Assistant Principal's Report 

STUDENT LED CONFERENCES

Maffra Secondary College is committed to improving the learning of every child in our school, every day.  One of our priorities in 2022 is supporting students to become more active and reflective in their own learning. In the final week of Term 3, (Monday 12th Sept – Friday 16th Sept 2022), all students in Years 7-11 at Maffra Secondary College will take part in a student-led conference. 

Student Led Conferences were successfully trialled last year and evidence shows that when students are supported by a close and communicative partnership of teachers and parents/guardians, they thrive at school.  As the name suggests, students will lead the conversation with their parent/guardian and teacher will assist, where needed, guide the student through a conversation about their learning, using their ‘learning portfolio’ (a collection of reflective items that show learning growth) to underpin and support the discussion. 

By now, all parents/carers should have received a letter regarding Student Led Conferences which should have contained the staff member who will assist with your child’s conference.  We ask that if you haven’t already done so, can you please ensure that you book a convenient time on Compass.  To do this Go to the People Icon > click on Conferences > click on my bookings > select the time you would like to meet. This should be done by Wednesday 7th September after which time phone calls will be made to schedule a time. 

SCHOOL FOR STUDENT LEADERSHIP - DON VALLEY CAMPUS 

Last month I had the pleasure of attending the opening of the Don Valley Campus of the School For Student Leadership. After the opening ceremony, it was great to catch up with our students – Ruby Anderson, Julia Retti, Jamison Barton and Sam Dekkers.  Ruby and Sam took me on a tour around the facilities, whilst Julia and Jamison chatted about the types of activities they had been involved in along with the type of learning they were doing.  We look forward to welcoming them back to MSC next term and hearing about their time away. 

SCHOOL PRODUCTION – MASQUERADE 

After two years of lock downs / remote learning, it was wonderful to see students in Years 7-12 collaborating to put on ‘Masquerade’.  The cast and crew, capably led by Sally Tatterson, are to be congratulated on their efforts to bring this performance to life.  It was wonderful to see our students embrace their characters in our exquisitely prepared theatrette. The costumes, props and masks were amazing. On behalf of the school we would like to thank the staff, parents and family members who assisted with costumes, props and getting the venue ready…A real team effort.   

CONCERNS RE STUDENT USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA 

Recently we have been dealing with a range of issues involving social media. Firstly, I would like to thank both the students and parents who have brought different issues to our attention. As these posts occur outside of school, we implore that parents are aware of the types of social media apps your child is using and monitor their use. 

Unfortunately, our College logo has been brought into disrepute where it has been used in the creation of several different Maffra Secondary College accounts promoting our students in various ways which are both humiliating and do not align with our Values and expected behaviours. Regardless of whether the students who have been portrayed have agreed to being posted on these different sites, it is a form of harassment and in many cases bullying which will not be tolerated. We are continuing our investigation of this matter and will inform parents if their child is involved.   

We have also been informed by Detectives from Sale Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigation Team (SOCIT) that there have been reports of sexual extortion, where victims are blackmailed with the threat of their intimate images being shared online unless the victim meets the perpetrator’s demands.  This is really concerning that students across Gippsland may be chatting to people online or accepting friend requests from people that they do not know.  Many of these predators create fake profiles and will suggest that they continue to chat on a different platform where they may ask for images, details of where individuals live and possibly money which in turn may lead to threats to share content that they have collected from an individual if payments are not continued.  

As a school we will be talking to each Year level about online safety however, we ask that parents also talk to their children about who they are chatting to online, making sure that they monitor this.  If you believe your child may be subject to any type of concerning behaviour online, we urge you to contact the police and or make an online report to the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation.   https://www.accce.gov.au/report 

Victoria Police is committed to investigating these matters and holding offenders to account. Anyone with knowledge of these incidents and those responsible is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 

1800 333 000 or submit a confidential crime report at https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.crimestoppers.com.au%2F&data=05%7C01%7CCheryl.Evans%40education.vic.gov.au%7Ce53445dd769e4ac77fb008da8196c98b%7Cd96cb3371a8744cfb69b3cec334a4c1f%7C0%7C0%7C637964781866859707%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=rTGAmO9a5wvxkSbpTKdJXjl3lIqCLHp0IqKf7pR8RBI%3D&reserved=0

Mrs. Cheryl Evans

Maffra Secondary College

Assistant Principal