Principal's Report
Welcome to term two! I hope the term break was restful and enjoyable for all of our families.
Information Night 24th April and Open Day 26th April
This is one of the busiest weeks in the MGC Calendar. We estimate 600-700 people attended Information Night on 24 April and we are prepared for similar numbers today. Congratulations to our Public Relations Captains, Maya Welsh, Jade Leung and their team who led and trained our Junior Ambassadors. The students helped Ms. McDonald and Mr. Houghton to plan and lead the Open Day. As always our College Captains Ky Luong, Isabelle Carney and Claudia Junge showed outstanding leadership. It is always a highlight to showcase the excellent work of our students and staff.
Our students are exemplary, please see this praise from a member of the public, “I wish to commend your Students on their unfailing courtesy on the trams. My husband is frail and mobility impaired. Specialist visits to the Epworth Hospital are a regular occurrence. I was reminded again this morning how your pupils unfailingly volunteer their seats with goodwill - and even when I reassure them that I prefer to stand I almost have to fight them off. In these days of dismal attention to courtesy you should know your girls display courtesy and politeness I seldom see from other students.
Thank you”.
The Performing Arts and STEAM Centre Project
On 21 March, our School Council President, Maya Narayan and I met with Christopher Carpenter, Senior Adviser to the Deputy Premier and Minister for Education. We gave an overview for our proposed new Performing Arts and STEAM Centre. We reiterated that our school is in an excellent location to support the Victorian government initiative in STEM http://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/programs/learningdev/vicstem/Pages/about.aspx including DET system wide access to STEAM transdisciplinary learning and thinking. The vision is a centre to facilitate both our girls and visiting educators with their students. We also noted that a range of community and system-wide educational facilities with inner-city access, such as the 400 seat theatre would be an asset to both the Richmond community and the State Education system.
The Netball Court Project
Nancy Sandilands, our Business Manager and Glen Holland, our Facilities Manager, have been working tirelessly with the Victorian School Building Authority to ensure delivery of the netball courts promised in 2017. We await final news on the dates of construction and completion but will keep you posted.
The MGC Library
The official opening of our newly refurbished library will take place on 11 May to coincide with the inaugural MGC Writer’s Festival which will be running all of that week. We hope many of our families and students can join us for the celebrations.
The Question of Mobile Phones at School
I have been approached by some parents, students and staff about the McKinnon High School initiative outlined in this article https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/noise-levels-dialled-up-as-school-s-total-phone-ban-gets-kids-talking-20180220-p4z0zq.html . As you know, mobiles are not to be used in class unless students are specifically directed to do so by a teacher. Is this enough to ensure personal social interactions increase and distractions to learning decrease? I look forward to hearing your ideas and opinions.
Staffing
It is with pleasure we continue to welcome Jennifer Roep as acting Assistant Principal. On 22 March DET informed us that Tip Kennedy would continue to be seconded to Fitzroy PS as its’ acting principal for terms 2 and 3.
Richmond Rotary Club
Brooke O’Callaghan does a magnificent job liaising between MGC and Richmond Rotary Club, Brooke nurtures this important connection thoughtfully and skillfully. Very sincere thanks to the Rotary Club of Richmond for, yet again, supporting the girls with the mock job interview process in March. A large number of Year 10 students seized the opportunity to write detailed resumes and be interviewed by experienced business people. The students and Rotarians all enjoyed the experience. The 2018 National Youth Science Forum sponsored by Rotary is also a highlight, the Science Faculty are currently seeking students to take part in this excellent Year 12 program.
The Australian International Rowing Regatta
The Australian International Rowing Regatta held in Penrith, Sydney from 21-23 March saw our Senior 1st crew, Lara Davies, Annie Coleman, Claudia Junge, Alice Clayton and Katie Fitzsimmons finish fourth in the B Finals and 12th in Australia overall. A great achievement for the rowers, Steph Burgess, Senior 1st coach Paul Blanchfield and Andrew Beck.
I would like to take this end of season opportunity to thank our hard working MGC Rowing Committee. The President Jennifer Baile, Treasurer Mark Brennan, Events/ Fund Raising Coordinator Moira Junge, Secretary Kaija Jordan, School support Jordyn Taylor and committee members Steve Baile, Jonathon Fitch, Leanne Fitch, Robynne Smith, Kylie Richardson, Sherri Vogel, Jocelyn Campbell and Mark Power. Our school, the rowers, Steph and Andrew thank you for your support and endeavour to ensure the program is set to succeed in the 2018-2019 season.
State Swimming Carnival
At the State Swimming Carnival On Wednesday 18 April Our medal tally kept growing. We finished with a grand total of 5 Gold, 4 Silver, 4 Bronze and 8 MGC Records. Please join us in congratulating Charli Millard, Tess Haslam and Chantelle Campbell who won 2 Gold medals each along with other placings. The very successful squad also included Chloe Millard, Charli Campbell, Ciara Walsh, Olivia Mitchell, Heidi Morris and Dominique Quirk.
Weight Lifting Club
On Tuesday 17th April the new MGC Weight Lifting Club trained for the first time. The club is another example of MGC staff and student initiative to break down gender stereotypes. Congratulations to Andrew Beck, Emily Shaw and the fifteen girls who are establishing a new tradition for the College.
World Irish Dance Championships
Our colleague, Christine Wallace, took her Irish Dance students to the Glasgow World Irish Dance Championships in March, the most prestigious choreographed Irish dancing event in the world. The mixed figure dance team placed first in the world! The senior and under 16 girls’ teams placed third. We congratulate our students Zoe Elliott (Year 8) for qualifying and Kaede Kiryama (Year 9) for her placing third.
Notice of Election and Call for Nominations for the Student Member Category of School Council
The Department of Education have finalised the process for electing students to School Council. Congratulations to Year 11 student, Mia Sherman who has been instrumental in working with VicSRC and the office of the Minister for Education to finalise the details of this process.
All MGC students are eligible to nominate and nomination forms are attached to the Compass Newsfeed dated 19 April. For 2018 only, one student will be elected for a one year term of office and one student will be elected for a two-year term of office. From 2019, students will be elected to council for a two-year term of office only.
Students can arrange for a student in Year 7 or above to nominate them as a candidate or they can nominate themselves for the Student category. Once the nomination form is completed, it should be returned to the front office by 4pm on Tuesday 1 May, 2018. If there are more nominations received than the two student representative vacancies, a ballot will be conducted from 4 May to 4pm 11 May, 2018.