PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

Supporting your child’s engagement at school

The coming weeks that draw us to the end of Term Two bring with them multiple points of assessment for students.  Common Assessment Tasks (CATs) in Years 7 to 10 will be all completed by the end of Week 7 to give teachers sufficient time to assess and give feedback to students and complete end of semester reports.

Students in Years 10 and 11 will also be engaging in exams for English and Maths.  SACs have also recently come to a close for our VCE students.

These can be stressful times for students.  But stress is not always bad.  There are a multitude of ways that we all experience stress at times in our lives and learning strategies to manage stress is important.

We are aware that many students have been sick recently and missed some school, as there have been many illnesses affecting us all as the colder months settle in.  Having missed aspects of their classes, students might be feeling unprepared for some assessments.  The best thing to do in this case is to tell your child to ask their teacher for support, or contact them yourself and let them know how your child is feeling. 

If your child is exhibiting signs of being stressed, talk to them about this and ways that they can manage their stress at times when they are exhibiting signs.  Some of the best ways for young people to manage stress include:

Sleep – ensuring that your child gets 8 hours or more of rest each night.  Is there phone or other devices a distraction?  How can you work with them to develop some agreements about how these are being used to promote healthy sleep habits?

Exercise – even just getting outside to walk the dog for 30 minutes can help alleviate stress.  Maybe they can arrange to do this with a friend.  Or just maintaining normal sports routines can assist to reduce stress.

Make time for fun and family connection – whilst we encourage a study and homework routine, this needs to be balanced with time for fun, connecting with friends and spending time as a family.

Model healthy coping – talk about how you have dealt with your own stressful situations. Talk about how you are feeling and encourage your child to talk to you about their feelings also.

Staffing Shortages in Schools – SCSC is faring well 

As I have mentioned previously, there is currently some staffing challenges being experienced state-wide in Victoria in schools.  Much of this is due to the range of illnesses being experienced by us all.

Whilst the College has called on casual relief teachers (CRTs) to fill in for staff when they are absent, I am pleased to say that comparative to the experiences of many other schools, we are faring very well and maintaining a good level of consistency for our students. 

Unlike many other schools in Geelong and the rest of the state….

• We have not had to collapse any classes.
• We have not combined classes for general supervision of cohorts in large spaces.
• We have not had to return any year level or class to remote learning.

Much of this is due to the huge commitment of our staff to ensure that quality work is left for students in their absence and is easily accessible on Canvas. It is also due to the willingness of staff to pitch in when others are away, do extra when needed and always support their colleagues. A huge thank you as always to the amazing staff of SCSC who support each other and our young people so well.

Congratulations to our Alpine School for Student Leadership Term Three 

The Alpine School for Student Leadership at Dinner Plain provides an immersive State-wide residential program for Year 9 Government school students which enables them to grow into better citizens and leaders through increased self-awareness, social engagement, community connection and environmental stewardship.

It is a highly sought-after opportunity that only a select few schools are granted places to each term. SCSC were lucky enough to get 4 places for Term Three this year.

Congratulations to:

• Riley C.
• Nash C.
• Shinay G.
• Lily J.

These students will be spending the majority of Term Three at the Alpine School, learning and growing as people and leaders and also developing a Community Action Project that we look forward to hearing about and seeing come to fruition upon their return.

We thank these young people and their families for demonstrating the College value of STRIVE and for being willing to step out of their comfort zone and challenge themselves.

I also acknowledge the hard work and dedication of our staff member, Megan Wyatt, who works to support these students in the lead up to, during and upon their return.  We appreciate all that you do to make these opportunities happen.

Erin Wright

College Principal