Campus Principal Report

Our first student day was full of excitement for the new Year 7s. The whole school gathered in the gym and welcomed the smallest and newest members of our community with solid applause and cheers as they entered the assembly. My hands were hurting from clapping which is a sure sign of the growth in numbers of our Year 7 cohort. This has become part of the tradition at Keysborough College with the year 12’s farewelled in the same manner at the end of last year and the ‘newbies’ welcomed on day 1. I spoke about the need to look forward, not backwards, that empathy and compassion are the virtues that make Keysborough College unique and such a wonderful community of which to be a part. I expressed my real desire that the values and beliefs that are developed over their six years at Keysborough College will carry them through life and that when someone complements them on doing good in the future they will feel proud that they have upheld the RED values through to their adult life. Values that stamp them as Keysborough College students.

After the assembly we commenced 2023 and students were quickly into stride, a huge residual benefit of the Headstart program. From my perspective, it was a great and very smooth start to the year. Within five minutes of the start of day one, all the students were in their rooms.  The new Year 7’s had a number of days of orientation, learning about their new ‘home’, making new friends and settling in. Great work by the year 7 team ably led by Mel Hoskin and Lisa Ip.

One of the real pleasures of my role is to continually look to improve the environment of the school. School is a great place to learn and we have amazing curriculum engaging our students and in between that, in the breaks, we want the students to enjoy and feel pride in the school surrounds. I promised the students last year at the first assembly that I would replace the canteen. I was so proud to be able to stand back and look at the Canteen in full operation on day 1 of 2023. The new canteen is up and operational and the old one will be quickly forgotten. We are looking to continue to develop the externals of the canteen to make it more attractive. If we can fit it in this year the plan is to start developing the old canteen area into a dining, el fresco area for the students. We have also done preparatory work to add 5 student toilets to the building.  We need to develop some more student areas for break times, some covered by sails, and provide varied seating in groups around the school to promote collegiality. We are also looking to have an outdoor gym designed and built near the existing gymnasium to give students the options to engage in physical activity during break time. The area to the rear of year 7/8, which was an out of control bush area has been cleared and concreted and is now used for down ball (four square). The remainder of that area will make a nice lawn are with further seating.

We have already had a number of excursions and incursions planned by staff and the interschool sport competitions has ‘kicked off’. School photos were on the 16th February and we encourage all parents to go on to our providers website and order their children’s photos online, this will be available until the 23rd February. A special thanks to some of our wonderful ES staff who took a leading role in running the day. Nadia, Kelly, Mehran and Carolyn worked tirelessly (in 38 degree heat) to get the kids through in such a short period of time. I’m not sure how many ties we straightened or re-tied but it felt like hundreds.

We look forward to an exciting year!

Richard Hastings

Banksia Campus Principal

We hit the ground running on Tuesday 31st January; our first day with all of our students. We started with a Campus Assembly, a long running tradition where we welcome all of the Year 7 students. As a campus, we clapped all 188 new Year 7 students into the gymnasium until they were all seated. We also welcomed all of our new staff to the campus who are listed in the table below. 

Our Year 7s had 4 days of ‘Induction’ to help them settle into school. This was ably led by our Year 7 Teacher Team Leader, Rebekah Vass. They participated in activities such as; a school tour, iPad set up, understanding our RED values, ‘how to read your timetable’, creating a time capsule, ‘how to thrive at high school’, how to open your lock and setting up your locker, introduction to band and some standardised testing to help us establish their academic levels in both literacy and numeracy. The following week, on Friday 10th February, Acacia Year 7s travelled to Banksia to participate in a cross-campus House Activities afternoon. Students engaged in a range of activities to build house spirit, connection to their new peers and connection to the College. 

On Monday 6th February, all Year 7- 9 students participated in an incursion called ‘Backflips Against Bullying’, which aims to tackles the issue of bullying through the art of acrobatics. A great reminder of important skills at the beginning of the year. 

All of the Acacia Senior School (Years 10-12) were transported across to Banksia on Monday 13th February for the Celebrating Success Ceremony. This is the first time in a number of years this event has been able to run face to face. This event acknowledged our high performing students of 2022 and highlighted their pathway beyond Keysborough College. It was important to be able to congratulate them publicly on their achievements, as well as build aspiration for our current students. Parents and family members of the high performing students are invited to attend the event, to share in the celebrations. 

On Wednesday 15th February, our Acacia Student Leaders ran some Valentine’s Day celebrations. Students and staff could purchase roses to acknowledge their special friendships within the school. There were cupcakes on sale throughout the day, as well as lunchtime games, music and activities hosted by the student leaders. 

The new ‘C Block’ classrooms are *almost* complete! We have turned 2 old classrooms, into brand-new flexible learning spaces. Whiteboards and projectors have recently been installed and we are still awaiting on the installation on 2 retractable walls, When the walls are shut, it will create 3 beautiful new classrooms, or when opened, a big bright learning space for multiple classes.  

Natalie Fode 

Acacia Campus Principal