Principal's Report

From the Principal

Welcome to Term 4 2020. It has been with great delight that we have welcomed back our Year 7, 11 and 12 students this week and we look forward to all students in Years 8, 9 and 10 returning on Monday, 26 October. We acknowledge that the return to on campus learning will have some challenges for students as they adjust to changes in routine, travel arrangements and additional COVID safety protocols at our College, while at the same time enjoying reconnecting in person with their friends and teachers.

Each of our students needs to be commended for their resilience, adaptability and overall positive approach to the many changes that have come their way. During this unprecedented period, each of our students has been supported unconditionally by their families and our staff to remain strong and optimistic, able to deal with uncertainty and change. 

Whilst learning from home has had its challenges, parents should be aware that returning to on-site learning may present its own challenges. Last week I was fortunate to be able to attend a virtual presentation from child and adolescent psychologist, Dr Michael Carr-Gregg. 

Dr Carr-Gregg provided many wise words and advice for educators and parents that are relevant for the transition that our students are currently experiencing or will experience in the coming weeks.

Some suggestions from Michael to assist with transition included:

• Check in regularly with how your son or daughter is going. He suggested asking three important questions:
  • Are you OK? (RU OK?)
  • If you are unsure what your child is saying, ask “Hmmm…..can you help me understand that a bit better?”
  • And finally, feedback to your child what they said with the question: “So what you are saying to me is ….?”
• Parents set the tone around transition, so try not to share your anxiety with your son or daughter. If your son or daughter is feeling anxious or worried, help them to understand that this is perfectly normal and that you and their teachers are there to support them.
• Encourage your son or daughter to focus on the things that they enjoy at school and on what they can control, such as their diet, sleep and exercise.
• Keep open the lines of communication with your son or daughter – always keep calm, listen more than speak and let them know that you are hopeful and positive about the future.

I am also mindful that parents of students in Years 8, 9 and 10 still have children undertaking home schooling. The above advice about communicating openly and regularly with your son or daughter, validating how they may be feeling and parents being responsible for setting the emotional tone of the home applies equally to parents with children learning at home.

Should you have any concerns or queries about your son or daughter transitioning back to school or continuing with their online learning, please contact the relevant Year Level Coordinator or Wellbeing staff at our College.

The VCE Class of 2020

Our VCE Unit 3 & 4 students are in their final weeks of preparation for their upcoming examinations, which for most students begin on Tuesday 10 November with the English/EAL examination.

In the week of October 26 our Year 12 students are engaged in a series of “Master Classes” to provide final focus and revision activities for our students as they strive to be fully ready to meet the challenges of the examination period.In that week our students will also be addressed by our Chief Exam Supervisor, who will speak to the students about expectations for behaviour and protocols for the upcoming examinations. Our Coordinators will also take the opportunity of reminding our Year 12 students of their responsibility to continue to be EDSC citizens and community members who show courtesy and respect to our students and school, and the wider community, in any celebratory events over the next few weeks.Such behaviours will, more than ever, be under scrutiny from the wider community given the present circumstances – our students need to be aware of this and respond in an appropriate and mature manner. I am sure that they will.

This stage of the year, even in a normal year without the extreme challenges of 2020, can be quite demanding for our students and their families. In such circumstance, experience suggests that it is best to attend carefully to the basics – this includes establishing and implementing a study plan, ensuring a balanced diet and regular sleep patterns, maintaining periods for recreation to clear the mind and relax, and turning off mobile phones and social media forums whilst studying or sleeping. Finally, it is important to make use of the availability of teachers for support and guidance right up to the exam itself. The fantastic resources and last-minute tips provided by teachers can be overlooked or under-estimated in this busy period, however, I would encourage all students to maximise the use of their best resource – their teachers.

College Charges

On Wednesday evening, the East Doncaster Secondary College School Council approved the College Charges for 2021. Our School Council would like to thank our parents and guardians for their support of the College as we endeavour to provide the best possible education for your child.In order to provide quality programs and a comfortable and efficient learning environment for our students, the College relies on strong support from the College community. The College Charges are designed to supplement the Government’s allocation to schools to provide materials and services. These charges enable us to enrich and extend the learning experiences of our students in each subject. Once again, our School Council has made every effort to keep the cost and number of items that need to be paid for to a minimum. We also try to ensure that the costs are affordable for all parents and guardians. All School Council decisions in this realm have been based on our commitment to ensure access to learning is not limited by family financial capacity.

2021 College Charges are now available for parents to pay on Compass. Parents/Guardians will also receive the College Charges and explanatory letter via the post.  Please note that there is no additional charge incurred if paying online via Compass.For further information regarding our Parent Payments Policy, please refer to our College website and Compass homepage.

Underlying the success and quality of the wide-ranging academic and co-curricular programs available to meet the diverse needs of our 1600+ students, is the voluntary financial support that ensures we have the materials and facilities to run programs successfully. East Doncaster Secondary College School Council and its Finance Sub-Committee work closely with the Principal Team and Business Manager to set recommended College charges that meets the budgetary requirements of the College. This ensures that the provision of student wellbeing and support programs, major and minor upgrades to buildings, grounds, and classroom technology is made available for the benefit and enjoyment of your, and all other children.

In addition, our College believes that access to our Health Centre/Sick Bay and the provision of high quality first aid is an important element in fully supporting our students. The College Health Centre is staffed by a fully qualified first aid attendant/nurse and is provided by the school during school hours so that immediate attention to illness or injury is available to students at all times.  This service is provided by the College School Council and is not funded by the Department of Education and Training. 

