Principal's Report
From the Principal
Welcome to our second College Newsletter for Term Two.
The start of a new term has commenced in a positive fashion, although our College and our wider community is still very mindful of the need to focus upon the relevant health and safety measures that are in place in order to safeguard our wellbeing.
It has, however, been rewarding to see our students refocus so quickly this term on their studies, on contributing to our wider community and being able to experience some of the events and opportunities that have not be available over the past two years. The energy, passion and engagement our students bring to College life can be inspirational on many levels.
For evidence of this, you do not have to look further than the first weeks of this new term.
Student Achievement – ANZAC Day commemorations
It was an honour to accompany College Captain, Harris Kazakis and Middle School Captain, Rhianna Dhingra to the Rotary Club of Templestowe Schools Anzac Day Service last Thursday at the Templestowe Memorial Reserve. Harris and Rhianna laid a floral wreath at the memorial on behalf of all students and staff to honour all our fallen soldiers in the course of a very moving ceremony.
Our College assemblies conducted last week to commemorate ANZAC DAY culminated with readings of the poem ‘In Flanders Field’ and ‘The Ode for the Fallen’ and a minute’s silence following the ‘Last Post”. Finally, our students joined together for a rendition of the National Anthem.
It was pleasing to note the preparation undertaken by our students to present at this assembly and the attention and respect shown during this assembly.
Student Achievement – State Swimming Finals
Following on from some great successes at the Regional Swimming Championships late last term, it was very pleasing that our EDSC Swimming team achieved its best result in school history, finishing 5th at the 2022 SSV State Swimming Championship held at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre last week.
All members of the team performed particularly well on the day but a special mention is afforded to Farida Taha, Courtney Mudge, Charlie McKenzie, Misha Wierzbowski and Matthew Wong for gaining medals in individual events and to Cady Yeung, Courtney Mudge, Farida Taha, Victoria McKenzie for winning the Girls 15-16 Medley Relay.
Yet again, a great effort and outcome from our very talented students.
Congratulations to them all!
For a more detailed summary of events within this Newsletter can I refer you to the report from our Coordinator of Sporting Carnivals, Michael James.
Student Achievement – Victorian School Sports Awards - Individual Sporting Blue Award
As a truly outstanding achievement, I am so pleased to share with our College community that Kishen L (Year 9) recently attended the prestigious Victorian School Sports Awards where she was awarded an Individual Sporting Blue Award for her efforts as a competing Badminton athlete.
A member of the Badminton Victoria State Squad, Kishen was nominated for this award by our College in recognition for her sporting excellence and achievement. It is a great feat to be nominated but most certainly a great honour to be awarded this Sporting Blue award.
Congratulations, Kishen!
NAPLAN Testing
All students in Years 7 and 9 will complete the NAPLAN tests in reading, writing and mathematics on-line next week. Over time, the NAPLAN tests provide parents, teachers and the school with another valuable source of information on how students are progressing in literacy and numeracy as they advance through their schooling. This complements the feedback students and parents receive on a regular basis from our school on learning tasks, and attitude and effort throughout each year.
There has, and continues to be, a good deal of media attention and debate about the nature of NAPLAN. Debates, I am confident, that are a useful means of addressing the nature and purpose of standardised testing in the schooling system. For the NAPLAN testing regime at our College, over a long period of time, we have endeavoured to remain true to the original ethos of these standardised tests by encouraging all students to participate in the test to the best of their ability, without placing unrealistic expectations on the outcomes and by reassuring our students that their best effort will be good enough for what the test is seeking to measure and reflect. The tests fall within the scheduled continuum of our curriculum and are not seen as a sole or driving focus.
In relation to the NAPLAN testing, a reminder for all parents to ensure postal addresses are up to date as reports on this round of NAPLAN testing will be posted out from mid-August to end-September. Please retain your child’s report somewhere safe for your future records as the school is not provided with duplicates. If a duplicate is required, the school needs to request this on behalf of the parent and it may take several weeks to be posted.
Please refer to a later section of this Newsletter for more detail on next week’s testing schedule from our Assistant Principal, Karen Boyle.
Election Day Sausage Sizzle
A reminder, as the date of the Federal Election (May 21) approaches, that our College will be used as a polling venue.
As has become somewhat of a tradition, our Parents and Friends Association will be conducting a sausage sizzle during the day to make the voting experience that little bit more enjoyable.
The law signifies that you can only vote once on the day, however, there is this an opportunity to enjoy more than one great sausage from our welcoming parents!
School Zones - See our school zone online
A further reminder that the Department of Education has an easy to navigate website that helps parents identify their local public school online.
The findmyschool.vic.gov.au website was launched with the aim of displaying every Government school zone across the state. The website highlights the choice of public schools available to the Victorian community.
If any parent or student wants to know more about the public secondary school options in our area, or you know someone who is interested in enrolling at our school, try https://www.findmyschool.vic.gov.au today.
If you have a question about the website, contact the Victorian School building Authority Hotline on 1800 896 950 or email vsba@edumail.vic.gov.au
John Roberts
Principal
Parent Payment arrangements for 2022
The Parent Payment arrangements for 2022 are available via Compass on your home page under “Course Confirmation/Payments”.
Payments can be made through Compass or directly to the College via credit card or cash using the College Payment Envelope (when the General Office re-opens to parents).
If you do not wish to pay via Compass, please ensure you return a copy of the completed form to the General Office, available under “pay in person at the school” link at the bottom of the page in Course Confirmations/Payments, or you can request a copy from the College via
parentpayments@eastdonsc.vic.edu.au
Payments were due by Tuesday 23 November 2021
Your ongoing support of the College allows us to continue to offer a broad range of programs and enhanced curriculum experiences.
Please refer to the attached Parent Payments Policy and further links to information via
https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/parent-payment/policy
College Philosophy
At East Doncaster Secondary College we have a strong tradition of academic excellence and we aim to promote and sustain a reflective learning culture. We want students to experience a sense of achievement and growth in their academic, personal, social and emotional development. We have high expectations of our students’ commitment to being mutually supportive and striving for success as learners. We are proudly multicultural with a student population from 43 nationalities including a number of International Students. 68% of our students speak a language other than English at home.
A student’s life at school is full of opportunities, being rich and varied with a range of co-curricular activities in music, sport, productions, debating, clubs as well as camps and international experiences for the educational and personal development of students. Our students are vibrant, energetic, and talented young people. There are many student leadership opportunities and we aim to continue to increase student access to decision-making and self-determination as learners.
We endeavour to create a "Culture of Curiosity" with goals of ensuring learning improvement for every student – every student, every period, every day.
Our school’s purpose is to develop passionate learners who are critical thinkers with the confidence and capability to engage in the global community.
Care and Compassion, Curiosity, Excellence, Fairness, Resilience, Respect and Teamwork are the core values that underpin the culture of our school as we embrace the challenges of 21st Century learning.
We aim to sustain a learning culture that provides every student with a sense of achievement and of being their best in their academic, personal, social and emotional development.
Privacy and Data at East Doncaster Secondary College
East Doncaster Secondary College uses a number of digital platforms to support your child’s education, such as Compass, Google Drive and Office 365.
The College has an Information Security Policy and complies with the Department of Education and Training Privacy Policy. Click on the below link to access these documents.