From the Principal

It has been wonderful to see students back on-site over the past month. It was especially pleasing to have the Year 8, 9 and 10 students join us in the past fortnight. Staff have commented how nice it is to be back on-site ‘at work’ and to see students not only in class, but also during recess and lunch, running around, socialising, having fun and no doubt catching up with friends.

The Department of Education (DET) has set 3 key priorities for all government schools in Term 4. 

1. Supporting students’ mental health and wellbeing.
2. Identifying those who need help catching up and extending those who have progressed.
3. Preparing for successful transitions.

A focus on these priorities means that there will be some interruptions and changes to the normal way we run our programs for students in Year 7 -10 for at least the remainder of this year.  We recently completed PAT testing for all students in these year levels and this data will be used to identify students who may have been impacted by remote learning. Further support will be provided in 2021 through the ‘tutoring’ program introduced by DET. 

I would also like to introduce Caitlin Kennedy, our Mental Health Practitioner, who was appointed late last term. Caitlin has her office in the welfare area of the library and has settled in well with our welfare team. She has hit the ground running and is providing support to students as required.

Our Year 12 class of 2020 finished their official classes last Friday 30th October, and I would like to acknowledge their efforts over the past 13 years of education but in particular this year. They have truly displayed and lived the school values of Respect, Initiative and Learning during their six years at Rosehill Secondary College and have shown resilience and determination during a very difficult year.  Best wishes to all students who have completed their VCE and or VCAL and good luck to all students for the upcoming Year 12 VCE exams.  As I mentioned to the students at their assembly last week, this Year 12 group will always be remembered.

The STEM Centre is now in our possession and is looking fabulous. The oval works are progressing well and have been relentless since they commenced. The expected finish date for the oval is early Term 1, 2021 and I have no doubt that we will be exceptionally pleased with the final outcome. I look forward to seeing our students enjoying the brilliant new surface.

Stem Centre

Oval

Arthur Soumalias

Principal