Principal's Update

Dear Families, Students and Community Members,

Respectful Behaviours Within the School Community

Our school community has demonstrated incredible solidarity and resilience throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Being back in our classrooms with extra health and safety measures is another big transition, but it’s the very best one for our children's education. As we navigate these changes to onsite learning, including required mask wearing for students, it’s more important than ever that adults in our school community treat each other with respect and kindness.

The Department of Education and Training has released a new policy that describes the positive behaviour expected from parents, carers and other adults in Victorian school communities. The policy sets clear standards of behaviour to create a safe, respectful, and inclusive learning environment for students, staff and adults.

There are also other resources to support safe and respectful relationships in our school community, including information about getting involved in the school, advice on how to raise a concern or complaint, and parenting support resources. You can find the new policy and these resources here.

You will also see a new poster up around our school, promoting positive behaviour.

Student Attendance and Educational Outcomes

Daily attendance is important for all children and young people to succeed in education and to ensure they don’t fall behind both socially and developmentally. Studies show that absence does affect learning growth and that there is no safe number of days. A child missing one day a fortnight will miss four weeks in a year, and more than a year of school by the time they are in Year 10. It is important that children develop regular attendance habits at an early age. In addition, a student who is half an hour late each day misses the equivalent of 16.6 days of learning each year. This is not acceptable. It is not okay to be away or late without a medical certificate! School participation maximises life opportunities for our young people by providing them with education and support networks.  School helps children to develop important skills, knowledge and values that set them up for further learning and participation in their community. If you are having difficulty getting your child to school, please contact the Wellbeing Team at the College to discuss strategies that may assist you. 

Please find attached our publication: Attendance Matters – A parent’s guide. Please take the time to read this booklet and discuss with your child. We do understand that COVID-19 is impacting several families at the moment and encourage students to stay up to date to the best of their ability by checking Google Classroom each day for each class they have.

Tips for new parents transitioning to Secondary School

We really value the home-school partnership and parents staying connected and engaged with their child’s learning in secondary school. There can be a tendency for parents to step back from their child’s schooling, but the best outcomes can be achieved when schools and parents work together to create the optimal supportive learning environments at school and at home, aligned to shared values and aspirations. I encourage all parents to stay informed by staying in contact with their child’s main teachers, reading the College weekly newsletter and maximising their use of one of our main means of communication, the Compass parent portal. Through the portal you can do the following:

• Monitor your child’s attendance and enter in explanations for late arrivals or absences.
• Communicate with your child’s teachers and update their family details.
• Monitor homework, assessment tasks and view outstanding learning tasks.
• Download and view your child’s progress on individual assessment tasks during the term and end of semester reports.
• View ‘My News’, a news feed of school announcements, alerts and updates.
• View your student’s timetable and the school calendar.
• Book parent-teacher meetings.
• Pay and provide consent for events, excursions, and school fees.

You can access Compass at https://mcsc-vic.compass.education. If you have any trouble accessing, please contact the General Office so your password details can be checked. Please don’t share your password details with your child. All students have their own password.

Regularly talk about school and the new and unfamiliar experiences with your child. Assist them to develop organisational skills to plan and prioritise; and encourage your child to take advantage of the many extra-curricular opportunities to broaden their interests and talents. Above all else, support them to have a positive attitude and be prepared to give things a go.

Building Program update 

As mentioned in my last newsletter article, students are now able to enter and exit the school at one of our main entrances near the Discovery Centre and new Year 7 & 8 Learning Centre, with the completion of the new pathway here. We are still on track for an end of Term 1 handover of our new building for our Year 7 & 8 students to occupy from Term 2. The complete upgrade of our four outdoor courts to blue plexipave will continue for most of Term 2 with a completion date likely to be in June depending on when they start. This area will become a separate fenced off building site. 

We are opening the gym at lunchtime two days a week (Monday and Thursday) to help compensate students who are missing two of the outside court spaces at lunchtime. This will be needed even more once the four courts are out of action for the complete upgrade. 

Internally, in the new building, great progress has been made with painting, plastering, external cladding of the eaves, electrical and plumbing fit outs, glazing, pinboard and white board installation all continuing. There will also be a concrete pour for the upstairs veranda and seating as part of the landscaping outside the building. 

The main work to be completed before the end of term is the landscaping and concrete paths external to the building. 

We hope to have the defects inspection meetings for the new building occur before the holidays, allowing us to furnish the rooms over the holidays in readiness for Term 2 occupation. 

Year 7 Camp

This week on Wednesday our 247 Year 7s headed off to The Summit in Trafalgar for a three-day adventure camp. The aim of the camp is for students and teachers to get to know each other better and for team building. Students will have the opportunity to participate in a range of adventure type activities. 

