Principal's Report

From the Principal

As I noted in our first newsletter of the year, it was so pleasing to see our students back at our College after such a challenging year in 2021. In that fashion, this year had commenced with a sense of hope, re-connection and great energy.

We have lots to be proud of as a College community, especially the ways in which we embraced the challenges that COVID-19 presented over the past two years. While there may still be uncertainty ahead in 2022, we know that this community is resilient, adaptable and supportive. We are confident that whatever challenges may come our way again, that we will manage them well together.

The College continues to be guided by the relevant government and education authorities in relation to COVID-Safe practices. 

In adhering to these guidelines, there will be a continuing need to make changes to the ways in which we organise College events and activities to ensure the wellbeing of all members of this community. Any changes will be communicated to the community in a timely manner. 

On that note, I would like to sincerely thank parents and students for the great job they have done during the start of this new school year, keeping our school as safe as possible by following important COVID Safe measures such as mask wearing, physical distancing, ventilation, getting vaccinated and rapid antigen testing.

This has meant that our school has remained open and our students in class. This is a fantastic outcome and a testament to the hard work of parents, carers, students, and school staff.

Rapid Antigen Tests

To keep schools as safe as possible, the Victorian Government has extended the COVID Safe measures introduced for the beginning of Term 1. This includes extending the availability of free rapid antigen tests (RAT) for screening until the end of Term. It is anticipated an additional 24 million RATs will be provided to schools and early childhood settings to continue to support early detection and prevent infection, for use at home.

The need for this program will continue to be monitored and may end earlier based on health advice. This is great news and will mean we’re able to continue identifying COVID-19 cases as early as possible, reducing the impact on our school and individuals.

Department of Health modelling indicates that in the first two weeks of school returning, the program has already prevented more than 21,000 cases in schools alone. Their modelling indicates, assuming a 75 per cent compliance rate with screening of students, that by continuing RAT screening in schools for the full 10 weeks of Term 1, we will prevent:

• 61,000 COVID-19 infections in children aged 5 to 17
• More than 150,000 COVID-19 infections in the overall community

The Education Department will continue to supply RATs to our school for your use.

Twice-a-week testing continues to be strongly recommended for both students and staff.

Vaccination

Vaccination is another key component to protect students and staff in school settings.

Vaccinations for children aged 5 to 11 are open and third dose vaccinations for 16-to-17-year old’s are now available.

There are lots of convenient options to access vaccinations. These include state-wide vaccination hubs, your local GP or pharmacy.

You can book your appointment in a few different ways, including: 

• Online: coronavirus.vic.gov.au/vaccine 
• By phone: 1800 675 398 (Coronavirus Hotline)
• In person: talk to your local pharmacy, doctor, or attend a state-wide vaccination hub.

Ventilation

Improving ventilation is one of the most effective measures to keep education settings safe. Our College received over 70 air purifiers that are now functional in our classrooms.

Up to an additional 60,000 air purifiers will be rolled out to schools ahead of winter to supplement natural and mechanical ventilation during the cooler months.

On behalf of the school, I would like to thank you again for your continued support in helping your child to complete the rapid antigen tests and other COVID Safe measures. As a result of these efforts our school can continue providing a safe environment for students and staff.

School Council Update

With the tenure of our 2021-22 School Council completed at our School Council meeting held on Wednesday 9 February, we had the following vacancies for School Council membership:

• Three Parent representative
• Two DET representatives
• Co-opted Community memberships for two students and a PFA representative

Upon the closing of nominations last week, it was very pleasing to receive nominations to cover these vacancies, hence, no School Council Election will be necessary.

It is my pleasure to announce the following new (or returning) Council members:

Parent Member Category: Bahman Shabani, Stelious Georgiou, Ranjit Singh Sanghe

DET Member Category: Karen Boyle, Lisa Bull

Co-opted Community Student Member Category: Chiaki Chng (College Captain), Ashwina Sanghe (College Vice-Captain)

*Our Parents and Friends Association will meet next week to elect a School Council Representative.

Our next School Council meeting (that will also incorporate our Annual General Meeting) will be held on Wednesday March 23.

I will update our College community in upcoming Newsletters on the final composition and office bearers for our 2022-23 School Council.

** Please note that our School Council AGM is an open public forum. Please refer to our Compass homepage for details of how to attend this forum for those that wish to do so.

Farewell to Staff 

This is the last week of service at East Doncaster Secondary College for two of our staff members, Bi Liang Zhang (teacher of Chinese) and Evan Clements (Instrumental Music teacher). On behalf of our community, I would like to acknowledge their commitment and contributions to our College and wish them all the very best for their future. 

