Principals Report

As we’ve settled into the swing of the term, we like many other schools and organisations find ourselves having to navigate through as best we can with the impact of high rates of illness within our college community.  As communicated earlier this week, we had a significant number of staff out on Monday which saw us have to pivot from a regular timetabled day to one that saw many classes combined, and undertaking activities planned for later in the term brought forward.  I would like to thank everyone involved for their understanding and efforts on the day to keep an educational program running – great teamwork was on display across the entire college as well as resilience and flexibility. 

Earlier this month those Year 11s who chose to participate in the Annual College Presentation Ball were fortunate to have this go ahead given the upheaval experienced by previous year levels.  While the lead up of rehearsals was quite condensed, the students did a fantastic job of learning all the dances and looked brilliant on the night.  I’ve heard so many positive reports of how well the students conducted themselves in the lead up and on the night and it was seemed it was ‘smiles all round’ from participants and guests.

On Tuesday this week the College celebrated International Day Against Homophobia Biphobia and Transphobia - IDAHOBIT.  A number of activities took place as planned by our Student Representative Council including a casual clothes day with gold coin donation, with all funds raised going to Pride Foundation Australia, a best dressed competition and a flag raising ceremony.  This was a wonderful opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate diversity and inclusion within our college community and the broader society.

As I look ahead there’s a lot of activity planned across the College.  Next week our year 10 cohort will be out undertaking their Work Experience program – this is always a wonderful opportunity for students to experience a trade or occupation firsthand and help guide their choices going into VCE.  I look forward to hearing about their experiences and sharing some of these with you in our next newsletter.

Also, next week we look forward to welcoming the Year 6 students from the feeder primary schools in our area for Activities Week.  This is a key part of our formal transition program from primary to secondary school and not only aims to make students feel more comfortable within the school environment – which is often much larger than their respective primary school - and to provide them some fun hands-on experience of the variety of classes they will undertake when they commence secondary school next year.

Principal

Sarah Rose