Principal's Report
David Reynolds - Principal
New College Vision Statement
Over the course of this term, School Council, staff and the student representative council have been considering the findings of the School Review and how these will lead to the development of a new School Strategic Plan for the years 2018 - 2021. The school review report will be published to the college community on the website later in the year. The key message from the review is that the college needs to strengthen its focus on achieving high rates of learning for every student and ensuring that every student is provided with a positive pathway into further study or employment with training. In order to achieve these results we have to have a clear vision to guide the new strategic plan. The vision needs to be captured in a statement which is short and memorable and needs to accurately describe the heart of what we want to see develop as we grow over the next four years.
The following statement has been put forward for consideration and will be adopted if it receives supportive feedback:
A flourishing community of learners, building high rates of academic growth and bright futures for every student.
The word ‘community’ is a prominent idea in this statement. The college community includes not just staff, students and their families, but also the broader community that supports the growth and development of all young people in our area. When we say that we want it to be a ‘flourishing community’, we want to see a community that ensures our students feel safe, one that supports students to seek new learning opportunities, has the energy and resources to support students in their learning, the grit to stick at this work even when it gets tough and the confidence to recognize and celebrate success when it arrives.
If you have a view you would like to share about the proposed new vision statement, please feel free to contact either myself or School Council President, Chris Papas by 28 July. Contact can be made via email or phone to the college reception on 9743 3322.
Reynolds.david.m@edumail.vic.gov.au
Papas.chris.c@edumail.vic.gov.au
Strength in diversity
Our students continues to benefit from the increasing diversity of our families and their backgrounds. This week I accompanied a large group of Melton Secondary College students at Victoria University to attend the Inaugural African Women’s Diaspora Summit. It was great to see our students helping as volunteer hosts and to share with the attendees some of the ways that our college engages our CALD (culturally and linguistically diverse) families and community.
STARR Awards rocketing ahead!
It is fantastic to see the STARR Awards system, initiated by the Student Leadership team last year, has continued to grow with such positive impact. STARR Awards are given by teachers when they see students behave in ways that support the STARR Values. This time last year students had accumulated a total of just over 900 STARR award points. This year the total is almost 3,000 points. This is a great indication that students are seeing the benefit of positive behaviour and is supporting our School Wide Positive Behaviour System and college expectations.
I will be taking two weeks of long service leave at the start of Term Three so am looking forward to an extended holiday break and some travel. While I am away, Ms Andree Poulter will be acting Principal and Ms Ruby Dhir will be acting Assistant Principal.
School will resume on Monday 17 July for the start of Term Three.