Welcome back for the final term of 2022.

Last night we celebrated our Year 12 students at their Valedictory Dinner. My message to them all was as follows:

There is no doubt that your last three years of schooling have been extremely challenging, you have experienced multiple lockdowns, school closures, COVID-19 isolation, and a huge amount of time away from the classroom, your teachers, and your friends.

Nevertheless, you were in the best care during this period of time, your teachers and most importantly your wonderful Senior School Team did everything in their power to ensure you were well supported both emotionally and academically.

Together they have all shared in your disappointment, confusion, frustration, and worry.

The resilience and perseverance, you have been asked to demonstrate time and time again, is possibly beyond your years. I encourage you to use this experience as an opportunity to learn from it; use it to your advantage in your life; allow it to guide you and remind you that you can achieve your goals when adversity stands in your way.

We are proud of your achievements and excited about what the future will hold for all of you.

“Successful people don’t fear failure but understand that it’s necessary to learn and grow from it.” Unknown

In partnership with your families, you have been given the firm foundations required to take on the challenges ahead.

Our aim has always been to influence the growth of young adults who are proud of who they are and have respect and empathy for each other and the community they belong.

You have all graduated with the understanding that you are the one that decides what happens next.

On behalf of all staff, congratulations and we wish you all the best in your future endeavours!

2023 School Captains

On Monday our 2023 College Captains were announced at our Leadership handover assembly.

The assembly is a passing of the torch (so to speak), it is an opportunity for our 2022 Captains to reflect on their journey and to highlight the many outstanding achievements that have occurred during the past 12 months.

Taylah Blacklaw, Sahil Kumar, Amy Malone and Norah Shrives spoke about the relationships they have developed with each other and the importance of students' voices within our College.

Our 2022 Captains have raised the bar and set an expectation for their peers that students' voice is real and when students engage in positive discussions about their school experience, what matters to them, and their education that students are able to influence what happens next.

This year our Captains have unpacked the 2022 Students Attitude to School Survey with the SRC to better understand students' responses. This is the first-time students have received the survey results in the same year as it was completed.

Our College Captains are to be congratulated for reshaping student voice at the College.

A big Congratulations to our 2023 School Captains, Jasmin Hall, and Tobias Swales and our 2023 Vice Captains, Eli Gibbins, and Mickey Moe Thu. I look forward to working closely with our new leaders over the next 12 months.

COVID-19 changes

The Victorian Government has announced the end of the Pandemic Declaration and associated Pandemic Orders.

It is strongly recommended that students:

who test positive to COVID-19 stay home and isolate for 5 days
should not attend school after 5 days if still symptomatic
who are symptomatic but have not tested positive should not attend school
advise the school of the COVID-19 positive test result.

Face masks

Face masks remain available for staff and students to wear.

The Department of Health recommends that masks should be worn by a person who is in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 when leaving home.

Wet weather

The College has been contacted by a number of parents regarding some students who have returned home wearing wet clothing.

There is no doubt that the wet weather Melburnians have experienced over this past week has been extreme. And the College has implemented wet weather procedures that include;

opening classrooms during recess and lunch to provide dry environments for students to use
advising students not to run, jump or stand in pools of water
encouraging students to use the covered walkways to move between classes
limiting or stopping students from using the grassed area to avoid soaking shoes
encouraging students to make sensible decisions.

Again, welcome back, I look forward to a successful Term 4.

Karl Russell

Principal

Middle School