From the Principal Class

Welcome

Welcome to our first newsletter for Term 2.

We particularly welcome those students and families who are new to the school. I hope the mid term break provided an opportunity for everyone to enjoy a good rest and some time together with family and friends.

A number of staffing changes have occurred at the beginning of this term.  From this term, we welcome Liza Bermingham who will be taking on the English/Media vacancy for the remaining of the year.  We also welcome Danica Busuttil who will be taking on the Science vacancy for the remaining of the year. In a few weeks we will also welcome Dilan Abeyrante will be teaching Mathematics/Numeracy. Finally, we also welcome Renee Nadzielski who joins us as ES Student Counsellor and Karen Palmieri who joins us as the new ES Domestic Arts assistant for the remaining of the year. Nariman Eskander and Bridie Cavanaugh, both loyal and dedicated teachers to the college for over 10 years, have both taken on new positions from this term at other schools and we wish them the very best.  Kathy Gioskos and Vince Antonetti are also on leave this term.

As you are aware, staff shortages and teacher workforce dominates the news this year in education and we are working very hard to fill any unfilled vacancies. Our school is not alone with this issue and many schools across the state are dealing with the exact same issue. While we are short of a few teachers currently, please note that the curriculum and instruction for the classes without a regular teacher have not been compromised. Students are still provided the required instructions, resources and assessments through the use of casual teachers who are trained in the specific subject. We expect students to continue to work solidly on their required classwork and assessments.

As you read this edition of the newsletter,  you will notice that our students have been actively engaging with the community, both locally and more broadly, in many different ways over recent weeks. Whether through welcoming parents to the college at the LEAP, Football Academy information and college discovery evenings, parent morning tours or participating in sporting events and year level excursions, our students have shown themselves to be excellent representatives of Taylors Lakes Secondary College, and leaders whom we can be extremely proud of. Their positive behaviour and attitude is regularly noticed and appreciated by all members of the college community.  

Facilities Update

The college continues to maintain a proactive focus on improving the facilities and working environment for our students and staff as it pursues an unprecedented schedule of facility upgrades and developments. 

Over the break, a lot of maintenance work has occurred around the campus. Work has been done on the gardens, trees have been pruned back and removed, rubbish has been removed, all the heaters and coolers have been serviced and all other plumbing issues rectified. We have had some split systems repaired and some new ones installed. Over the school holiday break cleaning has also occurred including major steam cleaning of carpets, major cleaning of toilets and all offices/teacher workspaces.

Carpet has been laid in the administration. Carpeting in the staffroom, VCE study room, SPACE and English Teacher Workspace is all completed too. This is all the work from the flooding that the school suffered over the summer break. Additional plumbing has been undertaken in the staffroom courtyard to support the prevention of any new flooding.

Our Science Portables S17 – S22 have been painted externally as well as T7, S6 (back section) and H9 externally.

T8 and T11 have had new floor surfaces laid and the futsal courts have been surfaced and a new net has been installed. External blinds have also been installed for a number of our rooms.

As you can see, the college did not shut down at all over the break as there were ‘tradies’ on site every day. 

Year 10-12 Exams - Parent Information Evening: Tuesday 23rd May 2023, 6:30pm

Years 10-12 students and their parents are invited to a Parent Information Evening on Tuesday May 23rd 2023.  The focus of the presentation is how you as parents can best support your child through the senior years and VCE which can be a stressful time for many students and parents.

The presentation will include general information on effective strategies for preparing and completing exams, how to organise time outside of school in the lead up to exams, and advice on how to manage stress and remain healthy during the exam period.  How the VCE is structured and assessed will also be briefly covered. The session will run from 6:30pm - 8:00pm.  More information is provided in the newsfeed in Compass. The session will be online. We look forward to seeing you there.

VCE Vocational Major (VM) Information Evening - Tuesday May 30th 2023 7pm

A information session for Year 11 and 12 students in 2023 planning of undertaking VCE: Vocational Major (VM) will be held on Tuesday May 30th 2023. This information session will be onsite and will incorporate a range of speakers to support student pathways. All students interested in applying for VM in 2024 are required to attend this session with their parents/carers. More information will be provided in the Compass newsfeed in the upcoming week.   

Parents, Family & Friends Easter Raffle

Congratulations to our Easter raffle winners:

1st Prize:    Freiberg Family 

2nd Prize:   Samantzis Family

3rd Prize:   Scodella Family

and to the 15 other prize winners.

A big thank you to the whole school community for their support by providing donations for the raffle and buying tickets. The college raised approximately $1500 from this raffle with all proceeds going  towards supporting the learning environment for our students. 

Instrumental and VCE Performance Musical Soiree 

Thank you to the instrumental music team led by Bobby Vasilevski, for the solo and group soiree performances on the evening of Thursday 11th May 2023 in our performing arts centre. The theatrette was at capacity; we had a high number of families attending the evening and supporting the college. 

The talent continued last week with the VCE performances and once again, the theatrette was at capacity. We have lots of talented students and they should be congratulated in their achievements. 

The next soiree will showcase our wonderful dance students.