From the Principal

A warm welcome to all our families, students, staff and parents, both new and returning for the 2021 school year.  We hope to have a successful and ‘normal’ 2021.

I officially welcome our new and returning staff Anna Burgin (Maths and Science), Nicholas Madden (English, Literature and Humanities), GuoHao Cui (Senior Mathematics), Nathan Marks (Technology Materials) and Rachel De La Paz (Library).

We have a number of staff working as tutors this year, many of whom are familiar with the school.  To this end I would like to introduce Valerie McGowan (new to the College - literacy tutor).  Welcome back Rob Houghton, Beth Cook and Melissa Bonnet.  We wish our new and returning staff all the best for the year ahead.

Below is a list of the key personnel.

Principal – Arthur Soumalias

Assistant Principal – Kerry Mckay

Assistant Principal – Frances Snow

Assistant Principal - Christopher Cogan

Director of Teaching & Learning – Melissa Chapman

Director of Curriculum – Richard Bader

Student Engagement – William Stubbings

College Operations Manager – Grant Martens

Head of English – Sirocha Bruckard

Head of Mathematics – Andy Patch

Specialist Science – Daniel Leaver

Specialist Data – Bradley Ross

Specialist Literacy – Katarina Ivas

Specialist Enhancement – Stephanie Barbaro

Head of Languages – Taka Hayakawa

Head of Visual Arts – Elisa Errichiello

Head of Health and PE - Gab Sarpa

Head of Performing Arts – Annette Ellis

Head of Technology Materials – Paul Rossitto

Head of Technology Non-Materials – Annette Therik

Head of Humanities –Danielle Murray

Year 9 Interdisciplinary – Maria Viglione

Year 10 Interdisciplinary – Danielle Murray

Numeracy Coordinator – Vince Murone

Student Welfare Team

Head of Senior School: – Daniel Wallace

Year 12 Coordinator – Fiona Morabito

Year 12 Assistant Coordinator – Virginia Singleton

Year 11 Coordinator – Leanne Mortellaro 

Year 11 Assistant Coordinator – Valerie Zivcic

Year 10 Coordinator – Nadia Vossos

Year 10 Assistant Coordinator – Joe Bertolli

Head of Junior School: – Matthew Hosking

Year 9 Coordinator – Beth Cook

Year 9 Assistant – Paul Rossitto

Year 8 Coordinator – Simon Benedetti

Year 8 Assistant Coordinator – Sonia Mortensen

Year 7 Coordinator – Ben Derks

Year 7 Assistant – Teagan Boadle

Our School Vision

At Rosehill Secondary College the learner and learning outcomes are central.

Our students are inspired to achieve success through stimulating and positive learning environments, and innovative and diverse teaching strategies.  This is complemented by respect, co-operation and commitment by all members of the college community.  New skills, new knowledge and new understandings will give our learners the confidence to face the future.

Our Vision is underpinned by the college values - Respect, Initiative and Learning (RIL)

The school year has started well.  The calm and orderly manner of our students is pleasing to see, despite the limited grounds available for just a little longer, as we wait for our new oval to be ready for use.  Classes are now well underway and the new routines are starting to become habit once again after a long summer break.

Our three key goals for the year are to improve:

Goal 1: the learning growth of every student in literacy and numeracy

Goal 2: student engagement, motivation and connectedness

Goal 3: learning outcomes for students across the curriculum through a focus on distributed leadership

This year there is also a strong focus for every school to make inroads into the 2021 Priority Goals set by the Department of Education due to the impact of remote learning.

This new goal has three Key Improvement Strategies (KIS).  We have hired six literacy tutors and two numeracy tutors, in addition to the four staff working with our Middle Years Literacy and Numeracy Support team (MYLNS) to make these targets a reality.

KIS 1: Learning, catch-up and extension priority

KIS 2: Happy, active and healthy kids’ priority

KIS 3: Connected schools priority

The tutors will work with students from Year 7 – 12 at various times throughout the year.

We continue to focus on providing rigour in our teaching and learning.  In addition to the catch up opportunities we once again provide enrichment programs for many of our students.  In mathematics, additional enrichment is offered through the RAMP program. The English enhancement program is REAP, and both programs complement the long-standing STEP program at Years 7-10.  The Victorian High Ability Program (VHAP) introduced last year is also well underway and we look forward to positive reviews from students and parents alike.  Please contact Ms Barbaro for more information regarding any of our enhancement programs.

The Year 11 and 12 supervised study periods continue this year.  All senior students who are in the College must attend a supervised study session and use this time to complete classwork, homework, summarise notes or to seek assistance from available staff.  No food or drink is permitted in these areas other than at recess and lunch.  I also remind parents, that students may come to school late if they do not have a scheduled morning class, and Year 12 students may leave early if they do not have a class after lunch (students must sign out if they leave for the day). 

A big congratulation to the Year 12 class of 2020! They did a tremendous job in successfully navigating a difficulty year. It was very pleasing to see an improvement in our VCE results despite the difficulties encountered by our students, families and staff. 

99.3% of students successfully completed their VCE last year and over 96% received a Tertiary offer.  A breakdown of offers to the tertiary institutions is below.

The School Council Election process has commenced with information to parents in this newsletter.  If interested, please contact the Business Manager, Judith Wright on 9337-2488 for a Nomination Form.

Arthur Soumalias

PRINCIPAL