Principal's Message

Welcome back to Term 3 everyone. This terms holds many exciting school events, such as MADD Day (Music Art Dance and Drama Day) which will be on Tuesday 4 September 2018. This event is a highlight in our school calendar where we dedicate a day to The Arts.

Term 3 requires some key decision making for many students and their families when they select their future subjects. The students have already had an Expo Day and our subject interviews will also have taken place by the time this is published. Please note we have clear acceleration guidelines which are available on Compass under 'School Documentation'.

During the holidays, I strapped my mountain bike onto the back of my car, loaded the car with goodies and my dog and headed for Yackandandah to try out its mountain bike tracks. If you are keen to find out more about the tracks, you can click here.

I am not sure what the group of teenage boys thought of this little round granny-like figure donning her fluoro helmet, gloves, lycra bike shorts and fancy floppy top; they did have some rather strange looks on their faces... So off I went, with my dog in tow, along the bush track.

Whilst puffing and panting up the hills and slipping and sliding on the muddy tracks, I was struck by the thought that the mountain bike track I was desperately trying to stay upright on was really quite similar to our classrooms. Like ski runs and other outdoor pursuits, these tracks are marked with the colours green (for beginners), blue (intermediate) and black (for advanced). If you are a beginner like me, you might dabble, when you are feeling confident, with a little bit of a blue run and stretch yourself, perhaps take some risks and sometimes make some mistakes (or in my case, a lot – I have the bruises to show for it!). If you are wise, you might avoid the black run, especially the one with the skill level marking its path, until such time as your basic skills are much better developed.

At MFG, our teachers endeavour to differentiate the learning in their classes in a similar way for our students. Sometimes teachers tier the task according to difficulty (like the green, blue and black runs). Sometimes teachers challenge students by giving them different tools (like having different bikes to ride, depending on the course). Others may provide different opportunities for learning (if you don’t like mountain biking, you might try fishing or crocheting…).

In whatever ways teachers differentiate learning to support their students, it is important that everyone is challenged. “Life isn’t about waiting for the storms to pass, it is about riding in the rain.” (Adaptation of Vivienne Green 2016)

Building Update

It has been wonderful to see the building works start. The inconvenience of moving around the buildings, having no holiday access and putting up with noise are delightful reminders of the positive changes afoot.

What has happened so far?

The office and multi-purpose room have been gutted, the pipe work repaired, windows are in and the plaster is being put up. The joinery is all made off site, so that the building should be finished by early August.
The Embling Building has had the asbestos removed and is being gutted. Again the joinery is being completed off site. Work will continue in the Embling Building until Term 1 2019.
The Old Building will be the last building to be transformed and details of this are currently in the hands of the heritage people.

Ms Michelle Crofts

Principal

Matthew Flinders Girls' Secondary College