PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

A MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL

COUNCIL OF INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS (CIS)

McKinnon is proudly an accredited school with the CIS. We work diligently to meet the 65 international standards across all aspects of our organisation.

This is a formal process of continuous improvement and although rigorous it is very satisfying to reflect and make plans for next steps.

Last week we held our preparatory visit for the CIS self-study stage of our accreditation visit.

Our two external critical friends included Mr Ray Davis, International Advisory with the CIS and Mr Mark Beach, Principal of Discovery College, Hong Kong.

This process helps us to reflect on our past and current situation in order to prepare for future plans. It is important to be aspirational.

It is all data informed and though extensive consultation with staff, parents and students, we hope to achieve candidate status again.

A report will be tabled by the CIS team that will hopefully guide us and challenge the School team through the continuous improvement cycle.

We always hope to move McKinnon from Good to Great.

In particular I would like to acknowledge Mr Simon Hughes and Mr Adrian D’Ambra for their efforts with our CIS Accreditation process.

BUILDING OF SECOND CAMPUS

Plans continue to be developed with the appointed architects K2LD, the Victorian School Building Authority and McKinnon representatives including our School Council President, Mr Alan Bullas.

We have now completed the detailed design section of the process.

This will be a 2nd campus of McKinnon where initially 650 students will be accommodated and then 1150 in the next future development of the Campus.

We are yet to finalise the details however our preference at this stage would be for our Year 9 cohort to be there and undertake a specialised curriculum and leadership development program. It is a very exciting opportunity for our school and provides flexibility in the future given our population constraints.

SCHOOL ZONES

There has been an extensive review of all school enrolment boundaries in Victoria.

All schools will be zoned to ensure everyone has the opportunity to attend a local Government school.

Some schools will have restricted zones given the pressure they are experiencing with enrolments. We fall into this category.

There has been no change to our zone.

The enrolment process is also exactly the same.

TOURS

America, Canada, Germany and Central Australia.

Our Music Tour Group, German Exchange Group and our Central Australian Tours all left this week. We hope they have a wonderful experience and that they return with wonderful memories. They are indeed all being given the opportunity to develop as global citizens.

I acknowledge and thank the many staff who give up their own time to ensure that students have these invaluable learning opportunities.

PARENT EVENINGS

Parenting is indeed rewarding however, it is a very complex and sometimes challenging task.

We host a number of parent evenings and the one held this week was Sex 101.

These evenings all come with talks from experts and wonderful resources that help you to navigate difficult conversations with adolescents.

Thank you to those parents who attended this week. Also thank you to our wellbeing team and Head of Health, Mrs Susan Wilken. Our next evening is Drugs 101 and I ask parents to look out for information that will be distributed soon.

YEAR 7 CAMP

What a great start to their year.

I cannot thank the staff involved enough for the opportunity they have afforded these students. To build these strong relationships camps are of vital importance at McKinnon.

The Student Managers, Mrs Sargent, Mr Rood, Mr Farthing and Ms Mellios were very pleased by the positive attitude of the group and the way they participated enthusiastically in all the activities.

I hope they continue to build a strong sense of belonging and commitment to each other and their school.

CONGRATULATIONS

It gives me great pleasure to announce that Grant Sandler (Year 11) has been selected as a member of the School Sport Victoria 18 Years and Under Tennis State Team.

This team will compete in the annual School Sport Australia 18 Years & Under Tennis Championships held this year in Adelaide from 4 - 11 May, 2019. The team will compete against ACT, NSW, QLD, SA, TAS, VIC and WA.

This is a wonderful achievement for Grant and we wish him well in his endeavours!

UNIFORM – TERM 2

It will be a requirement that all students are in full winter uniform from the start of Term 2 and a reminder that the school blazer must be worn on the way to and from school.

END OF TERM 1

I thank staff, students and parents for their support during what has been a very successful but busy Term 1.

I hope everyone enjoys valuable time with family and friends.