PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

Principals Newsletter Report 8/4/22

 

I feel like I say it at the end of every term, but it is again, hard to believe we are at the end of term and that we have completed one quarter of the year.  At yesterday’s full school assembly, we celebrated completing our first onsite term of school since term 4 2019 without the interruption of a lockdown. The cheers and smiles as we reflected on keeping our gates and doors open to our students and community blew me away and reminded me that students are generally just happy to come to school, be with people their own age, spend time with friends and connect.

 

As a community, we have had a sustained focus on building, or re-building, relationships, especially amongst our younger students.  Those in Year 7, 8 and 9 have little knowledge or experience of what it means to be part of the Western Heights College community, and what this looks and feels like in classes, in the yard, and in terms of how we treat each other.

 

Our school values of Courage, Integrity and Community have been central to our conversation with students, as we re-emerge as a community post online learning and teaching.  And we are really pleased to see the strengthening of positive behaviours and attributes to learning.  We will certainly continue this focus in Term 2.

 

It has been a very successful term across the board in so many ways, with co-curricular activities such as preparation for the state school spectacular, instrumental music programs, open night, sport, alumni program presentations, camps, and excursions all back into swing of things.

 

We have once again been able to enjoy the very many enriching activities of school life. These activities really help to create communities within community and allow for our students and staff to make connections and bonds with their peers beyond their classes and across year levels. I think we all agree that the long-lasting memories of school stem from these types of events, and we encourage all students to engage with the many, varied opportunities on offer. 

 

Visit from an Olympic Gold Medallist from the Tokyo Olympics

Yesterday morning it was our privilege to meet and hear from Rosie Poppa, Olympic Gold Medallist from the Tokyo Olympics in the Women’s Coxless Quads at our final school assembly for term 1. Please see our report and photos latter in our newsletter. It was so refreshing to meet Rosie and hear her wonderful story and message of learning, growing, and setting goals. She was very inspirational and even brought her Olympic medal to show and enjoy photos with our students. A very big thank-you to Rowing Australia, Rowing Victoria, our local rowing clubs, WHC Alumni member Geoff Sykes and Coles Australia for making Rosie’s presentation to our students possible. A big thank-you also to Ms. Johnson for the logistics involved in preparing for the presentation at today’s assembly.

 

 

Term 2 Return Date

Term 2 will commence on Tuesday 26 April. The college will commemorate and acknowledge ANZAC Day with a full school assembly at 10.30am. Monday 25 April is a public Holiday on Anzac Day.

 

COVID Safe Settings for Term 2

Twice weekly RAT testing is recommended to continue for the first 4 weeks of term 2. RAT tests will be distributed today to families during the learning conversations and day one term 2. An additional 105 Air Purifiers will be delivered prior to the commencement for term 2 to be distributed across classrooms and learning spaces. WHC also encourages students to continue their COVID safe hygiene practices.

 

Congratulations

To our Classroom Music Teacher Matthew Bolton, on the safe arrival of his new son Wyatt Wallace Bolton last week. Students and Staff are excited to meet little Wyatt who according to Matthew, “looks” just like his mum!

 

NAPLAN Practice and Readiness

Last Thursday and Friday, we have provided all year 7 and 9 students with the opportunity to practise two online tests. These were the writing test, and an omnibus test comprising numeracy, reading and language conventions. Students can do further practice if they wish. NAPLAN for 2022 will be held in weeks 3 and 4 next term.

 

Student Achievement – an invitation

Can I take this opportunity to remind the families of our school community that we are always willing to hear of and share the deeds of our students in their sporting, academic, performing arts or community-based pursuits external to our college. We have, on a regular basis, students who are involved in a quite extraordinary array of activities and it is always a pleasure and with great pride that we seek to share those outcomes with our wider school community. We are proud of our people and enjoy celebrating achievement of our community.

 

Best wishes to the students, staff, and families for a relaxing and enjoyable break over the holidays. I know I am very much looking forward to connecting with family and friends, hitting the gym to burn off the calories of the excess chocolate I will consume, reading a book, hopefully meeting a new little niece or nephew, taking in a game or two of the footy and if the surf is good, watching the return of the Bells Beach Pro!

 

Take care and be safe,

 

Fiona Taylor

Principal

 

 

 

Child Safety at WHC

Western Heights College is a child safe organisation committed to protecting students from all forms of abuse.

 

Our College has stringent protocols in place and endeavours at all times to be fully compliant with the Child Safe Standards set out under Ministerial Order 870.

 

Our College has the following documents and policies in place to achieve compliance with the Standards. All of these documents are available for downloading on our website or contact the school for a copy. 

 

1.       Commitment to Child Safety

2.       Child Safety Policy

3.       Child Safety Code of Conduct

4.       Child Protection Policy and Procedures

 

Annual privacy policy reminder for 2022

Our school collects, uses, discloses and stores student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy.(found on the colleges webpage)

Please take time to remind yourself of our school’s collection notice, found on our website. For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ Privacy Policy — information for parents and carers on the webpage. This information is also available in nine community languages:

* Amharic

* Arabic

* Dari

* Gujarati

* Mandarin

* Somali

* Sudanese

* Turkish

* Urdu

* Vietnamese.