changes to the accessibility of the site during this period.

Parent Opinion Survey

The Parent Opinion Survey closes on Friday 13th November, I urge you to click on the link on your compass newsfeed and have your say about how the school operates as a whole. We are provided feedback from the results from the DET and use this information to help guide our Annual Implementation Plan. We value your input and respect those who take the time to assist us in providing this valuable feedback.

Year 12 2020 comes to an end.

Classes for Year 12's concluded on Friday 29th October, with the graduation ceremony which is usually held as a whole school event being recorded for the community to watch at any time. I have included a hard copy of my speech as it expresses my thoughts on these resilient students and the pride I have in them for all that they accomplished this year.

We were disheartened to see the level of mess created on the final day and expect it has added a large number of cleaning hours to our expenses for the year. This year's actions will have a direct impact on the school's attitude towards last day activities in 2021 but we do not wish for this one last action to define what has been a tough year for these young adults and we look forward to seeing where their life choices take them.

The video of the Graduation Ceremony can be found further in the newsletter.

Almost there.

We have 5 more weeks of learning until the end of the year, this will be full of exams, a head start program and the End of Year Activity Program, which looks to be full of fantastic, affordable opportunities for our students.

It has been a long term already and I urge parents to prioritise student wellbeing where required and notify us of any issues where we can support.

In the mean-time, plenty of sleep, nutritious food (breakfast club is still operating on Wednesdays at the HDSC) and exercise is always the best recipe. If you are doing all of the above and still finding life difficult please speak up so that we can assist you.