Hello everyone,

We are at that point in time, where we have now passed what we refer to as the “middle term hump” and are now working through the second half of another extremely busy and productive term. Term 3 is very much a transitional time of the year. Not only do we need to keep our momentum in terms of our work for the current year, but we are also actively planning for (dare I say) 2023! This all makes for an extremely busy time!

During this term we have undergone our school review process, with Monday 15th of August being our final review day where goals and strategies were discussed, based upon the evidential findings from our review panel. These goals and strategies are a fundamental component of our next Strategic Plan which serves to guide and support the work of the college over the next four years. (2023-2026). A final report will be compiled by the Lead Reviewer and the goals, numerical targets and improvement strategies for the new Strategic Plan will be finalized in the coming weeks. On behalf of Fern Brisbane, I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the Panel members:

Barry Soraghan: Lead Reviewer
Steve Kourtis: School Council President
Eva MacMaster: Senior Education Improvement Leader
Hugh Blaikie: Challenge Partner, Principal Wellington Secondary College
Neil Carmona-Vickery: Challenge Partner Director of Monash Tech School
Fern Brisbane: Acting Principal
Judy Anderson: Assistant Principal
Jeremy Woods: Acting Assistant Principal
Paul McGlynn: Staff Rep
Nery Soto: Learning Specialist and Math Domain Leader
Felicity Graham-Prowse: Learning Specialist and English Domain Leader

I would also like to acknowledge the work done by Andrew Dixon before he went on leave.

Last Friday the Principal Team attended the Term 3 Area Principal Forum for the Inner East. At this meeting we participated in forums relating to leading learning and wellbeing, which is central to the Framework for Improving Student Outcomes 2.0 (FISO 2.0). We also took in presentations from David Howes (Deputy Secretary, Schools and Regional Services), and Tony Bugden (Executive Director, People Division) who discussed the implementation of the Victoria Government School Agreement. In the afternoon Principals looked at how the big ideas of reform contribute to the achievement of the 2022 priorities for improving learning and wellbeing where we had the opportunity to reflect on our implementation when considering FISO 2.0. We also spent time discussing and sharing with other secondary Principals our plans for the implementation of the VCE Vocational Major. All in all, it was a productive day which provided us the opportunity to network and share our practice with colleagues from our network government schools.

At this time of the term, we are slowly noticing a reduction in the levels of staff illness, which is a positive. In terms of job vacancies, we are currently advertising to fill several positions, including the substantive college Principal. We are hopeful of securing high quality teaching practitioners for these positions. In these challenging times, we remain committed to doing the very best we can to ensure all students continue to receive high quality teaching and learning programs.

We congratulate all students and staff who were involved in the recent school production “Chicago”. The feedback from everyone who attended the production was extremely positive, with the production being described as “pure magic!” Thank you to our Performing Arts Leader, David Gill, who led and organised this wonderful community event. We look forward to what 2023 has in store!

Next week we will commence the first of our Information Evenings course selection for 2023 Years 9-11, starting with the Year 10 and 11 evening on Thursday 25th August via Teams.  The changes to Senior Secondary Education in Victoria which commence next year in all schools will be outlined.

Finally, a sincere thank you to all our staff, students and parents who participated in the recent Parent, Teacher, Student conferences. We hope this provided a further opportunity for families to connect with teachers to discuss their child’s progress and that you found this process a positive and valuable experience.

Thank you,

Wheelers Hill Secondary College Principal Team

Judy Anderson, Fern Brisbane, Jeremy Woods

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