Principal's Message

NAPLAN

The annual National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) for students are currently being held.  All secondary school students in years 7 and 9 sit the NAPLAN, which is not a test of content. Instead, it tests skills in literacy and numeracy that are developed over time through the school curriculum.

NAPLAN tests identify whether all students have the literacy and numeracy skills that provide the critical foundation for their learning, and for their productive and rewarding participation in the community. Students are assessed using common national tests in reading, writing, language conventions (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy. Excessive test preparation using previous tests is not useful which is why we do not ‘teach to the test’ at McClelland but encourage every student to participate and just do their best.

School Council Student Member Opportunity

The Victorian Government has created two student representative positions with full voting rights on school council. This is a great opportunity for any students to participate in the decision making of the school. Students considering nomination must be able to attend a monthly Tuesday evening meeting which commences at 7pm. The positions can not be shared or are interchangeable so only students from Years 7-12 willing to make the ongoing commitment for 2 years (except current year 12’s) should apply.

 Nominations for School Council Student Membership open today. Please read the attached documents for more information and complete a nomination form and submit by next Wednesday 23rd  of May if you are interested in nominating yourself or someone else. Nomination forms are available at the front office.

Proposed Timetable for Elections

Wednesday,16th May - Call for nominees (nomination forms available from the front office) Nominees will be invited to include a brief background (100 words maximum) as well as a photo (optional).

Wednesday 23rd  May - Nominations close 4pm

Thursday 24th May – Nominations announced and displayed at school and voting commences. All school students are eligible and invited to vote. Ballot slips will be available at the front office.

Wednesday, 30th May - Close of ballot 4pm,                                  

Thursday, 31st May - Votes counted and nominees informed of outcome                         

Friday 1st June -  Public announcement of student election results

Tuesday 12th June  - School Council Meeting –Student Council Members attend

Attached are the information sheets for parents and students.

Good luck!

Amadeo Ferra

Building Project Update 

This Friday we will have members of parliament attending for the official ‘sod turning’ ceremony which usually marks the beginning of a building project. In reality the works at McClelland are well underway. Already the English Language Centre (within the Information Commons) is almost complete and construction of the gym extension is coming along quickly. At this stage everything is going well and the construction company Merkon has been able to keep the planned timelines. Demolition of the canteen building may occur in the next school break which means we will have to put some temporary arrangements in place to ensure that students can still access some food and drinks during the school day but it may not be the full service that is currently being offered. Once the gymnasium is completed the new canteen will form a part of that building