Dear Thistlelonians,

It’s been quite a while since we were in touch. I really am excited to share an update of life at McKinnon this year.

2022 has indeed been a momentous year thus far. All staff and students returned to face-to-face teaching and learning and that in itself has been absolutely glorious.

There really is nothing so wonderful as the cacophony of children and staff at school.

This year we opened our new second campus. It’s called McKinnon East Campus because it is located geographically east of our main campus. This was open for our year 8 and 9 students - all 948 of them.

The Deputy Premier and Minister of Education James Merlino visited day 1 to welcome staff and students as they navigated their way. The Premier of Victoria the Honourable Daniel Andrews officially opened the facility in March 2022.

It is a $70 million facility that we are very proud to call ours! Michael Kan is the campus Principal and he played a crucial role not only in the development of the facility, but also the curriculum for year 8 and 9 students.

VCE classes of both 2020 and 2021 again achieved wonderful results and 97% of taken up positions at university or TAFE.

I was most proud that despite the adversity during Covid years, these cohorts managed to achieve excellent results and I know they will serve our society well as young citizens.

SCHOOL NUMBERS/POPULATION

The school continues to grow with the zone expanding to accommodate the new campus.

Total student numbers for 2022 are 2,498. We have a total of 259 teaching and ancillary staff, 32 of which are ex-students.

SCHOOL COUNCIL

Governance is so strong and I applaud the efforts of our school council. They are all volunteers but bring much enthusiasm and commitment to serving our school community.

PARENT REPRESENTATIVES

Alan Bullas (President)
Lana Kaper
Daphne Cohen
Gerd Diegelmann (Deputy President)
Andrew Brough
Carly Griffen
Tim Stephens
Vlad Finn
David Nicolaides

DET REPRESENTATIVES

Peter Quinn
Simon Hughes
Emma Mullane
Harriet Barrow

CO-OPTED MEMBERS

Geoff Woolnough

STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE

Thomas Wever (Year 11)
Liana Kelemen (Year 12)

MINDFULNESS AT McKINNON

This year we expanded the Mindfulness program to three short sessions on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Talk about good timing! The mental toll of the pandemic is sometimes overlooked and mindfulness is one strategy to ease the anxiety of these uncertain times. I would like to acknowledge and thank our well-being team for their very necessary work this year. Student well-being is always our priority and the well-being team is dedicated to achieving this.

There is no ignoring the challenges 2020 and 2021 have thrown up. Once again it makes me so proud to report that our students have risen to the occasion. Under the leadership of Myles Keleman, past students produced a video to boost morale. It was both funny and touching and achieved its purpose admirably. Myles and his friends are living exemplars of our motto ‘Wisdom and Service’.

I would also like to thank all members of the McKinnon community for their perseverance and patience during this time. As educators we do our best to rise to the challenge but it would be impossible without the support we have received from parents and students. Thank you and may next year bring brighter prospects.

SCHOOL SPORTS VICTORIA

Six of our students were invited to the MCG where they were recognised for their outstanding achievements in Sport.

Congratulations to the following students who received the Sporting Blues and Outstanding Achievement in Sport Awards, which is the highest accolade awarded by School Sport Victoria:

Will Kay (Year 11) Volleyball (Sporting Blue)
Connor Hayes (Year 11) Squash (Sporting Blue)
Lewis Sellinger (Year 10) Cricket (Sporting Blue)
Tara Bajan (Year 12) Dance (Outstanding Sporting Achievement)
Sam Kay (year 12) Volleyball (Sporting blue)
Riva Guliya (year 7) Cricket (Sporting blue)

NEW GYMNASIUM

Visitors to the McKinnon Road campus might have noticed the truly impressive new gymnasium taking form at the bottom of the back oval. This school-supported project would not have been possible without the support of both current and past students, staff and parents who bought a brick and raised funds for the construction. It will be a wonderful and much needed addition to our school facilities.

LANGUAGE PERFECT

McKinnon is a world champion in the 2021 Languages World Championships! The results were:

1st overall globally
1st overall in Australia (out of 1,231 schools)
1st overall in Victoria (out of 304 schools)
1st overall in the 1001-2500 student category (out of 133 schools)
1st in Australia for the 1001-2500 student category (out of 92 schools)

This is a wonderful achievement. This competition brings our community together and provides all a strong sense of belonging and joy.

REUNION

As you are no doubt aware, the pandemic has prevented any reunion recently. However, we are looking for the first opportunity to come together. Bringing ex-students and staff together is an important part that the Thistlelonians Committee plays in perpetuating your sense of community and strong sense of belonging. We will indeed look for the earliest opportunity to come together. I thank everyone for their support and understanding.

RETIREMENT

I formally announced my pending retirement at the end of this year.

After 15 years as Principal and 25 years at McKinnon, I feel it’s indeed a good time to hand over the school to the next leader.

I am proud of what has been achieved during my Principalship and know the school is in a very good position.

There will be a process followed to appoint the new Principal and our Senior Education Improvement Leader Stuart Andrews will brief the school council. The successful candidate will be announced term 4.

I thank school council, staff, parents and students for their incredible support over many years. I am very proud of our collective efforts and achievements and I know McKinnon will continue to be a jewel in the education crown of Victoria.

Kind regards,

Pitsa Binnion

Principal

STAFF RETIREMENTS

MERRYN WALKER (1978)