Principal's Report
Maffra Secondary College Dux 2019 - Mathew Angliss
Maffra Secondary College is proud to announce our 2019 Dux -Mathew Angliss, who has graduated from the VCE with an ATAR of 96.10. Mathew is extremely happy with this result and he is looking forward to studying Secondary Education at university next year, with the goal of teaching in the future.
“I always had great teachers at Maffra, so I guess I want to be like them,” said Mathew. “The thing about VCE is, I reckon you get out what you put in. I have never felt limited at school, in any way. You don’t need to go to a private school to get a great education.”
Mathew worked consistently this year and the College is delighted that his great attitude to study has paid off. He has been an excellent role model for other students. We wish him all the best with his future endeavours.
We are exceptionally happy with our students’ results and wish them all well. Collectively, we have seen our results improve significantly in many areas this year and we will continue to build on this. We could not be happier for Mathew, who has actively demonstrated our school values of Respect, Community, Environment and Learning. The teaching profession will be very fortunate to have Mathew share his passion for Maths and Science with future generations.
Our 40 VCE students worked diligently throughout the year and this was reflected in our three students who achieved ATARs above 90 and four students who achieved ATARs in the 80s, along with many other success stories. We also had 10 study scores of 40 or above and an increase in the number of Year 12 subjects achieving above the State average.
We are full of pride for the successful VCAL program that has been developed at Maffra SC and this year we are delighted that 14 students undertaking the VCAL certificate have secured apprenticeships.
The Maffra SC community is very proud of our entire Year 12 cohort, who have worked hard in 2019 and will go on to access a broad range of pathways, both vocational and academic. The College excels in producing young people who are well-rounded, resilient, community-minded and passionate about their futures.
Kwong Lee Dow Young Scholars Program
The Kwong Lee Dow Young Scholars program is an academic enrichment program designed to support high-achieving Victorian and select New South Wales and South Australian border school students in realising their full potential. The program provides access to events, activities and resources to give students a head start into university. Congratulations to Tim Elliott, a Year 10 student in 2019, who was successful in achieving one of the Melbourne University scholarships into this program which will run for the duration of Victoria’s VCE studies at Maffra Secondary College. There were over 1600 applications received so a fantastic achievement for Tim!!
Orientation Day
All of our new students starting next year in Year 7 had their Orientation Day on Tuesday 10 December. This was a wonderful opportunity to make some new friends, become more familiar with the College and its expectations and get to know the Year 7 teaching team. My thanks goes to all staff involved in running or supporting these programs, especially our new Year 7 Coordinator Caroline Fletcher and Transition Coordinator, Belinda Marshall who have been supported by Matt Redenbach as he hands over the role. We have also run a special transition program over the last term for students in grade 6 identified as at risk in transitioning to Secondary School. This has been led by Matt and supported by Renee Philips (Integration coordinator) and has been so important in ensuring the transition to secondary school isn’t so daunting to them.
Presentation Night
On Tuesday we held our annual Presentation evening. This is an opportunity for our College to celebrate the achievements of many hard working individuals that make up the Maffra Secondary College community and realise the true depth and breadth of the talented students that we have the privilege of working alongside every day.
My thanks must go to Cheryl Evans, Carol Caffery, Fi Ray and Julia Healy for all their work in putting the evening together for us and to all of the staff who had an allocated role on the night or assisted in the lead up, which ensured the effective running of this significant event.
A list of award recipients will be listed later in the newsletter.
Headstart and Reports
Congratulations to all students for their positive engagement with our 2020 Headstart program. The 2020 Headstart program concluded on Friday, 13th December. We have had a very positive start in regards to mobile phones as well which has been pleasing. Some of the feedback from students and staff have included “I can’t believe how quick a lesson goes now!” “My phone still has 90% battery” and staff have really noticed the increased engagement in lessons and the amount of ‘good’ noise with kids talking to each other.
Semester 2 2019 reports are now available via the Compass Parent and Student Portals. Please contact the College if you have any trouble accessing or if you would like a hard copy. I hope parents/carers take the opportunity to discuss their report with their child/ren including appropriate actions to put in place to address any areas for improvement highlighted.
Staff farewells
I would like to take a moment to recognise the staff that will be finishing with us this year. We have been fortunate to have 2 language assistants join our staff. Both Simon who has worked with the Mandarin classes and Dessy with the Indonesian classes have supported the students and staff throughout the year. Our students are fortunate to have had access to both Simon and Dessy and we hope they stay in touch after they return to their home. Chris King works in our IT department and has taken up a position with the IT Department at the RAAF base next year.
We have 4 staff who have taken up positions at other schools: Garry Williams, Matt Redenbach, Jess Brown and Kirsty Speirs and 3 staff who are finishing up their contracts: Andrew Quirk, Marita Fry and Byron Sanderman. We wish all of these staff the best and thank them for their involvement in the college.
Finally we have 4 staff who are retiring - Julia Healy, Greg Gilbert, David Montague and Mally Hunt. All have been long serving members of our Maffra SC community and we wish them all the best.