I would like to especially highlight the service of Bi Liang Zhang who commenced teaching at EDSC in 1995. We are very grateful for his commitment to our College and we will miss his experience and passionate support of our students. We wish Bi Liang and Evan all the very best for the next exciting chapters of their lives.

COMPASS Communications at EDSC

The COMPASS Learning Management system in use at East Doncaster Secondary College provides parents an opportunity to monitor many important aspects of their child’s learning and wellbeing.

I hope that parents of our Year 7 students will have already discovered the potential of the Compass system to inform them of College operations, upcoming events, student attendance data and learning outcomes.

Parents are encouraged to maintain regular communication whenever there is a concern via the Compass portal. As mentioned, parents are also able to check daily attendance and can send emails directly to teachers requesting clarification of learning progress or related issues.

We are committed to improving the quality of communications to parents – especially in relation to student learning. The management of Learning Tasks including descriptions, due dates, confirmation of submission and feedback on learning performance are all ways for teachers to engage and inform parents and students within this information feedback loop.

If you are encountering difficulties in accessing and using the COMPASS system, please do not hesitate to contact our General Office.

Parent Contact Details

Whilst on the subject of College communication, a reminder to all parents and guardians to please update their contact details with the College.  Your mobile number and email address can be updated via the Tools menu in Compass, Update my Details. Any other changes need to be submitted to the College on a Change of Details form (as attached)

Whether this involves a change of residential address, an updated mobile phone or work number, it is essential that we have the latest available information on our data-bases.

If an urgent situation, a medical condition or an emergency was to eventuate, it is critical that we are able to contact parents and guardians as quickly as possible.

School Council and 2022 Annual General Meeting - Open Meeting

We are extending an invitation to the College Community to attend the March School Council meeting and Annual General Meeting. This will be held at 7.00 pm on Wednesday 23 March. Interested parties are asked to please contact Lisa Bull at Lisa.Bull2@education.vic.gov.au  for further details and to register attendance. All attendees must be registered by 4.00pm Monday 21 March.

EDSC Open Night - Thursday 17 March 2022

John Roberts

Principal

Parent Payment arrangements for 2022

The Parent Payment arrangements for 2022 are now available via Compass on your home page under “Course Confirmation/Payments”.

Payments can be made through Compass or directly to the College via credit card or cash using the College Payment Envelope (when the General Office re-opens to parents).

If you do not wish to pay via Compass, please ensure you return a copy of the completed form to the General Office, available under “pay in person at the school” link at the bottom of the page in Course Confirmations/Payments, or you can request a copy from the College via 

parentpayments@eastdonsc.vic.edu.au

Payments were due by Tuesday 23 November 2021

Your ongoing support of the College allows us to continue to offer a broad range of programs and enhanced curriculum experiences.

Please refer to the attached Parent Payments Policy and further links to information via 

https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/parent-payment/policy

College Philosophy

At East Doncaster Secondary College we have a strong tradition of academic excellence and we aim to promote and sustain a reflective learning culture. We want students to experience a sense of achievement and growth in their academic, personal, social and emotional development. We have high expectations of our students’ commitment to being mutually supportive and striving for success as learners. We are proudly multicultural with a student population from 43 nationalities including a number of International Students. 68% of our students speak a language other than English at home.

A student’s life at school is full of opportunities, being rich and varied with a range of co-curricular activities in music, sport, productions, debating, clubs as well as camps and international experiences for the educational and personal development of students. Our students are vibrant, energetic, and talented young people. There are many student leadership opportunities and we aim to continue to increase student access to decision-making and self-determination as learners.

We endeavour to create a "Culture of Curiosity" with goals of ensuring learning improvement for every student – every student, every period, every day.

Our school’s purpose is to develop passionate learners who are critical thinkers with the confidence and capability to engage in the global community.

Care and Compassion, Curiosity, Excellence, Fairness, Resilience, Respect and Teamwork are the core values that underpin the culture of our school as we embrace the challenges of 21st Century learning.

We aim to sustain a learning culture that provides every student with a sense of achievement and of being their best in their academic, personal, social and emotional development.

Privacy and Data at East Doncaster Secondary College

East Doncaster Secondary College uses a number of digital platforms to support your child’s education, such as Compass, Google Drive and Office 365. 

The College has an Information Security Policy and complies with the Department of Education and Training Privacy Policy.  Click on the below link to access these documents.