Principal's Report
From the Principal
A warm welcome to a new school year - I hope that all of our College community experienced a safe and enjoyable holiday period.
We are delighted to welcome back all our students for what we sincerely hope will be a successful and exciting 2023 and offer a special welcome and message of sincere greetings to the 340 Year 7 students and their families.
I am confident that our current students will welcome our new students in accord with our College values of care and compassion, respect and fairness, making them feel welcome and helping them to make friends quickly.
Importantly, my observation would be that our classes in all year levels have settled quickly well, and I have been delighted to visit classrooms over the past week full of respectful interaction and purposeful teaching and learning.
Our COVID- Safe Environment in 2023
With the commencement of the College school year, our aim is to continue to work together to manage the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As always, the health and wellbeing of our students and staff are of paramount importance.
The Department of Education has published an updated Operation Guide for schools based on the latest advice from Victoria’s Chief Medical Officer.
The measures set out in the revised Operational Guide are summarised below:
Vaccinations are no longer mandatory but remain strongly recommended.
It is recommended that rapid antigen tests (RATs) continue to be used by students:
- If you have symptoms of COVID-19 infection, no matter how mild
- If you are a household or close contact of someone who has COVID-19
- If you are a social contact of someone who has COVID-19
The Department of Health recommends that all Victorians should report their positive RAT result to the Department of Health online, or by calling 1800 675 398.
If your son or daughter tests positive for COVID-19, you should notify the College in writing (email Covid.absence@eastdonsc.vic.edu.au) or by phone, 98422244.
Students with a positive test result are recommended to isolate for a minimum of 5 days and not attend school until they no longer exhibit symptoms. Students who isolate because of a positive COVID-19 test will be supported in the same way as students with an extended absence due to illness or injury, with learning materials provided by staff to support their continued learning.
While there is no longer the close focus on rates of infection, schools have been reminded that COVID continues to infect people and we are asked to be vigilant in our COVID-safe practices.
Parents of students who are symptomatic will be asked to collect their child from school and to keep them home until they are no longer symptomatic.
Please continue to remain vigilant about preventing COVID-19 transmission. Any student who is unwell should continue to remain at home. This helps to keep staff and students healthy and well in our College and reduces the spread of both COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases. Students who wish to wear a mask should continue to do so.
To keep our College as safe as possible, we will also continue to use air purifiers and other COVID-19 prevention measures.
A message of support for the people of Turkey and Syria
Amidst the busy excitement of a new school year, it has been truly distressing to learn of the human tragedy that has unfolded this week due to the destructive earthquake that has killed thousands in Turkey and Syria.
We know that we have families within our College community who have their family origins and close family ties in both Turkey and Syria.
On behalf of the College community and all staff and students, we convey our sincere sympathy and prayers to all families that may be impacted in any way by this tragedy.
If families are in such a position, I would invite them to contact our College – via our Year Level Coordinators and/or Wellbeing staff, so that we can offer extra tiers of support to students affected by the current circumstances.
College Leadership
I am pleased to introduce our Leadership Team for 2023.
Principal Class
John Roberts – Principal
Karen Boyle – Assistant Principal (Teaching and Learning)
Cameron Campbell – Assistant Principal (Student Wellbeing and Engagement and Operations)
Jas Kaur – Assistant Principal (Staff Development and Internationalising Education)
Leading Teachers
Kate Leaumont – Senior School Coordinator, Justin Bond – Middle School Coordinator, Brett Lamb – Curriculum Coordinator, Justin D’Andrea– Teaching and Learning – Pedagogy, Steve Hoffman – Timetable / Staffing, John Rainbow – Mathematics/Numeracy, Jarrod Sturnieks – English/Literacy, Sally Polidano – Science/STEM, Angie Fusinato – Learning Performance, Tim Bourke – Student Voice & Community Engagement, Amal Saleh-Zada -Director of Wellbeing
New and Returning Staff to EDSC
I am also very pleased to welcome the following teachers who are either returning from extended leave or starting with us for the first time in 2023:
Yubo Qiu – Chinese
Katherine Rose – Literacy/Humanities
Maggie Wang – Maths
Jessica Li – Maths/IT
Marco Gallucci – Commerce/Humanities
Erin Jennings – English Humanities
Bradley Keats – Maths
Jessi Amirah – English/Humanities
Shilpa Vij – Science
Katherine Graziano – Italian
Annie Yue – Humanities
Coco Peri Yang – Maths/IT
Zachary Greenwood – English
Tegan Williamson – English/Humanities
Jo Pfizner – English/Humanities/Media
Dennis Yeung – Maths/Science
Esther Weng - Maths/IT
Fiona Ge – Maths
Yvonne Ji – Maths
Tess Taylor – Food Technology/Health
Aiden Krott – Art
Laura Crake – Physical Education/Health
Yan Jiang – Chinese
Michelle Shi – Chinese
Melody Donald - Physical Education/Health
Johnson Yao – ScienceTim Nolan - Physical Education/Health
Amal Saleh-Zada – Director of Wellbeing
Ryan Attard – Food Technology Aide
(Returning)
Tegan Pohl - Maths/Science
Paola Malatesta – Humanities/LOTE
College Performance 2022
Given the circumstances of 2022, coming on the backdrop of a severely disrupted two years prior to last, I can only describe our VCE results at the conclusion of the year as outstanding.
