PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

Dear Parents and Carers, 

I hope this newsletter finds you well.

As a newly appointed Acting Principal I’ve spent many hours during my first few weeks in the role getting into classrooms and out into the yard to watch how our students interact with their teachers and peers and how they conduct themselves on our grounds and in our buildings.

My initial impressions are that Surf Coast students are an extremely friendly community of young people, most of who are very proud of our town and enthusiastically engage in out-of-school activities, clubs and sports.

One important focus of the school moving forward will be responding to our annual student Attitude to School Survey data with a focus on developing strategies in increase school pride and student engagement in learning and extra-curricular activities. 

There are many ways that parents and carers can support their children to take pride in their school and to support student engagement. The two simplest ways are through school uniform and daily attendance.

School Uniform

Like every school in Victoria, Surf Coast Secondary College has a uniform policy that is developed by the school council. The SCSC uniform includes extensive options for all weather conditions and caters to a range of student tastes in fashion (although I acknowledge that our children do not consider school uniform fashionable!). These uniform items are good quality, hard wearing, comfortable and reasonably priced.

All students at SCSC can wear whichever school uniform (sport or formal) they feel most comfortable in on any day as long as they are ONLY wearing clothing from the SCSC uniform list. 

Parents and carers can support our young people and our school by ensuring that all children leave home each morning in FULL SCHOOL UNIFORM, free of any non-uniform clothing such as denim jeans and non-school clothing like hoodies, jackets, t-shirts, etc

To support parents and carers, here is an excerpt from the SCSC Uniform Policy:

Parent Rights 

• To expect support from teachers in the wearing of correct school uniform 
• To have input into the nature of the uniform 
• To expect that the uniform be practical, readily available, and reasonably priced 

Parent Responsibilities 

• To provide the correct uniform for their child 
• To make sure their child is attired in correct school uniform unless otherwise specified e.g. some excursions 
• To supply a written explanation if their child is out of uniform. 
• To support school policy on the wearing of school uniform

I ask that parents and carers please discuss this with any child who may be objecting to wearing school uniform and action the ‘Parent Responsibilities’ above. If you would like support from the college on any of these points, please contact your child’s Learning Community Leader or Sub-School Leader to discuss uniform issues. 

*If you would like to view our uniform, please click on the 'General Information' tab of our newsletter

Student Engagement

Student engagement starts with student attendance. Students with high levels of school absenteeism find it very challenging to engage in learning, they are more disconnected from peers, they are less involved in extra-curricular opportunities, they also show lower levels of learning growth and have reduced post-secondary school options. 

It is extremely important that students arrive at school ready to learn on time every day.

To support parents and carers, here is an excerpt from the SCSC Attendance Policy:

Role of the Parents/Carers 

Parents/carers are to: 

• Ensure that their child attends school at all times when it is a designated school day. This includes special events, such as whole school athletics or wellbeing days. 
• Promote and support their child to attend and participate at school. 
• Ensure that their child is on time for school each day. 
• Notify the College by phone, Compass message, email or note of their child’s absence or planned absence as soon as possible. 
• To avoid, as far as possible, student appointments during school time as well as other extended absences including family holidays. 
• Advise one of the Learning Community Leaders or Sub School Leader if their child is reluctant to attend school. 
• Support their child’s learning during continued or prolonged absences through the implementation of an agreed Extended Absence Learning Plan. 
• Work cooperatively and collaboratively with the school to develop and implement improvement strategies when attendance has been inconsistent due to reasons deemed unsatisfactory by the school. 
• Work cooperatively with the College in supporting their child to return to school and reintegrate after prolonged absence. 
• Ensure that contact details for the child are correct and up-to-date.

The college has a range of supports to help families experiencing challenges with school attendance. If you would like help with your child’s attendance, please start a conversation with your child’s Learning Community Leader or Sub-School Leader.

As a father of teenagers myself, I completely understand the challenges that can present sometimes with regard to getting our children to school on time every day and in full school uniform.  However, I am confident that by clearly stating the expectation that all students are present at school on time every day and in full school uniform, we will see higher levels school attendance, pride in our College uniform and most importantly, increased student learning growth leading to greater post-secondary pathway options for your children. 

School ‘Bell’ Trial

Last week we started a trial of a school ‘bell’. The ‘bell’ is two minutes of music that will play prior to the start of Period 1, at the end of recess and again at the end of lunchtime. There will be no bells during instructional time.

The idea is that this will support our students to know when it is time for them to transition from the yard to the classroom with time allowed to grab a drink, go to the bathroom, and gather their learning materials.

As you know, students are not allowed to carry their phones with them at school, most do not wear a watch, and many spend their break times in areas with no clocks. Therefore, they simply have no way of knowing when it’s time to go to class. So, the introduction of a bell is our strategy to address this challenge and support our students to be in class on time. 

The Student Representative Council was included in the initial discussions, and they have chosen the songs that we play throughout the week. That said, our IT team are already getting song requests from other students!

We will seek teacher and student feedback at the end of the term to determine whether this initiative has been successful in supporting our students to be in class on time and ready to learn.

Thank you and take care,

Shane Elevato

Acting Principal