ASSISTANT PRINCIPALS' REPORT

WELCOME BACK

Welcome back to what we hope will be a most productive Term 2. We hope all staff and students feel well rested, having enjoyed precious time with loved ones. Much happened in Term 1 and we thank everyone for their dedication and commitment to excellence.

CORRECTION DAY

Later this term, the College’s Correction Day will take place on Thursday 15 June. Staff will use this time to finalise assessments and semester reports. As such, classes will not be conducted on this day, so students should not attend school. The only exception is VCE students who will be undertaking the GAT. More details about this will be shared later this term. 

EXAMS

Towards the end of this term Years 10 and 11 will be undertaking mid-year exams. Thorough revision and effort in exams in these middle years lays a strong foundation for success in Year 12. Students should set high expectations for their own achievement and seek advice and support from their teachers. We wish all students the best of luck in their exams.  

At home, students can be supported by implementing the following recommendations:

• Providing a quiet study space at home free from distractions;
• Encouraging your child to eat well and get plenty of sleep;
• Encouraging students to limit social engagements around this time, including their use of social media. Students should focus solely on their studies, without distraction from Instagram, sending SMS to friends, etc, then do so when having a break in their study.

STRATEGIES TO ADDRESS VAPING

The health and safety of our students is paramount and as a school, McKinnon continues to be concerned by the society-wide issue of vaping. We wanted to inform families that we have recently installed vape detectors in the bathrooms at the East Campus as a deterrent to this activity. We will also be rolling these out at the Main Campus. This is designed to complement the school-based consequences we give to any student found vaping or possessing vape-related items.     

We encourage all families to speak to their children about the dangers of vaping. Useful information can be accessed via this School TV article. It includes numerous resources, including a number of useful Fact Sheets. We thank all families for their ongoing support.

DISCUSSING LEARNING WITH YOUR CHILD

When discussing with your child their academic achievement at school and the feedback provided on Learning Tasks (and through Progress Reports and Parent-Teacher-Student Conferences), it is critical that parents and students look beyond grades and scores. We encourage all students and their parents to instead reflect on each child’s academic progress and growth; our intelligence is changeable, and focusing on growth has a very positive impact on student learning. 

All students - regardless of year level and the grades they have achieved - should reflect on what new skills and knowledge they have acquired, what feedback and advice they have acted upon and what their next goal will be. 

Hard work and a willingness to persist when facing academic challenges are the keys to success for all students and emphasising learning progress rather than grades/scores is a simple - but powerful - way to support student learning.

OLD MCKINNON FOOTBALL TEAMS

Both our girls and boys football teams have again started the season extremely well. We invite the whole McKinnon community to come and cheer our teams on, especially when they have a home game at Packer Park in Carnegie. We are proud of our girls and boys that have joined our growing club. Here's to another successful year in 2023!

Fixtures can be found below:

• Men’s U19 Division 2 - Old McKinnon / Glen Eira
• Men’s U19 Division 4 - Old McKinnon / Glen Eira
• Women's Division 3 - Old McKinnon / Glen Eira
• Men’s Division 1 - Glen Eira
• Men’s Division 1 Reserve - Glen Eira