Principal's Message

Good afternoon - and yes, the proverbial 'cat is out of the bag'! 

I chatted with staff and David Radford (our School Council president) and then informed our College community last Friday, that I will be relinquishing my role as Executive Principal at the end of this year. (Officially my role ends the start of next year – January 29th, 2024) 

At that time I will commence Long Service Leave, until it is exhausted and then I will resign from the Department of Education. I have been pondering this decision for quite a while and truly, all the right cards have just fallen into place and so decision made! 

I consider myself very fortunate to be able to choose when to stop working and look forward to all the adventures to come. These adventures will be fundamentally made up of relaxing time at home and then travelling Australia and the world. Time in New Zealand during February - already booked in! 😊 

I am very grateful for all the opportunities that working for the Department of Education has afforded me. Having said all of that, I still have much to do here at the College as we finish on a high for 2023 and set up for 2024. 

Speaking of 2024, Tony Roberts will be the Executive Principal of our College moving forward. Tony has a wealth of experience in education and I know that I am leaving our College in very good hands. We are well placed to take the next steps in our improvement journey and I am supremely confident that Tony is the right person to lead this work. 

Other stuff: Parent Opinion Survey. 

This survey is one of the 'big 3' - Staff, student and parent. The survey opens Monday 7th August and you will receive an email with your unique link in it. I can’t encourage you enough to complete the survey - the feedback is key to 'hearing your voice' on all things about our College. 

Truthfully last year we were extremely disappointed by the response rate: 14 of a possible 841 families completed the survey. Sadly, this makes the results invalid - so let’s do better this year. To incentivise the parent community to complete the survey we will be offering 3 significant vouchers as prizes. 

3 vouchers of $350 each will be on offer from the following businesses:

• Luckes Fresh Food Market
• Inland Surf
•  West End Butchers

Given the survey responses are anonymous - we ask that you take a screen shot of the final page, the one that says “Thank-you for completing the parent survey”. Then send your screen shot into the College email account bairnsdale.sc@education.vic.gov.au or drop it into the office and you will be entered onto the draw. Your will need to include your name and contact number and the name of you eldest child attending our College. Doing it this way protects your private responses and shows that you have completed the survey. 

Please keep an eye on your emails (the one registered at the College) and thank you! 

Please note – If you are a parent working at BSC, sorry, you can't enter! ☹

More Stuff: This week we have been host to 20 Japanese students and their teachers, from our sister school in Japan - Yaei High School. What a treat! As I stood on the train station platform, waiting for the train and our Japanese friends to arrive , you couldn’t help but be impressed with how excited our BSC students were as the train approached. (They clapped as the train came to a halt.) From visiting Nungurner Primary School, trips on the Lakes, Raymond Island - Koalas and Kangaroos and of course spending time in classes at our College. 

They have had a fabulous time and learnt so much. (As have our host families and students.) Experiences such as this, are 'once in a life time opportunity'. Hopefully soon we will be able to head to Japan and return the visit. Thanks so much to all members of our LOTE team for their efforts to make this happen. Plus, of course all the families who have opened their homes and hosted a student. 

Something to Ponder: Remember to enjoy all the great aspects that your life can offer and be grateful for all that you have. 

Trudie Nagle

Executive Principal