From the Principal

It is was with pleasure and much relief, when I could finally announce the re-opening of the school after three weeks of closure, and fantastic to see students and teachers returning to learning on site. I would like to thank everyone for their patience, their ongoing support and trust in the school leadership team. Our families have been amazing during this challenging time; in following the instructions of DHHS, encouraging students to remain connected and engaged in their learning, and in supporting each other.

If it is possible, I think our community has emerged with an even stronger connection, and a clearer purpose and sense of identity than ever before.

The deep cleaning processes and contact tracing have been completed and comprehensive protective health measures are in place, making the school an incredibly safe place to be. It has been fantastic this week to see a number of students taking up the opportunity to learn in the LRC and receive targeted support from teachers.

From next week, a number of Senior Students in selected studies will be coming into complete assessments at school, in line with recently updated VCAA guidelines. IT technical and Well Being support is also available for families through an online appointment system. I would encourage you to contact your House Leadership team if your student is eligible for onsite learning, if you have any questions, or require additional support.

Remember the Well Being Hotline is also available for families: call 0402 014 795 between 8am–6pm, seven days a week.

In this edition of the newsletter our focus is the celebration of our remote learning program. Staff and students share success stories of their online experiences and highlight the amazing learning that has been taking place in your homes. A highlight is the recent success of our Year 10 STEM students, who participated in a state-wide STEM competition recently, called Young Change Makers, in partnership with Telstra and the Department of Education. After qualifying for the final with thirteen other teams across Victoria, they came second for the design of their student wellbeing app, Hax and Tipz. This was the first time our school has entered the competition and this is an extraordinary achievement. I am incredibly proud of the Dandenong High School community.

Click here for more details about the Young Change Markers competition.

I invite you to read through the following pages and see how our teachers and our students are making learning come alive in the virtual world.

It is amazing and as always makes me very proud to be the Principal of Dandenong High School.

Susan Ogden

Principal