Principal's Message

Dear parents, families & guardians

We are half way through Term 1. Five weeks done and five more weeks to go. As you read this I will be attending the Inner Southern Region Principals Conference. 

This is a particularly busy period for the school as many events are planned and held. In just the last two weeks: over 30 students performed at the Beaumaris Festival; Year 9 students visited the Immigration and Chinese museums; there was an information evening about the Elevate program for Year 8 parents; Year 7 students had a round of immunisations; Senior and Intermediate levels had Round Robin interschool sport competitions; Year 9 Outdoor Education students had an afternoon of sailing; Year 12 English and Literature students were entertained by a group performing aspects of the play Extinction which is an English text; Year 10 Drama and VCE Theatre Studies students attended a performance of Twelfth Night at the Royal Botanic Gardens; over 70 people – parents and children - attended a morning College Tour ably led by our student guides; the annual House Swimming Carnival was held at Carnegie Pool and the Year 7 Camps are still underway at Arrabri Lodge with Year 10 Peer Support leaders making a day trip to Warburton to lead students in activities.  Plus there has been the usual classes and staff meetings and the planning for more special activities ahead such as the Athletics Carnival and VCE Ball.

Making these co-curriculum and extra curriculum activities happen requires many resources to plan, prepare and run successful events. My thanks to the teaching and support staff for all of their contributions to making the school a place where every student is provided with a wealth of opportunities. 

My special thanks to Fiona Faulkes who has taken on the responsibility of coordinating the school’s sports carnival program this year. Fiona’s attention to detail and organisation was demonstrated at the smooth running of the Swimming Carnival. Many times over the day, she said to me “as long as the students are enjoying the day” and this was evident in their participation and their cheering.  It is always difficult to take over from someone (many thanks to Ilana Parker and PE staff for their past work) and have it run smoothly, but Fiona pulled this off with a smile on her face and precision perfect planning.

You may remember that I recently called for parent nominations for School Council. We were fortunate to have had just the right amount of candidates to fill the available parent member vacancies. I would like to congratulate Luiza Levenfus and Andrea Webster who are the new School Council parent members who join our re-elected members, James Malliaros and Rachael Angus. Darren Hawkless will remain on the School Council as a co-opted member of the Council.  We will be saying farewell to Richard Elstone (parent member) and Louise Rieniets (staff member) at our next meeting. They have been on our School Council for many years and have contributed to the continuing success of our College. We are yet to hold the election for the student representative position. This will be held next week and all students will be able to vote in the election.

So, it is onwards and upwards for our school. I thank you all for your contribution to the school, and as a result, the excellent reputation that our school holds in the community.

Kind regards

Linda Brown 

Our gardener, Tammy Schindler-Hands, preparing a new flower bed while students were at the Swimming Carnival.