In order to continue to provide this valuable service, a voluntary contribution from parents is a vital component of allowing us to keep offering a fully operable Health Centre five days a week at our College.

The Victorian Education Excellence Awards 

Brett Lamb - Outstanding Secondary Teacher Finalist

The Victorian Education Excellence Awards recognise teachers, Principals and Education Support staff who improve schools and support children and young people to develop the skills, courage and curiosity they need to succeed in life.

There are 41 finalists across 14 award categories this year. Winners will be announced on Friday 20 November.

Winners are awarded professional development grants of up to $25,000 to support their work in schools.

Winners of category awards will also be eligible to win Victoria’s top public education prize, the Lindsay Thompson Award for Excellence in Education, and a further $20,000 grant. 

I am very proud to announce that Brett Lamb, an experienced and very well respected Leading Teacher at our College has been nominated as one of the three finalist in the Outstanding Secondary School Teacher Award - In recognition of effective and innovative teachers who have demonstrated excellence in teaching practice at a Victorian government secondary school and have made a significant contribution to improving student achievement, engagement and wellbeing.

Brett strives to develop authentic relationships with his students and this is seen in his extensive passion for teaching, especially within his specialised discipline of Media Studies. Brett has had outstanding achievement for VCE Media, consistently achieving mean study scores above 36. This success has also been evident with Brett’s Media students being regularly selected for Top Screen for Media, where Brett has also been a panel member in his role as State Reviewer for VCE Media. 

Brett also has a critical voice in promoting the College to the wider community. He directs and produces countless promotional video resources to share vital information on whole school policy and College events, as well as ensuring student voice and achievements are forefront in the message to our community. 

As a Leading Teacher, Brett mentors many staff members, both formally and informally, across different domains and areas. His main focus is in leveraging technology to enhance the classroom experience. This extends from teachers at EDSC to many teachers across the country. During the COVID 19 lockdown period this year, Brett was on the front foot and a week after it was announced that schools would be transitioning to a remote learning in lockdown he had developed a platform for staff and students, protocols, instructional documents and videos on ‘how to’, problem solved and led the IT department to facilitate and support staff through this program. He also ran professional development for staff on these platforms and processes during this time of remote learning.

Brett has also worked with VCAA where he presented at many seminars and workshops for teachers and students. He has presented regularly at ATOM state conferences since 2005. In 2017, he was invited to present at In the Frame, a Media conference held by the National Association of Media Educators in Christchurch. He has presented papers at conferences across Australia, including the ATOM National Conference at Queensland University of Technology 2013 and the keynote presentation at ATOM WA Conference at Edith Cowan University, 2012. He regularly writes educational resources, such as assessment tasks and articles, for organisations like ATOM and Creative Content Australia.

His work with the broader educational community includes the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA), Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) and Creative Content Australia. He is currently a co-teacher at Monash University where he teaches pre-service Mmedia education teachers.

We warmly congratulate Brett for this splendid recognition of his professional capacity and I will keep our College community informed of the outcome when the awards are announced in late November.

Generous Grant

The College was extremely fortunate in Term 3 to receive a grant of $1,000.00 from Floorworld – a company that we have had a relationship with over a number of years and a regular supplier of high quality carpet and floor coverings to the College.

The grant will be used to complete the garden-beds surrounding our newly completed Wellbeing Centre.

Can I take this opportunity to both acknowledge and thank the management of Floorworld for their generous contribution to the College, it was very much appreciated!

Parent Opinion Survey

Parent Opinion Survey information.

The Parent Opinion Survey is an annual survey offered by the Department of Education and Training that is conducted amongst  parents at each school.

It is designed to assist our school in gaining an understanding of parents’ perception of school climate, student engagement and relationships with our parent community. Our school will use the survey results to help inform and direct future school planning and improvement strategies.

Selected parents will receive the survey via email from Monday 19 October 2020.

John Roberts

Principal

Updated Anaphylaxis Policy

At our February School Council meeting we updated and amended our College Anaphylaxis Policy.

The amendments (whilst important) were quite minor and related to the provision of epi-pens for students in our Food Technology classroom spaces.

Please see attached for a copy of this policy.

College Philosophy

At East Doncaster Secondary College we have a strong tradition of academic excellence and we aim to promote and sustain a reflective learning culture. We want students to experience a sense of achievement and growth in their academic, personal, social and emotional development. We have high expectations of our students’ commitment to being mutually supportive and striving for success as learners. We are proudly multicultural with a student population from 43 nationalities including a number of International Students. 68% of our students speak a language other than English at home.

A student’s life at school is full of opportunities, being rich and varied with a range of co-curricular activities in music, sport, productions, debating, clubs as well as camps and international experiences for the educational and personal development of students. Our students are vibrant, energetic, and talented young people. There are many student leadership opportunities and we aim to continue to increase student access to decision-making and self-determination as learners.

We endeavour to create a "Culture of Curiosity" with goals of ensuring learning improvement for every student – every student, every period, every day.

Our school’s purpose is to develop passionate learners who are critical thinkers with the confidence and capability to engage in the global community.

Care and Compassion, Curiosity, Excellence, Fairness, Resilience, Respect and Teamwork are the core values that underpin the culture of our school as we embrace the challenges of 21st Century learning.

We aim to sustain a learning culture that provides every student with a sense of achievement and of being their best in their academic, personal, social and emotional development.