Principal's Report & Important dates

Learning Focus

Term Two has been a very busy time in the classroom. Students are working steadily to complete their assessment tasks, asking for and receiving feedback related to their learning and making the most of the opportunities presented to them. 

After our curriculum day, staff continue to meet regularly with a focus on developing learning tasks which are designed to meet students at their point of need. In addition to this, in professional learning meetings, staff have identified strategies that they will be implementing in their classroom that will enhance students’ abilities to access learning. Peer observation sessions, coordinated between staff will allow more staff to be exposed to a great range of differentiation strategies in the classroom.

Reports

Our student free day on Friday 9th June saw teachers collaborate on assessment to ensure consistent and accurate reporting.  Don’t forget that Semester 1 reports will be published at the end of the first week of Term 3, so you can see how your child is progressing with their learning.  

Soiree and Lights Camera Lyndale

Our music celebration evenings have been completed. May 30 and June 15 were both very well attended events that provided students with an opportunity to showcase their talents and practice pieces that they mastered during the semester. Well done to Yolande and her team.

Congratulations 

Congratulations to Ciya Joseph 12C.  Ciya has received the Musical Directors Award at City of Greater Dandenong Band. This reward was awarded in recognition of her outstanding work in the City of Greater Dandenong Youth Band. 

Parent Meetings on Site

A reminder to parents about the college visitor’s policy which can be accessed on the college website. All visitors to school grounds MUST report to the main office and sign in. It is important that meetings are pre-arranged with staff prior to arrival. 

Student Attitudes to School Survey

The AtoSS is an annual student survey offered by the Department of Education to assist schools to gain an understanding of students' perceptions and experience of school. Students have been undertaking this survey over the past two weeks. Students have been asked about their thoughts and feelings in relation to their school, their learning, peer relationships, resilience, bullying, health and wellbeing, physical activity, and life in general. Schools will be able to access the data later in Term 3. The data informs us of school priorities and provides us with some insight into what is going well for students at the school

Every day counts! - School Attendance

A reminder to parents that daily attendance is important for all children and young people to succeed in education and to ensure they don’t fall behind both socially and developmentally. I know that you are all committed to ensuring that your child/children obtain a great education, and the building blocks for a great education begins with students coming to school each and every day.

Missing school can have a major impact on a child’s future – a student missing one day a fortnight will miss four full weeks by the end of the year. By Year 12 they’ll have missed more than a year of school. 

There is no safe number of days for missing school – each day a student misses puts them behind and can affect their educational outcomes. Attendance does link to higher success rates in our students. Student courses for 2024 will be determined on many factors, attendance being an important one.

If you’re having attendance issues with your child, please let your child’s year level coordinator know so we can work together to get your child to school every day.

Punctuality teaches your child good habits for the remainder of their lives; you wouldn’t run late to a plane as it takes off without you. If you’re often late, ‘falling behind’ and missing connections it will become an extra challenge for your child. Normally the first moments of the day are for welcoming, ‘tuning in’ and setting the tone for the remainder of the day; important snippets of information and the ‘explicit teaching’ can be missed which provide holes in your child’s learning.  Remember being punctual will instil habits that will be replicated when your children start work. 

School:

• participation maximises life opportunities for children and young people by providing them with education and support networks. 
• helps children to develop important skills, knowledge and values that set them up for further learning and participation in their community.
• helps them to make the most of life opportunities

A child missing one day a fortnight will miss four weeks in a year, and more than a year of school by Year 10. It is important that children develop regular attendance habits at an early age.

Toilets

Unfortunately, despite a very encouraging start to the year, we are currently seeing an increase in the number of times our toilet and bathroom facilities are being damaged, vandalised and misused by our students. We have reminded all students about their responsibility in treating our facilities with respect. It is disappointing as we are putting a considerable amount of effort into being proactive in managing the issues, we are experiencing in our toilet blocks.  

We will continue to make the toilets an area of focus for our students as they do have the biggest part to play in ensuring that the facilities are clean and presentable during the school day. Please encourage your child to display our school values of high expectations and respect when using these shared facilities. 

Work experience

Work experience begins next week for Year 10 students. The Careers information sessions in our homegroup program and the dedication of our skilled careers practitioner, who assist students to undertake this integral part of their Senior School experience, has been terrific. All the best to Year 10 students who will immerse themselves in the world of work for one week. 

A couple of reminders

• As the winter weather inevitably brings colder temperatures, students are encouraged to wear thermals under their school uniform and follow the uniform rules, while ensuring that their jackets are labelled with their names so they avoid ending up in lost property. 
• When travelling to and from school, students should be alert to their surroundings and follow the road rules. When crossing busy roads, students must take extreme caution and cross at the traffic lights.

Pam Robinson 

Principal

IMPORTANT DATES:

Monday 10th July: Staff Professional Practice Day (No students)

Tuesday 11th July: Term 3 begins (Students return) 

Friday 14th July: Semester 1 Reports published on Compass

Wednesday 19th July: Early Dismissal and Year 12 P/T Interviews