Principal's Report

It is hard to believe that the month of February has flown by and we are now mid-way through March.  The start of the school year is always busy and this year the weeks seem to have disappeared quicker than usual.  Over the last four weeks since our first newsletter we have seen the school as a hive of activity as we continue to ensure we strive towards fulfilling our school mantra of “Learning for Life.”

Excellence in Teaching & Learning

Our students and staff have been working to ensure that every student is connected with their learning and school.  This has been evidenced across the school as our leaders have undertaken Learning Walks, observing classroom practice and speaking with students about their learning.  These learning walks help our school leadership team understand the work occurring in classrooms and more importantly help guide the next steps in our school improvement journey based on evidence and not simply hunches.  As our leaders have visited classrooms they have asked students five questions, the five questions and what student response reveal to these questions are included below:

One of our key strategies to support students after 2020 is the Tutor Learning Project which is running across the school.  This year we have invested over $450,000 in the employment of teachers to act as tutors for identified students in literacy, numeracy and engagement/wellbeing.  This support is targeted at students point of need and delivered in a blend of in class support, small group withdrawal and where absolutely necessary individual student withdrawal from classrooms.  Our tutors have made an amazing start to the program by building relationships and rapport with students and over the last few weeks it has been great to see students and tutors engaging together around the literacy and numeracy learning needs of students, or students’ wellbeing needs.

As we head into the final weeks of Term 1, teachers are busily preparing information for interim reports.  These reports are a great indication of how students are demonstrating our school values in their approach to learning and will give parents/carers a genuine and informed picture of how their son or daughter is managing the requirements of each subject.  Teachers will also utilise these reports to flag concerns with parents/carers around students’ academic achievement, classroom behaviour, punctuality to class and attendance.  I cannot stress enough the importance of students and parents having a conversation about the contents of the interim reports and how this information can be used to bring out the best in each student, so that all students are Striving for Excellence.  Interim Reports will be available on Xuno from this Wednesday, 17th March.  Parent / Teacher / Student conferences are being held in the final week of Term 1 on Tuesday, 30th March.  This is a great opportunity to have a face to face conversation about student learning and progress and bookings can be made through Xuno, this feature will be available from Wednesday, 17th March.

Positive Climate for Learning

At Epping Secondary College the core values of Commitment, Respect, Honesty, Fairness and Perseverance guide our behaviours. This means we learn collaboratively, appreciating individuality, diversity and community. We are respectful, truthful and honest as we care for each other, the local and global environment, sharing responsibility and committing to developing each other and ourselves, so we can contribute positively to society.

Our core values don’t simply bring themselves to life around the school and in student work and interactions but are something that are explicitly taught, reinforced and celebrated throughout the school.  It is these values that provide us with a frame of reference for decision making that supports individuals and our school community.  At the start of the school year different year levels have focused on building and reinforcing student understandings around our values in many different ways, all with the same purpose though, ensuring a positive climate for learning for all students.  Some highlights of this work over the last four weeks have included:

• Year 7 Cyber Safety workshop reinforcing the need for students to demonstrate and model respect in all interactions, including those that they have online.
• Year 8 True Vision incursion that include a key note and workshops.  The focus for these sessions with Year 8 students is developing a mindset that allows anyone to see things from the inside out rather than the outside in. The key messages tackle bullying, resilience, self esteem, the perception of others, body issue images and more.  Promoting our school values of respect, fairness and perseverance.

As a school it has also been an absolute pleasure to have our parents and carers joining with us over the past couple of weeks as our school community works together to support a positive climate and the learning needs of all of our students.  On Wednesday, 3rd March, we welcomed our Year 7 parents/carers to the Epping Secondary College community with an informal welcome and pizza night with a focus on connection and building our community.  On Wednesday, 10th March, we welcomed a large number of Year 12 VCE students and their parents to our Year 12 VCE Information Night, a night designed to support students and parents in the Year 12 journey that is ahead for 2021.  Thank you to the many parents, carers and students who attended these special events and helped to make them a success.  A special thank you to our organising staff – Peter Kaskamanidis, Colleen Hart and Frazer Thomas for the Year 7 night; and Jessica Spiteri, Michael Rogneda, Mel Foresio, Antoinette Hooper, Dean Malcolm and Wimu Hewawasam for the Year 12 night.  Thank you to our students’ representatives on these nights that include Year 10 Peer Education students and our Student Leaders – Andre, Huda, Hitaishi, Adam & Katelyn.

Community Engagement in Learning

As a Secondary College we rely greatly on partnerships with our broader community in order to support the learning and pathways of our students as they move through the school.  Over the last few weeks we have had numerous groups visiting local businesses and attractions to support the learning that is occurring in the classroom.  In this edition of the newsletter though I want to shift our focus to the many local business and organisations that directly support our students with work placements and work experience opportunities.  The opportunities provided to our students through work placement and work experience are invaluable and really help our students fine tune their pathways and give their learning at school real and genuine purpose.  On behalf of our students, their parents, our teachers and our school community I would like to thank all employers, businesses and organisations that support us in this way.  What may be a small token of support for you is a huge opportunity for our students and in some cases can be life changing in a really positive way, thank you.

Expressing Gratitude

It is well known that expressing gratitude is a great way to support mindfulness, our own health and wellbeing and also brings a smile to those around us.  I would like to encourage students, parents and carers to take the opportunity to express their gratitude to our staff members at Epping Secondary College.  This could be via a phone call/message or an email to the staff member on our XUNO system.  Please take the opportunity to recognise the great work that our staff are undertaking this term with a few kind words about what you are grateful for.

Finally, as we head towards the end of term please remember to remain COVID-Safe, this includes students staying at home if they are unwell, practicing good hand hygiene habits and physically distancing from others.  Have a great few weeks ahead and we look forward to celebrating the many achievements of our students with you in the next edition of the newsletter.

Brad Moyle

Principal