Principal's Page
Presentation Evening, 2019
Our Presentation Evening is fast approaching with students being recognised for their achievements across a range of areas on Tuesday the 17th of December. The Evening is being held at The Drum Theatre in Dandenong commencing at 7:00pm.
Our Presentation Evening is such an important event on the College Calendar. It is a tremendous opportunity for families and staff to come together and help celebrate the achievements of our students in 2019. Our College Magazine, 'The Hill', will also be available on the night. If you families have any queries, please contact the General Office. We hope to see you there for our 2019 Presentation Evening.
Student Leadership Camp, 2019
Our 2019 Student Leadership Team went to the Forest Edge Camp in Neerim East last week to work through some activities to help best prepare the Team for the year ahead.
Our students were exceptional. They demonstrated the College Values of Excellence, Creativity and Respect such was their participation in the activities provided.
We look forward to working with all of our designated student leaders in 2019 and we thank them in advance for their work and leadership next year. Please read on for a full report of the 2019 Student Leadership Camp as part of this Newsletter.
Overseas Tour - USA and NASA, 2019
Our 'NASA Team' are back and what terrific time they had! In what was a very full itinerary, our students and staff were able to access the facilities at NASA, together with participating in a number of high tech and scientific activities. furthermore, the 'NASA Team' saw many of the wonderful sites that the USA has to offer. Reports show that our students were exceptional - they were outstanding representatives of the Wheelers Hill Secondary College Community. We thank our students for their excellent participation whilst on Tour, and we must thank Judy Anderson (Assistant Principal) and Ben Shepherd (Year 7 Coordinator) for their outstanding efforts in looking after and supervising our students. Please read on for a full report of the Overseas Tour to the USA and NASA as part of this Newsletter.
Professional Learning Communities (or PLCs), 2020
As mentioned in previous Newsletters, we will be introducing a program called Professional Learning Communities (or PLCs) in 2020.
PLCs allow staff to work in small teams to best identify student learning needs. Once needs have been identified (eg through the use of data), strategies can be developed and implemented to meet and improve student learning. Using data, these strategies are then monitored and evaluated closely by the PLC team to find out where improvements have been made.
PLCs have been in operation for some time within the State School system, particularly at a primary school level. The PLC trial we have been involved with semester, together with some research of what is happening at other secondary schools, has taught us how we can best apply the program more broadly in 2020.
PLCs will allow our staff to collaborate more strongly and we are looking forward to the positives that PLCs can bring to our College Community in 2020.
Welcome to Shelby Morwood
We are thrilled to welcome Shelby Morwood as a new English Teacher to the College. Shelby will start with us in 2020.
Farewell to our Colleagues in 2019
We farewell some long serving members of our teaching staff of the College at the end of 2019.
After 28 years, Terry Ashton has decided to seek other opportunities outside of Wheelers Hill Secondary College. Through her years of teaching English and leadership of various programs within the College (eg English Domain Leader, International Students Program, Overseas Tours, etc), Terry has had such a positive impact on the lives of so many at the College. Terry is incredibly well respected by our College Community her English. Our students, staff and families are incredibly grateful for the positive contribution Terry has made to our College. We thank Terry for her tremendous work over an extended period of time, and we wish her all the very best with her future endeavours.
Similarly, Kim Hewlett has also decided to seek other opportunities. After 17 years, Kim has been appointed to a teaching position at Caulfield Grammar next year. In her extended time at the College, Kim has been held in high regard for her teaching and leadership skills. Kim has lead our STEM, Reporting and other ICT initiatives within the College, whilst her teaching skills have had such a positive impact on our students. We thank Kim for her work and we wish her well for the future.
Finally, Judy Baxt has decided to be closer to family by accepting a teaching position at Tempe High School in NSW next year. Judy has been with the College for the last 11 years teaching mainly in the area of Food Technology. Judy's content knowledge is strong and she has been an important contributor to the Food Technology Department over a number of years. We thank Judy for her hard working approach when teaching students in this area of the school, and we wish her well for the future.
Cycle 4 Reports, 2019
Please be reminded that the Cycle 4 Reports will be available via Compass on the last day of term, Friday the 20th of December. All queries concerning this last round of reporting for the year should be directed to the General Office.
Value of the Week - Excellence
We recognise and say 'well done' to all our students acknowledged at this year's Presentation Evening - congratulations on your achievements.
And Finally...
This will be our last edition of the College Newsletter for 2019. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our College Community for your wonderful support of our school. We are a great school and we enjoy working with our families to try and get the best results for our students.
I wish all of our families a safe, happy and restful holiday period, and we look forward to again working with our students in 2020,
Regards
Aaron Smith
Principal