A sincere congratulations is extended to the ‘Class of 2022’ for their efforts and achievements and to our VCE teachers for their application and dedication in yet another year that held a multitude of significant challenges.
Our median VCE study score was 34
5 of our students achieved an ATAR of 99.
33 of our students achieved an ATAR of 95 or higher.
34% of our students received an ATAR over 90 – that is better than one in three of our VCE students achieving such a high benchmark.
58 % of our students received an ATAR over 80.
Our average ATAR was 81.22 – the state average was 70.33.
Seven students received a study score of 50, thus placing them in the top 0.3% in the state:
MARK KNIGHT (English, Chemistry)
CHIAKI CHNG (English)
SANAA HASAN (English)
TARA NIEMES (English)
JASMIN HISSINK (Food Studies)
SAMUEL TING (Further Maths)
TYLER IKE (Visual Communications)
DUX of the COLLEGE
The 2022 Dux of the College is Mark Knight, who gained an ATAR of 99.9 – a truly outstanding achievement!
Mark performed exceptionally well as a Year 11 student where he gained two perfect study scores of 50 for Biology and Further Maths. He followed this, in his Year 12 studies, with two further study scores of 50 in his English and Chemistry subjects. Mark worked extremely hard and with great diligence and application as a VCE student and it was wonderful to see that his effort towards his studies was so richly rewarded.
We are extremely proud of the achievements of our students and the effort and nurturing care of our teachers in supporting them throughout their time at East Doncaster.
Such results, achieved against the uncertain backdrop of a global pandemic, are naturally pleasing and strongly reinforces the direction we are taking to seek continual improvement in student learning outcomes at our College, and are a credit to students and teachers alike.
College Swimming Carnival
It was very rewarding to witness our students supporting the first major whole- school event on our College calendar - our annual Swimming and Diving Carnival conducted on a beautiful sunny day yesterday.
It was just great to see our students grasp this opportunity to socially connect and once again perform in the sporting arena.
Thanks to the following for the photography:
The swimming photos were taken/editied by Aidan,Mahmoud,Alesandro,Lachlan,Jamie and Samantha. These photos are the ones we handpicked out of the 600-700 we took on the day. I hope you guys can make the most of these!
- Jamie Lester (Media Captain)
As has become the tradition, the tone of the day was impressively set by our senior students who arrived in various forms of imaginative free dress and in visible support with their house colours proudly on display. From this stage on, the carnival was a colourful, engaging, participative event for all of our students and was matched by the competitive nature of the events within the pool.
Congratulation to Dunlop – the winning House team of the Carnival in what turned out to be a very competitive final leaderboard.
A special mention is afforded to Logan Cox (Year 11), Christopher Botuyan (Year 9) and Leona Loh-Hermans (Year 7) for breaking existing College record times in individual events. Well done to them all!
Could I finally acknowledge the superb organisational effort of Michael James and his team of staff helpers for their considerable work both before and during the day and pay a special tribute to our extended student leadership team for their efforts, enthusiasm and teamwork that made the day all the more rewarding.
School Council Elections
Parents are invited to read the attached information about School Council Elections and consider whether they are able to make a tangible contribution to our College community by engaging in the overview and policy development of East Doncaster SC. Further information is on our website. Please feel free to contact me at the College if you would like to discuss any matters related to our School Council.
School Council and 2023 Annual General Meeting - Open Meeting
We are extending an invitation to the College Community to attend the March School Council meeting and Annual General Meeting. This will be held at 7.00 pm on Wednesday 8 March.
Interested parties are asked to please contact Lisa Bull at Lisa.Bull2@education.vic.gov.au for further details and to register attendance. All attendees must be registered by 4.00pm Wednesday 1 March 2023.
Outstanding Student Achievement – an invitation
As we commence the new school year and welcome many new families to our College community - can I take this opportunity to remind families that we are always willing to hear of and share the deeds of our students in their sporting, academic, performing arts or community-based pursuits external to our College. We have, on a regular basis, students who are involved in a quite extraordinary array of activities and it is always a pleasure and with great pride that we seek to share those outcomes with our wider school community.
