Principal's Report

From the Principal

Our construction is now underway and throughout 2018 we need to keep this vision at the forefront of the College ‘Caring for Excellence’.

Thank you

Many thanks for the kind messages of support and appreciation over this past week.  We are grateful for the support we have received from parents and carers at a very sad and difficult time.

Election of Student Members to College Council:

Democracy is alive and well at Viewbank College.  Calls for student nominations, from Years 7-12, were communicated through Newsfeed last week and the deadline for students to nominate is Thursday 7th June at 4pm.  This is a serious election and is mandated by DET.  It is an opportunity for two students to be involved in leadership that gives them access to the highest decision making in the College.  Students will have full voting rights on Council and certainly, will have a legitimate voice.

Ideally, it would be great to have one male and one female but really, it comes down to who will nominate and if an election needs to be held.  Students need to note that one position is for a two year tenure and the other position, is for 12 months.

I ask parents to encourage your child to nominate as this will give students an experience of being involved in ‘real life’ boardroom management and hopefully contribute to a student’s perspective and personal development in terms of building knowledge, confidence and leadership skills.

Should only two students nominate, they will be duly elected to College Council.  However, if more than two nominate then we will go to an election where all members of the student body cast their votes. For an election, the nominees will be asked to provide a statement as to why they should be considered as the preferred candidate which will be posted on the Lunchbox walls for all to read.  The vote will be conducted on Thursday 28th June, 2018.  I encourage all interested students to stand up and be counted and I wish them every success.

Student Voice

I am focussed on ensuring students having a chance to give feedback, make suggestions and generally, have a greater ‘buy in’ to their daily College life.  I strive to meet with our College Captains, Patrick Molony and Amanda Zhou on a fortnightly basis if schedules permit.  It is a joy to meet over a hot drink and morning tea and discuss current events in the life of the College and possible future directions.  Amanda and Patrick are confident, articulate young adults and they give me a student perspective that I value.  

Uniform Matters:

Now that winter is upon us, I have spent this week stopping students who are varying the uniform and who do not have notes from parents to get uniform passes. 

Unless wet weather, the uniform to and from the College is a blazer with or without a jumper underneath.  Alternatively, short sleeves for those students who do not feel the cold.  Students must not wear jumpers as the outer garment.

Please note:

• Students are not permitted to wear black socks with skirts or dresses.  Black tights are the correct uniform or white socks.
• Long sleeve t-shirts are not acceptable nor are hoodies.

We have an attractive College uniform that is serviceable and if worn correctly, is warm.  If in doubt, please refer to the College website for clarification.

We will be blitzing uniform in these last two weeks of Semester 1.

STEAM Presentation by Ex Student Alex Kingsbury:

Last Wednesday evening, Alex Kingsbury returned to Viewbank College after twenty –two years.  After completing VCE she went on to complete an Engineering Degree.  Alex’s career progressed to her becoming the Director for “Lab 22” at CSIRO, specialising in bringing 3D printing solutions in biomedicine, aerospace engineering and other industries.  She is now Director of Additive Economics, a company she founded, which consults to major organizations in implementing 3D printing.    

Our STEAM Captains, Laura Wines (Year 12) and Dylan Zipson (Year 9) gave the ‘Acknowledgement of Country’ and a welcome.  Parent, Chris Madden representing Friends of STEAM, formally introduced Alex.  

Alex shared her pathways and experience before offering great insights from working in the 3D printing industry as well as offering her views about the potential impact on the new economy.  She explained that currently, the global revenue in products and services aligned to 3D printing stands at $8000 billion but this figure will increase as the technology is refined.

Alex showed detailed examples of how 3D printing can offer viable solutions in so many fields including medicine, aviation, manufacturing and food.  Of course the notion of 3D printing in chocolate captured everyone’s imagination!  But perhaps her most fascinating example was her work while at CSIRO, where her team worked on a Biomedical application of 3D printing, creating titanium ribs for a patient in Spain.  This innovative use of 3D printed metal gave viable replacement to damaged ribs.  The metal replacement ribs offered the necessary protection for vital organs while providing some of the flexibility that characterize real rib bones. 

Another interesting example was how this technology has been used to manufacture deductively 3D printed brackets for the Airbus A 350. These 3D printed brackets were 40% lighter using 90% less energy consumption during manufacturing.  The saving result was $50,000 a year per kilogram.    

In terms of opportunities for our young people as they move into higher education training and their future workplaces, Alex said that certainly the impact is considerable.  The idea of the production line certainly belongs to a former age.  She explained that with emerging technologies 65% of jobs that our students may be engaged in, have not been thought of yet.  Alex is in a key position to know what is happening in Australia and she believes Melbourne is poised to become a global leader in 3D design, leading to immense job opportunities.  She did urge girls to get involved in pursuing engineering and into the emerging technologies as tertiary courses and indeed companies, are actively encouraging female participation.  There are opportunities galore for girls, not to say there isn’t for boys.  If there is one overriding message that Alex gave, it is that young people should pursue their passions and their pathways will open up, and she is an excellent role model of that.

We had invited other schools, primary and secondary, to this event so the audience was a wonderful cross-section of ages, from primary school age to secondary students to university lecturers and doctors.  There were mums and dads just wanting to hear about the 3D Printing impact on the world of work while there were those with evident expertise who wanted to engage in highly technical questions.  It was fascinating watching and listening to an expert so knowledgeably field all questions and speak with optimism.  Having known Alex all those years ago when she was a student, I couldn't have been prouder of her.  Her audience was enthralled.

A big thank you to those who came along.  Thank you to our STEAM Project Leader, Ms Veena Nair for her organization and to Friends of STEAM for helping make this evening possible.

Future STEAM Events:

• The next guest speaker Sarah Maddison, Pro Vice Chancellor (Academic Innovation and Change) and a Professor of Physics (Swinburne) hosted by Friends of STEAM will be on Thursday 23rd August.  Please note this in your diaries and come along for a stimulating evening.
• An Entrepreneurship for kids workshop led by 56 Creations will be held on Saturday 25th August.  This is an opportunity for students from Grade 6 through to Year 12 to engage in creative solutions and entrepreneurship.  ‘56 Creations’ is a group founded by Taj Pabari, the Young Queenslander of 2016.  More information will come closer to the date.

Judith Craze

Principal

‘Caring for Excellence’