Principal's Report

Dear Collingwood College,

COVID-19 / Back to school/ Return to school

As you may know, recently the Victorian Government announced a further 6-week extension of the COVIDSafe measures for schools. You may remember my correspondence prior to students starting in 2022 talking about measures for the first 4 weeks. The extension will be in place for the remainder of Term 1.

In summary, we will continue to focus on the “3Vs” of ventilation, vaccination and vital COVIDSafe steps.

The use of rapid antigen tests (RATs) as a screening tool also continues. RATs have proved an important COVIDSafe tool to help reduce the number of COVID-19 cases and ensure Collingwood College remains as safe as possible. RAT use will remain voluntary for staff and students but are strongly encouraged.

In the meantime, I have been reporting positive cases from both Wurun and CC main campus to the community through Compass email posts. It is worth noting our numbers haven’t been particularly high – that said, we have contingency plans in place and are prepared should a large number of students be placed into isolation. The other concern for Leadership is planning for staff replacement. Causal Relief Teachers (CRT’s) are hard to come by at the moment. Last Friday, for example, after our local list was exhausted, we called seven different agencies and still couldn’t find a replacement. What this means is that we need to become more familiar with ‘class splits’ in both primary and secondary. This also requires teachers to prepare set work in advance. We know this is not an ideal situation, but of very few measures we still have available.

Staffing

Following on from my previous newsletter report, the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022 has been challenging in relation to workforce management. While we wished a number of people well with future journeys, we found ourselves replacing them over the holidays!! It is an exciting time to be involved in the process to find new talent that will bring new-formed energy and experience to the team. Over the break, Gabrielle Stokes (Steiner 2), Frank Stanley, and Peter Rathjen resigned. Various other staff members had minor time fraction changes, including Euan Morton who took leave to fulfil a contract at the AEU.

Replacements and new contracts have been awarded to:

Tom O’Connell. Steiner 9 & Outdoor Ed teacher
Andrew Wright. Steiner 8 & Science Maths teacher
Emily Wearne. Music & Coding Secondary
Christine Park. Steiner Class 2 Primary
Shivendra Sing. ICT Manager (Wurun, CC & FHS)

Reminder – School Council Nominations

We are calling for nominations for Parent members on Collingwood College School Council. There are currently three available Parent member positions. All positions are for a two-year term (March 2022-March 2024). School councils play a key role in Victorian government schools. Participating as a school council member is a rewarding and challenging experience. The school council supports the Principal to provide the best possible educational outcomes for students. School council members are required to attend eight school council meetings a year. School Councillors, including student members will be asked to join one subcommittee and attend subcommittee meetings (also eight per year). Our subcommittees: Buildings Environment and Sustainability (BES), Education and Communications usually meet in the week before school council meetings. Our Finance subcommittee is attended by our Principal, Business Manager, School Council President and Treasurer (where applicable). In the event we receive more nominations than positions, we will be required to run an election where candidates will be requested to write a brief candidate statement for circulation to eligible voters.Nominations close at 4pm, 7th March. You can collect and return your nomination forms to the reception at the Collingwood College main campus, or return via email at collingwood.co@education.vic.gov.au

Website

Please be assured we are busily working on the website behind the scenes with the hope of going live next Friday. A number of parents have been in contact with me with suggestions about what should be found easily on the new site as well as possible content. I encourage you to keep sending the ideas through! In the meantime, I remind you to ensure your details are correct with reception, so you receive our compass posts, and we can contact you on your mobile if required.

Our Instagram remains as great as ever. As they say a picture says 1000 words, so please follow along to share the fun and learning at Collingwood College. https://instagram.com/collingwood.college

Take care and stay well,

Sam Luck

College Principal

Collingwood College

Cromwell St & McCutcheon WayCollingwood, Vic, 3066

Ph: 03 9412 7700