In accord with the above invitation, we extend a warm congratulations to Courtney Mudge from Year 10. During the holiday break, Courtney travelled to Busselton, Western Australia, to compete in the 5 km National Open Waters Championships. Courtney finished a very creditable 28th place in girls 16/17 race. A wonderful effort, Courtney – well done!
Finally, we were recently delighted to learn that one of Year 12 students from the class of 2022, Samantha Chim, has had her short documentary film titled 'Break the Mould' selected for the prestigious Top Screen film festival.
The festival, which is a selection of the best films from VCE Media students in Victoria, Australia, is an initiative of the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) -it aims to recognise and celebrate the achievements of talented young filmmakers and to provide them with an opportunity to showcase their work to a wider audience.
The festival is open to all students who have completed a VCE Media course in Victoria, and films are eligible for selection if they have been completed as part of a student's VCE Media studies.
To be shortlisted for this prestigious festival is a great honour and we are very proud of Samantha!
Brett Lamb, our senior VCE Media teacher has published an extended article on Samantha – to be found within this Newsletter.
John Roberts
Principal
School Council Elections 2023
The 2023 School Council Election and Calls for Nomination - Closing 4pm Monday 13 February 2023.
One of the challenges of secondary schools is gaining involvement of parents. After significant time spent in school-based activities in primary schools, it is not uncommon for parents to step back from similar activities at secondary school. In recent years parent involvement in our Parents and Friends Association and School Council has been very strong. We hope to continue this growth of engagement.
Please find attached the information to parents, students and staff and the timeline and nomination forms for the 2023 School Council Elections.
There is a call for nominations for parent, student and DET Employee categories. Nominations may be submitted at Reception.
Students who wish to enquire further about nominating for School Council are asked to please come to Reception.
Parent Payment arrangements for 2023
Dear Parents/Guardians,
Please find attached the Parent Payment arrangements for 2023. They are available for payment via Compass on your home page under “Course Confirmation/Payments”.
Alternatively, payments can be made directly to the College via credit card or cash using the College Payment Envelope. Please ensure you download the attached form for the appropriate 2023 year level. Payment envelopes can be dropped off at the College in the locked drop box at Reception.
Your ongoing support of College allows us to continue to offer a broad range of programs and enhanced curriculum experiences.
Please refer to the attached Parent Payments Policy and further links to information via https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/parent-payment/policy
Advertise in our College Newsletter
Do you have a business or are you part of a community organisation?
Do you want to reach over 1,000 families in the area every fortnight?
Our fortnightly e-newsletter has space available at either A5 or full page and can include direct links to your website (no social media sites).
Pricing:
$25 - A5 size per edition
$50 - A4 full page per edition
$10 – for community groups A5 size per edition
$200 - per term
$700 - per year
Email the attached form to
east.doncaster.sc@education.vic.gov.au or contact us on 9842-2244 for more information.
College Philosophy
At East Doncaster Secondary College we have a strong tradition of academic excellence and we aim to promote and sustain a reflective learning culture. We want students to experience a sense of achievement and growth in their academic, personal, social and emotional development. We have high expectations of our students’ commitment to being mutually supportive and striving for success as learners. We are proudly multicultural with a student population from 43 nationalities including a number of International Students. 68% of our students speak a language other than English at home.
A student’s life at school is full of opportunities, being rich and varied with a range of co-curricular activities in music, sport, productions, debating, clubs as well as camps and international experiences for the educational and personal development of students. Our students are vibrant, energetic, and talented young people. There are many student leadership opportunities and we aim to continue to increase student access to decision-making and self-determination as learners.
We endeavour to create a "Culture of Curiosity" with goals of ensuring learning improvement for every student – every student, every period, every day.
Our school’s purpose is to develop passionate learners who are critical thinkers with the confidence and capability to engage in the global community.
Care and Compassion, Curiosity, Excellence, Fairness, Resilience, Respect and Teamwork are the core values that underpin the culture of our school as we embrace the challenges of 21st Century learning.
We aim to sustain a learning culture that provides every student with a sense of achievement and of being their best in their academic, personal, social and emotional development.
Privacy and Data at East Doncaster Secondary College - Reminder
Our school collects, uses, discloses and stores student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy.
Please take time to read our school’s collection notice, found on our website on the Policy Documents page. We ask parents to also review the guidance we provide on how we use platforms such as Compass, Microsoft 365, Google Workspace for Education safely at the school and what parents can do to further protect their child’s information. If after reviewing the guidance, you have any questions or concerns regarding your child using Microsoft 365/Google Workspace for Education, please contact the school. For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ Privacy Policy — information for parents. This information is also available in ten community languages:
* Amharic
* Arabic
* Dari
* Gujarati
* Mandarin
* Somali
* Sudanese
* Turkish
* Urdu
* Vietnamese