Principal’s Report

Welcome back to Term 2 and I hope everyone had a chance to relax and spend time with family and friends over the break.  Our students have had a great start to the term, quickly settling back to routines at the college while still very mindful of the need to focus upon the relevant health and safety measures that are in place to safeguard our wellbeing.

On April 26 we hosted a public online meeting where we presented and celebrated our 2021 Annual School Report with School Council and our school community.   This report provided us with an opportunity to share last year’s achievements while reflecting on our performance and explaining the positive impact of the college’s improvement efforts on student outcomes.  This report is available to all members of our community via our college website.

Our student leaders continue to be very active across the college and wider community. They hold regular meetings in teams to plan, prepare and reflect on a number of student led events such as IDOHOBIT Day and our regular assemblies.  Whilst our student leadership team have been keeping busy, they also play an important role in role modelling, displaying what leadership means and how it can effectively be enacted through student voice.    We are recognising IDAHOBIT Day at MGC on Tuesday 17 May and this is an important occasion for the college to recognise and participate in this international day against discrimination of LGBTQI+ individuals.  Ms McDonald has been supporting our Diversity Leaders to arrange a number of events to recognise this occasion, but most importantly to give our young people an opportunity to celebrate diversity and emphasise our culture of inclusion and recognition. 

There continues to be immense interest from prospective parents to enrol their children at Melbourne Girls’ College, which is a testament to the positive culture and academic reputation we have established in the community.   We were at capacity during our recent College Open Evening which was held on Tuesday 3 May and again at our Open Day Tours that were conducted on Wednesday 4 May.  Feedback from families was extremely positive and included comments relating to the passionate nature of teachers and how the college felt warm, safe and very welcoming. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank Therese Probyn, one of our parents who provided an inspiring parents and carers perspective.  Our student leaders were remarkable, and they all spoke with such poise, professionalism and radiated genuine passion for MGC. 

A wonderful sense of school community and team spirit was evident at this year’s Athletic Carnival which was held on Friday 6 May. Congratulations to all students for the positive way in which they participated in the day. It was fantastic to hear students supporting and encouraging each other. A very special thank you to the Sports and Physical Education leaders for their organisations in the lead-up  to and during the day. 

Our Year 7 and 9 students are to be congratulated on their efforts and attitudes towards NAPLAN this year. The results will provide families and the school with an indication of how our students are performing in Literacy and Numeracy and this will be made available to individual students, parents and carers later in the year.  It is important to remember that NAPLAN provides us with a snapshot of student achievement at a particular time and at Melbourne Girls’ College our teachers involve students in ongoing developmental and comprehensive learning and assessments that strengthen NAPLAN.  Our data consistently conveys the same message; that is, our teachers prepare students well for NAPLAN and we always stress that they just need to do “their best”. 

The Department of Education and Training has provided schools with the option to hold each teacher’s allocated professional practice day on the same day for all staff in term two. This is to enable the most effective and efficient use of this day. As a result, we have scheduled our Professional Practice Day for Wednesday 1st June. Students will not be required to attend school on this day and we will send a reminder to families, closer to the event.

Finally, I look forward to continuing to build positive relationships across the college, make the most of every opportunity to visit classrooms and learn more deeply about what makes MGC so special. 

Tamy Stubley

Principal