Principal's Report

Principal’s report 

We have now reached the third quarter of the year and much of the cooler weather is, hopefully, behind us. There have been so many things happening around the college over the past few weeks and so much to celebrate and enjoy. 

This week, we have seen a fabulous week of engaging lunch time activities involving both staff and students with a Lip Sync battle on Monday, a staff vs student dodgeball tournament for RUOK day that was run by our magnificent VCAL students on Tuesday, a staff vs student debate on Wednesday where topics about what should be allowed for uniform and how the Department should focus its funding, on Thursday it was a day for the students who love all things AV and then we finished it all off today with a sausage sizzle and colour run which was a whole lot of fun. There will be more details about these activities in our first Gazette next term so that we can share the fun with everyone 

Earlier this month we had our school production which, whilst it was a smaller affair this year, was absolutely brilliant, transforming the HOPE into a winter wonderland and it was great to see the talent of so many of our students on show. A huge shout out to the staff who supported this event as there were many who put their own time into seeing this production get up and running. Amelia Hunter led the team to produce a very entertaining experience for the staff, parents and families who bought tickets and attended.

In the languages area, we held a very successful Indonesian cultural day where students from local primary schools visited the college and were engaged in a range of activities by many of our Year 9 Indonesian students. There was dancing and martial arts, puppet shows and mask making (with lots of glitter!) culminating in a yummy lunch of nasi goreng, all ably led by Bu Devathas. 

We also had our whole school athletics carnival and despite the rather unpleasant weather, it was a highly successful day with many records broken across all types of events. Following on from this whole school event, we had quite a significant number of students represent us at the Mullum Division Athletics. Heathmont college students won 54 events out of 156 possible events and the division shield for the fourth time in a row. We also had 6 age group champions who are all named later in this bulletin. I congratulate all students and staff involved in these impressive individual and college achievements. 

We have also seen our Sports Academy students engaging in competition in Basketball, competing against schools such as Salesian College and Mt Ridley College. 

More recently our senior students also held formal events with the Year 10 students holding their formal at Ballara receptions in Eltham last week and the Year 11 and 12 students earlier in this week at Elizabethan Lodge in Blackburn. Both events were well attended and much enjoyed by staff and students alike. It was really pleasing to see our students dressed up and enjoying themselves after the  past couple of years when we were not able to hold such events. We are all now looking forward to Valedictory next term where we get to celebrate the work and experiences of our current year 12 cohort who are now entering the final stretch of their school experience. These holidays will likely be full of study and preparation for them as Year 12 classes will finish very soon in Term 4. 

Finally, over the holidays we have our Central Australia tour running with 39 students heading up to the Northern Territory where the weather is warmer and there are many crocodiles. The excitement is building around this tour as it had to be cancelled in both 2020 and 2021. There will be plenty of stories and photos to share with the community in our next Gazette about this, I am sure so stay tuned. 

Kerryn Sandford

College Principal