From the Principal
Principal's Message
Welcome to the launch of our new College Newsletter.
Newsletters will be out monthly with a focus on celebrating student activity and achievement. We hope you enjoy the new newsletter format! We will continue to use Compass News Feed as a primary means of communicating key information relating to events, dates and school operations.
The image featured in the banner is of a balloon floating above the school during a regular school day last year. To rise very high and to see from a distance, both literally and metaphorically can be a powerful way to gain perspective and see more clearly. In doing so I recognise how much we have to celebrate as a school community.
In the last week of the school year our Y12 Class of 2018 received their VCE results and we were delighted to celebrate their impressive achievements with them. With more than 25% of students receiving an ATAR above 90, and our highest ever mean VCE scores in English and across Maths subjects, we can as a community be justly proud of the efforts and achievements of our students. Our 2018 Dux Joseph Rowan was one of the small number of students in the state with a 99.95 ‘perfect’ score - congratulations to Joseph and to our entire class of 2018.
We are also pleased to see students accessing their preferred tertiary courses with more than 97% receiving a tertiary offer and 68% gaining their first choice. Please also see the article in this newsletter on the successes of our renewed 2018 VCAL program.
Manisha’s speech at our 2018 Y12 Graduation class of 2018 can be found at this link.
While Year 12 students were awaiting results, Year 9 students and staff were out on Wilderness Week. We celebrate with students the achievement of conquering a diverse program of outdoor activities; from bushwalking at the Prom and Tasmania’s Overland Track; to rock-climbing at Mt Arapiles; sea kayaking at the Gippsland Lakes; horse-riding in the High County; and surfing on Victoria’s West Coast. Students are privileged to participate in activities that help pare back what is most important in life. These opportunities to experience the beauty of our natural environment, appreciate wilderness values and develop self-reliance and resilience alongside peers are often profound and memorable. Our particular thanks goes to those staff who helped prepare and lead students in these remarkable learning opportunities.
On a different note it was my privilege to participate in a well attended celebration of the "Our School Alumni Project" that we have been part of over the last 12 months. The program is intended to connect government schools with their past students to support the learning opportunities for current students. It has been most rewarding to see students from the last 25 years returning to the school and meeting with current students to discuss their learning and career journeys. The event, held at Southbank, involved all the school in the program. On the four person panel extolling the virtues of the program were two members of our school community: Manisha Blencowe class of 1996 and lawyer at Slater & Gordon, and Peter Doherty, Nobel Laureate and grandparent of current students. As government school students, Manisha and Peter spoke of their personal desire to support students in the government sector through the program and spoke glowingly of Princes Hill and the opportunities it provides. If you would like to support the wider work of the Our School program or our PHSC alumni, please contact Liz Welch at alumni@phsc.vic.edu.au or via the Our School website at www.ourschool.net.au
As we move into 2019 our focus for our students and school are reflected in our new School Strategic Plan 2019-2022:
1- To maximise the learning and growth of all students;
2- To develop high levels of student motivation, engagement and wellbeing, and
3- To build the capacity of all staff as leaders of learning for improved student outcomes.
We look forward to the journey together.
Trevor C Smith
Principal