Assistant Principal's Report
Once again, another school year has flown by. As the Acting Principal in Term 1, I was overwhelmed by the positive support from staff, students and members of our school community.
Term 1 saw another successful House Swimming Carnival with all participants showing positive team spirit, persistence and comradery throughout the day, as the weather wasn’t quite as warm as it could have been.
I was lucky enough to attend the Year 7 camp this year where I was entertained, challenged and pushed out of my comfort zone on the ‘Giant Swing’. Our Year 7 students worked cohesively as members of a team setting themselves goals which both challenged their nerves and saw a range of new friendships formed as they participated in a wide variety of activities.
Smoke lingered, as bush fires threatened families’ homes and caused disruption to not only ours but many of our neighbouring towns and schools. Our local links with the CFA allowed us to keep abreast of what was happening and ensured that we responded efficiently when needed. Our sincere thanks go out to all those who actively fought the fires, protecting our homes and towns.
Our Year 8 students travelled across the border into New South Wales for their student initiated camp where they participated in a range of water based and team building activities, whilst our Year 9 students took part in a camping trip to Cape Paterson and participated in a City Camp in Melbourne where they built on their inquiry based skills to problem solve a real life problem / issue, and our Year 10s ventured down to Tasmania where they experienced the sites and history associated with our smallest state.
Camps, curriculum based excursions and the various activities that are planned outside the classroom are an integral part of learning and our school program. These opportunities allow students to put their learning and understanding of key skills into real life practice. They enable students to build confidence, set realistic goals and provide meaningful experiences which helps to consolidate their learning, whilst building positive relationships with both their peers and the staff involved.
Our Wellbeing team has seen many changes this year as we farewelled Sophie Wilson our school nurse midway through term 2 and Emily Boyle our Wellbeing Leader at the beginning of Term 3 as they went on maternity leave. To our team we welcomed Rebecca Tyler-Brennan (School Nurse) and Naomi Pilcher (Wellbeing Coordinator). They have been a terrific asset, as are both Rochelle Salerman (Student Counsellor) and Gerard Abdoo (Chaplain) who both continue to do a wonderful job with our students and staff.
The Doctors in Schools Program has continued to be a positive addition to our school community and has enabled students to seek appointments with a GP during the school day without impacting on too much time away from school. This program and our Wellbeing team have been further strengthened by the addition of a Mental Health Counsellor on a Wednesday. This continues to be an effective and worthwhile program which will continue throughout 2020.
As a leader in School Wide Positive Behaviour Support and Respectful Relationships, our College continues to promote and model respect and equality and to teach our students how to build healthy relationships, be confident and resilient both within and outside the classroom. We look forward to involving our school communities to build on the learning that has already occurred and we are excited by the work that is currently being done by our students and staff around simplifying our behaviour Matrices so that they are inclusive and contain language and positive behaviours which are consistent across any setting.
I look forward to 2020 and seeing our students and staff take on a range of challenges which will ensure that our college continues to be a wonderful environment to learn and grow in, as we continue to embed a culture of respect and equality across our entire school community so that all participants have the opportunity to achieve success in anything they choose to pursue.
Kind Regards,