Thanks to the following staff who are attending: Tracey Bastin, Loretta Ilott, Julie Pretty, Andrew Fisher, Bryony Lowe, Di Douglas, Blake Murray, Daniel Mayadas, Erica Louise, Andrew Potter, Liz McConville, Indigo Yorke, Jess Doherty, Jo Hannan, Jesse Sibly, Kelly Scurrah, Mara Sears, Daniel Williams, Miku Nonaka, Georgia Davey, and Eleni Capp. Thanks to Andrew Potter and Liz McConville for organising the camp and the Year 7 team for their support of our new cohort of students into Year 7.

Year 10 VCAL Camp

Last week our Year 10 VCAL class were away for the whole week attending Fifteen Mile Creek Outdoor School, approximately a three-and-a-half-hour drive north-east of our school.  Thanks to Nick Mann, Ebony Powell, and Jess Doherty for leading this camp with our students and providing them with such a valuable opportunity to integrate their studies with the environment, along with participating in a range of team building activities and personal challenges.

College Photo Day

A reminder that our whole school photo day is next week on Tuesday 22 February. On this day, we will see all our students have their portrait photos and class group photos taken wearing their full summer uniform.  Our Year 7 students will need to arrive at school in their summer uniform and will then have the opportunity to change into their sports uniform ready for their afternoon sport lesson during the second half of lunch and Period 4.  This also applies to any other students who have a PE class scheduled on this day. A schedule has been released to staff, and classroom teachers will remind the students as the day approaches of the time they will be photographed. Thanks to one of our teachers, Liz Commons, for her organisation of this event.

Calendar of Extra Curricular Events Term 1

Thanks to Director of Student Engagement, Simon Cummins, for putting this calendar together of whole school events and the lunchtime clubs that are running this term. Thanks to all staff involved in making these opportunities available to our students. Note: some events still to be added.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18VIv7EIBD76_X-R_TqRjlYe7MlG3LhyPOwMSIMWQAXY/edit?usp=sharing

Courage to Care Incursion

Thanks to Vicky Vrettos and Bryony Lowe for organising the Courage to Care incursion for our Year 8 students with sessions running this Thursday and Friday. Our Year 8 students are currently studying the novel The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas which is set during the World War II Holocaust. These workshops will inform and educate our students about the dangers of prejudice, racism, and discrimination.

Article from Meike Berg 2021 School Captain

Thanks to one of our School Captains from last year, Meike Berg, for providing a summary of her tips for success for our current Year 12 students, see below.

Meike achieved and ATAR of 96.85 and is studying Science/Global Studies at Monash University. 

Reminder: Positive Case or Close Contact Process

Last Thursday we distributed to each student a second box of rapid antigen tests. If your child was absent on this day, they collect from Reception before school, at recess, lunch or after school.

Twice-a-week testing is strongly recommended for both students and staff. It is recommended students make this part of their before school routine and test twice weekly on school days. 

Students will do the tests at home; they only need to report their result if it is COVID-positive. We will not be testing students at school; this is the parents' and students’ responsibility. 

As previously communicated parents/carers should complete the Student COVID-19 COVID Test Portal if a student tests positive to COVID-19 (via a PCR or rapid antigen test). Where a parent/carer informs the school by phone or written notification, the school will complete the Schools COVID Case Management Tool.

Parents/carers also need to report a positive result to the Department of Health via the COVID-19 Positive Rapid Antigen Test Self-Reporting Form or call centre on 1800 675 398. 

Students who report a positive result must isolate for seven days and not attend school during that period. They will be able to check Google classroom for their respective classes to stay up to date to the best of their ability during their isolation period. Teachers will not be able to run remote lessons along with their classes onsite. 

Where a student is a household contact of a positive case (that is, they have spent more than four hours with someone who has COVID-19 inside a house, accommodation, or care facility) they must inform the school and isolate for seven days and not attend school during that period. 

A negative test is not required to return to school following completion of 7 days of isolation. However, if the student is still presenting with symptoms they should remain at home until they are better. 

When there has been a positive case attend onsite, once notified I have been alerting the school community via Compass email, so everyone is aware to monitor for symptoms. The identity of any positive cases, of course, remains strictly confidential. 

Third Dose Vaccinations

As communicated to families in a letter from the Department of Education and Training sent via Compass email, COVID-19 third-dose vaccinations are now available to 16–17-year-old students who had their second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine three or more months ago.

Supporting as many eligible students as we can to be vaccinated will help make our school as safe as possible. Getting vaccinated is one of the most important steps we can all take to get direct protection against COVID-19.

How to book an appointment:

There are many convenient and accessible options to access vaccinations. These include state-wide vaccination clinics, your local GP or pharmacy.

You can book your appointment in a few different ways, including: 

• online: coronavirus.vic.gov.au/vaccine 
• by phone: 1800 675 398 (Coronavirus Hotline)
• using the COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic Finder - COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic Finder | Australian Government Department of Health
• In person: talk to your local pharmacy, doctor, or attend one of the State Vaccination Centres. 

https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/vaccination-information-children-and-teenagers

Michelle Roberts

Principal