Dear Families,

After all these months, we finally have our whole school back on site this week. It has been a very smooth and positive start for our students. Students have been happy to be back and seem to have developed a strong determination to get back on track as quickly as possible. We have had no issues at all about mask-wearing or any of the COVID-safe rules.

I really need to acknowledge how calm, supportive and positive our whole school community has been throughout this whole trying time. I particularly want to recognize the amazing work our teachers and support staff did to keep students connected and engaged with their learning. We seem to have come through in remarkably good shape thanks to the determination and positivity of our students, parents and staff.

One of the hardest-hit groups this year have been the Year 12’s. They have done a brilliant job to remain disciplined, motivated and connected to their learning and they continued to show their strength and determination every day. Our teachers are working hard to ensure that their results in VCE, VCAL & VET fairly represent their ability and are not negatively impacted by the closures, disruption and hardship caused by COVID-19 once again.

On behalf of staff and the College Board, I would like to wish our VCE students all the very best for their exams this term. Year 12 exams run from Wednesday 27th October to Wednesday 17th November. I encourage all VCE students to make this year count by studying hard and doing their absolute best to finish the year as well as they can.

I want to thank all of you very deeply for your fantastic support. The commitment and strength of our community has held us together so well and will allow us to move forward to ensure that our students really do have the most positive future we can give them.

A reminder that the school will be closed next week on Monday 1st and Tuesday 2nd of November. Students should use their time at home to complete any outstanding work and/or revise for exams.

Year 12 Farewell

2021 has certainly been a very difficult and challenging year for everyone, in particular our Year 12 students. To farewell our Year 12 students on their last day, the school organised for a catering company to provide snack packs, a silent disco and some organised games for them on Wednesday 20th October outside on the basketball courts. Throughout the morning we followed the Chief Health Officer's rules ensuring we kept a 1.5m distance with masks on. I am very proud of the way the Year 12 students behaved and conducted themselves throughout the event and the respect they showed each other and their teachers was outstanding.

Year 12 Graduation

With the new road map now out, VUSC is planning to have parents present at the Year 12 Graduation which will be held in the school’s gym. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 restrictions we had to cancel our Lakeside Reception venue, but we are planning to make sure our Year 12s along with their parents have a memorable graduation. To make this happen we have decided to hire a professional photographer to take photos of the students in their graduation gown with their parents. The school will pay for the photos and will have them mailed to the student’s home address. The mini–Graduation Ceremony will take place at the Senior Campus on Thursday 16th December.

Step Up Programs For 2022

This year all year levels from 7 to 11 will have their Step-Up programs commence straight after the exams. Our intent is to provide students the opportunity to experience their classes for 2022. This means that students have an idea of what to expect prior to starting in Term 1 next year. The program is very successful in preparing students for the next steps in their secondary school journey and helping them to connect with their classes, subjects and teachers. Those in VCE next year will have some homework to complete over the break but will still have plenty of time to relax and recalibrate prior to starting next year.

Be Well, Be Successful Program

Last year, VUSC initiated an inaugural whole day event for Year 11 students called 'Be Well, Be Successful'. This event aligns with the Department’s Term 4 priorities for students returning from remote learning (Mental health and wellbeing, Learning, Transitions).

The transition from remote learning whilst important for all our students, was/remains particularly important for our Year 11 students going into their final year of schooling in 2022, given the impact of lockdowns on their mental health and wellbeing, which is an integral part of their learning engagement and achievement. Therefore, the Student Wellbeing staff and Principal team have once again developed targeted workshops to equip our Year 11 students with evidence-based strategies and tools to empower them, develop and sustain their learning confidence and growth mindset, and promote resilience before they commence their step-up program into Year 12.

The four workshops that will run in the Be Well, Be Successful program are:

Change & Resilience
Gratitude & Mindfulness
Moving Forward & Growth Mindset
Feedback & Q&A

Dream Big Music Festival

Congratulations to Year 11 students Ersan Asanovski and Andre Arcega for their involvement in the Dream Big Music Festival recently.

The Festival is an annual collaboration between LIVE FM, the Royal Children's Hospital and schools in the western suburbs, that is broadcast live on RU OK Day. This year, the focus was on spreading positivity during the lockdowns through music. Ersan and Andre were lucky enough to be selected for this project and composed an original song called ‘Galaxy' for the broadcast. The song was written during Term 3 as an improvisational piece that explores different guitar techniques. The video shown during the broadcast contained footage of the students playing in the music block on a Friday afternoon during Term 3, as well as footage of the mixing process by our guitar teacher Nguyen Pham.

Well done to Ersan, Andre, Nguyen and Miss Orford for their awesome work and representing our College so well!

Congratulations

Congratulations to the following staff who have had babies recently!

Welcome into the world Alice Le, baby daughter of Mr Le who teaches IT at the Junior Campus, and Roxas David Eugenio, baby son of Mr Eugenio who teachers Art at the Junior Campus. Huge congratulations to you and your families!

We are moving!

We are excited to announce to our school community that our Senior Campus will be located at the new site in Cairnlea from 2022. That means that all Year 10, 11 and 12 students and staff will be moving to the new campus. Our phone number will stay the same - 8312 0200 - and the new address is 43 Ken Jordan Rd, Cairnlea.

The St Albans campus will stay open as we will continue to use the gym facilities for PE classes, exams etc, as there is no gymnasium at Cairnlea. We will let parents/carers know the details of how this will work next year.

Elaine Hazim

College Principal

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Child Safety at VUSC

Victoria University Secondary College is a child safe organisation committed to protecting students from all forms of abuse.

Our College has stringent protocols in place and endeavours at all times to be fully compliant with the Child Safe Standards set out under Ministerial Order 870.

Our College has the following documents and policies in place to achieve compliance with the Standards. All of these documents are available for downloading on our website or contact the school for a copy.

Commitment to Child Safety
Child Safety Policy
Child Safety Code of Conduct
Child Protection Policy and Procedures

VUSC News

Create the Future

Issue 8 · 01 Nov 2021

In this issue