From the Principal
Term 3
Welcome to the latest edition of our newsletter. As we approach the end of Term 3, we have reached the end of another cold winter with the sun now beginning to come out putting the winter chills behind us. We also welcome Maddison Whytcross who will be teaching English and Humanities for the remainder of the year.
Term 3 is always a time of many special events in the school calendar. This year is no exception. This newsletter showcases some of these events with many more over the next few weeks. This all started with the Premier's VCE Award early this term. Congratulations to Hana Ueda and Aimeree Manabat who have been recognised with a Premier’s VCE Award for their outstanding academic results in 2021.
Hana received a Study Award for achieving a perfect score of 50 in Japanese Second Language, whilst Aimeree received a Study Award for achieving a perfect score of 50 in VET Screen Media. Both students achieved their scores as Year 11 students completing an accelerated Year 12 subject in 2021. They received their awards from Natalie Hutchins MP – Minster of Education. The entire Taylors Lakes Secondary College community is proud of Hana and Aimeree and would like to congratulate them on being the recipients of such a prestigious award.
Congratulations to all of the students and staff currently involved in this year’s production, 'Chicago'. This was a fabulous show, showcasing the tremendous talent of our students. Rehearsals were productive and brought a positive vibe amongst everyone before the sold out performances during the last week.
A special thank you to the staff and students who have put in many hours of work, including after school, holidays and weekends, under the leadership of GJ productions who is directing the show. It is a real team effort, and many staff and students have put in a huge amount of time and effort. Thank you to Ms Theresa Burlak who has supported the production with all of the administration and organisation required.
Congratulations to Year 11 student, Jake Buhagiar, who attended the Korean Open Championships in taekwondo early this term and won silver in the final. Jake did extremely well; he had two fights first fight was with Mongolia and he won giving him the chance to go to the final round for gold with Malaysia. In the finals it literally came down to the last split second in the fight and the Malaysian won by one point. So, he came home with silver which was still an amazing achievement and his family and the school is so proud of him. Jake Buhagiar then competed in the World Championships for Taekwondo in Bulgaria and then to the Ocenia Championships on the Gold Coast. At the World Championships, he had 56 competitors in his division and got to round 16 which was one away from quarter finals. As a result, he is now ranked somewhere between 13-14th in the world in his division. His efforts in Queensland has now earned him a spot in Oceana Australian Team.
In true form, he won all four fights and is now off to Tahiti on September for 3 competitions, Oceania, Presidents Cup and Tahiti Open. We are extremely proud of Jake and wish him the very best in the upcoming competitions.
Chris Mitrevski, our former graduating student, also representing Australia in the Commonwealth Games last month in Long Jump. Chris also competed in the Athletics World Championships in the USA competing in Long Jump and 4 X 100 Men’s Relay.
Furthermore, congratulations to Year 8 student Frank Zappia who has been involved with the 2022 Victorian State Schools Spectacular. Frank has been involved with the Lighting Crew and has participated in the rehearsals for the two performances at John Cain Arena on Saturday 10 September followed by a 90-minute broadcast of the show on Channel 7. Well done Frank. We are proud of your achievements here.
Melton Art Competition Award
Congratulations to our Year 10 student, Charlotte Lanham, who won 1st place in "The Secondary School Age category of the Melton Town Centre Community Art Competition!", winning $500. Charlotte is currently studying Studio Arts as an accelerated student and we are so very proud of her achievements
Unit 3/4 Practice Examinations and Revision Lectures
All Year 12 VCE students and Year 11 students studying a Unit 3-4 subject have the opportunity to sit a practice exam in each of their subject areas in the first week of Term 4. Students are provided with an authentic exam experience. The purpose of the practice exams is to support the revision process, help build student confidence and maximise their performance.
The practice exams are an effective way to develop a revision strategy for the final exams which begin at the end of October, and to learn how to communicate knowledge to the examiner in an appropriate way. All students are required to attend school and complete all of their practice exams. Feedback on the exam will be provided to students soon after to support their preparation for the final exam.
The college has also teamed up with other secondary colleges in the area to offer revision lectures for students for a number of studies.
Schools' Privacy Policy
Schools’ Privacy Policy notifies the school community that information about students is shared to fulfil our core function: educating and supporting our students. The Schools’ Privacy Policy also establishes a clarified ‘need to know’ framework. This empowers all school staff to share information about students with other staff who need to know. This is consistent with Victorian privacy law. Parents can read more about this using the below link:
www.education.vic.gov.au/Pages/Schools-Privacy-Policy-information-for-parents.aspx
Student Safety
The last few weeks at school has had a focus of safety across the college. This is an ongoing focus across all schools especially since we have returned to onsite learning from the restrictions in 2021. Some of the issues that we are dealing with include: Increased level of unacceptable behaviour from parents/carers (face-to-face, phone, email); unacceptable/aggressive/complex behaviour from some students, unacceptable student behaviour that has stemmed from out of school and online and everything else in between! We are throwing every school resource possible to support this, including incorporating the use of the Police: Proactive Unit to educate students and support the school. Students have been spoken to at recent assemblies in the areas of:
- Discrimination and Harassment – Rights; Responsibilities and Reporting
- Physical Safety
- Mobile Phone Ban
- Use of Accessing Student Toilets
- College Values
Following feedback from a range of forums in regards to safety in student toilets (including school council), we are currently trialing a new process for students to access the toilets. This has had a lot of support already from students who felt unsafe in going to the toilets previously. We need to remember that the change of process does not prevent any student not going to the toilet. During class time, toilets are locked and students will need to access a key to use the toilets. Principal class monitor toilets outside during the breaks. There are enough toilets opened across the day for students to use. We are also reinforcing the expectation that students should not be in going to the toilet at the beginning or end of the lesson. This is a basic expectation in all schools. This process has now seen a huge reduction in the number of students out of class as well as repeat offenders who use the toilet excuse to get out of class.
Reminder to log your child's absence on COMPASS
A reminder to all parents to please record your child's absence on COMPASS if they are not going to be at school. If this can please be done by the start of the school day of the absence. This is a simple process. If you use the App on your phone, just click on the shortcuts button at the bottom and 'report an absence' or from a computer desktop you will see the link on your homepage. At current, our attendance officer, Marie, is inundated calling parents whose children have not come into school, and parents are aware of the absence. This takes away from the important work we need to do supporting children and families where attendance is of a greater concern. Thank-you for your support in addressing this. If you are having any issues logging onto COMPASS please contact our IT desk for support. - it@tlsc.vic.edu.au
Vaping
Attached is an important notice from the Victoria Police regarding vaping
And finally,
Thank you to all of you, as parents, who ensure that your children follow the uniform requirements and arrive on time for school each day. We expect students to be in class, ready to learn on the second bell.
Danny Dedes