Principal's Report

Our Vision - Epping Secondary College strives to enable and equip all young people to reach their full potential - of being curious and acquiring new knowledge and skills; of forming strong, valuable, healthy relationships; of participating in creative expression; and of building strong mental and physical wellbeing.

Welcome to the 2023 school year! It has been a very smooth and busy start to the school year with students and staff returning over the past week.

A special welcome to every single one of our new 170 Year 7 students who started on Monday. Each Year 7 class was formally welcomed and introduced to the school community at a Year Level assembly by their Leading Teacher and Year Level Coordinators. It has been pleasing to see the students settling into life at Epping so quickly and we look forward to watching them grow as learners, leaders and people over the coming years. We also extend a special welcome to those new students and families that have joined us at other year levels over the last week. It has been a pleasure to welcome you to our school community at ESC.

Ensuring a Positive Climate for Learning

As we begin 2022, it is timely that as a school community we take a moment to reflect on our values and behaviours that create a positive learning culture at Epping Secondary where we expect all students to achieve their best as a learner and a person. Central to what drives our culture are our values across the College.

For our students, we have a clear set of expectations that provide students with clear behaviours that demonstrate our values of Respect, Resilience and Care.

During the first assembly of the year, students were reminded of our school values and expectations and challenged to think about what they want to achieve this year as a learner and person.

Our creation and maintenance of a positive climate for learning at Epping Secondary College does not take place by chance, it occurs through a dedicated and consistent focus on things that matter and having high expectations for our students. Our Values, associated behaviours and Student Code of Behaviour all help ensure our students have an environment that is positive and allows them to grow, thrive and learn. We look forward to your ongoing support as parents and carers, as we teach our students the valuable skills that are required to live, work and play within a larger and broader community, both through and beyond school.

In 2023 we have made adjustments to our leadership and support structures to further support and grow our positive climate for learning around the College. This has resulted in the appointment of a Leading Teacher to lead each Year level, with 2 Year Level Coordinators assisting our Leading Teacher with the day-to-day support, leadership and management of our students. Parents and Carers are asked to contact your students Year Level Coordinators for any questions, queries or problem solving, in the first instance. In 2023 our Positive Climate Team are being led by Assistant Principal, Annette Spence and includes the following team of leading teachers and year level coordinators:

As a College we are also delighted to have a group of students who are prepared to step up and take on leadership roles across the College.

Congratulations to our 2023 Student Leadership Team members, who we look forward to working with in 2023 to ensure that our College is responsive and supportive to the needs of our students in both creating a positive climate and ensuring the best possible teaching and learning outcomes for each student.

Promoting Excellence in Teaching and Learning

With the return to school in 2023 we are looking forward to continuing to build our emphasis on student success, achievement and growth. In our journey, we recognise that each student comes to us starting at a different point in their learning and as a result our teaching team work to differentiate and plan a curriculum that reaches each student at their point of need. Throughout the year our teaching team will be consistently working to equip all students with key strategies to support their literacy skills, followed by a comprehensive range of skills and understandings directly related to the curriculum being taught. We are fortunate to have a strong and dedicated team of teachers, who invest their time to get to know students and their learning needs and then utilise this information to build a sequence of learning that engages and inspires our students. As the year progresses we will be inviting students to exercise their voice and agency in their learning, in order to assist us in further enhancing our capacity to ensure stimulated learning for students and a space where students are active owners of their learning goals and aspirations.

In 2023 our team of leaders in Teaching and Learning are being led by Assistant Principal, Joshua Wolter and include the following key staff members:

The ongoing development of our teaching team is essential to delivering the best possible outcomes for our students, In 2023 we will be focusing our staff development efforts around the key areas of literacy, numeracy, knowing our students learning points and supporting growth from these points. As our students and teachers dig into this work you will continue to see and hear information about the importance of literacy for all students and the ongoing promotion and use of key strategies such as:

As always, if you have any questions or concerns about your child’s academic program or progress, please reach out to our staff via XUNO or the telephone. In the first instance this should be to your child’s classroom teacher and then beyond this the relevant Learning Area Leader, listed above.

2023 sees the introduction of the inaugural 2-year VCE Vocational Major Certificate – part of a once-in-a-generation change to senior secondary education that will provide a more cohesive link between school, study and work, and give students better access to high-quality relevant vocational education and applied learning opportunities. The work to date of our leadership team and Vocational Major teachers has been critical to the smooth transition to this new model, and we look forward to engaging with the progress of the first cohort of students who are undertaking the new certificate this year.

It is timely to inform all students, parents and carers of some of our 2023 key dates that have been endorsed by College Council and set aside to support teaching and learning at the College, these include:

Unfortunately, we are still in the process of recruiting staff for 2023 due to some late staffing changes and the challenges of teacher shortages across the state. Where there is currently a vacant position we are currently covering these classes with internal staff or regular casual relief teachers and all students are being provided with the same content and curriculum as their peers in other classes. We hope to have this situation resolved as soon as possible.

Welcome to our new and returning staff for 2023

With the start of the new school year we are delighted to welcome new and returning staff members to our team for the year ahead. We are delighted with our recruitment efforts and the strength and breadth of experience, enthusiasm and energy that we have been able to capture in our new members to our workforce. We are delighted to welcome:

Jarrod Anderson – Wood Tech Assistant & Integration Aide
Adrian Berenger – Numeracy Learning Specialist
Alyce Borg – PE/Health Teacher
Anne Boyd – Italian Teacher
Giulia DeVincentis – Leading Teacher
Paige Edwards – Integration Aide
Abeer Fathima – Maths/Science Teacher
Allira Wilson – English/Humanities Teacher
Stephen Grace – Food Technology & Health Teacher
Kristen Healey – Leading Teacher
Thea Kruger – Maths / Science Teacher
Laura McCarthy – Literacy Learning Specialist
Traci McEwan – Maths / Science Teacher
Ryan Molyneaux – Integration Aide
Rebecca Munari – Leading Teacher
Pina Pino – Administration & First Aide
Bianca White – Leading Teacher

Communicating with the College

As a large secondary college with approximately 1150 students and 130 staff, effective communication is essential and can be challenging at times. However, it is very important for all members of our school community to be actively engaged with the school.

I would like to encourage all parents, carers and students to actively utilise XUNO, this is our main communication platform across the college and school be used for everyday purposes. All relevant and important information will be located on XUNO and our school webpage (where applicable). XUNO is also the easiest way for parents/carers to make payments, sign permissions/approvals, provide absence details, communicate with teachers and access important information such as student reports when these are published.

All students, parents and carers can access XUNO at https://www.eppingsc.xuno.com.au

Our College webpage can be accessed at https://www.eppingsc.vic.edu.au

The College also has an active Facebook page that I would invite all community members to join. The Facebook Page is continuing to grow and is predominantly used to share information, celebrate student achievements, highlight events and any wider community matters. Please follow us on Facebook by clicking here Epping Secondary College Facebook Page.

Looking forward to an exciting and progressive 2023, as we support the learning and wellbeing of our students.

Brad Moyle

College Principal