From the Principal

Hello everyone, I hope your week has been fantastic.  

Yesterday, 7 staff including myself and Mike Parker attended an ‘anti-racism’ workshop facilitated by the Centre for Multi Cultural Youth. The aims of the workshop included, 

• Raising awareness of racism 
• Increasing understanding of racism and its impacts 
• Strengthening participant skills and confidence with strategies to discuss racism with students.  

Welcome to country was delivered by Elder Mark Brown from the Bunurong Land Council. He was very passionate and inclusive in his address.  

The morning was dedicated to ‘Culturally Sustaining Schools’. This workshop supported school staff to develop a shared vision of teaching and learning that build on student strengths, fostering positive identities and sustaining the diversity of cultures with schools.  

The afternoon topic of ‘Schools Standing up to Racism’ introduced schools to a range of concepts and tools that supports implementation.  

This morning, I have appointed Dr Jasmine Keough as the leading teacher in charge of the newly formed ‘Anti-Racism Team’. The team (yet to be formed) will develop an action plan using information from student forums and curriculum from the Centre for Multi Cultural Youth to develop our very own ‘Mornington Secondary College Standing up to Racism’ program. 

I look forward to sharing with you the work of this team.  

This weekend our Aerobics team, Boulify, will travel to South Australia to compete in the National Aerobic competition. We wish them well. Best of luck Boulify. 

Thankyou for your ongoing support. 

Linda Stanton

Principal

Important Dates

AUGUST

11/08 - 14/08/23 | Aerobics Final in Adelaide

22/08/23 | Year 7 Reptile Encounters Incursion

28/08/23 | Parent Teacher Interviews 12pm - 7.00pm  - REVISED DATE

SEPTEMBER

7/09/23 | Year 7 2024 Parent Information Evening

15/09/23 | Last day of Term 3 (2.30pm Finish)

OCTOBER

02/10/23 | First Day of Term 4

Middle School

Dear Parents and Guardians,

I think we all appreciate an act of kindness.

Last week, a parent contacted me to inform me that that his son had lost a valuable item at school. Later that afternoon, the parent contacted me again to say that a student at the college had found the item and handed it in to the office. The parent was not only relieved but very grateful and wanted to reward that student for their honesty.

Together with our school values of Respect, Achievement and Community- Kindness features as part of our assemblies and discussions in Connect classes. I was researching for some sort of definition of kindness and the following resonates with my understanding ‘People who are kind act that way not for any reward or even recognition but because it is the right way to behave”. I hope that you too have been a recipient of a kind act or have been able to pass some kindness forward.

Yesterday I was watching the year 7s play Dodgeball in period 5. I can assure you the noise was deafening with all the year 7s in the stadium. Mrs Schembri did a great job overseeing the activity and organising the students who had a great time trying to remain in the game by dodging the ball.

Year 7 sport is happening today, and our futsal team have been inspired by “The Matildas”!

The students are very excited as they are participating in sports across various locations across the peninsula.

Fit Club is a great facility we have at school. The other day, I visited Mr Olarenshaw’ s Connect group in Fit Club. It is so encouraging and inspiring watching students supporting each other.

In previous newsletters, I have mentioned about classroom routines. We would be very appreciative if you could remind your child to bring a charged laptop to school and to attend class with their exercise book, textbook, pens and of course, their laptop and to be ready to learn.

Thank you so much for your ongoing support.

Denise Leggett

Middle School Assistant Principal

Senior School

To students and families of the Mornington Senior School,

It’s mind-blowing to think that we are halfway through this term. This means that our Year 12s have one more SAC per subject (at most) and our Year 12 VCE VM students about 5 weeks to have their work for unit 4 signed off so they can finish at the end of term 3. Year 12 VCE VM students who haven’t had all their work signed off will return in term 4 until they have it completed. Year 12 Leader, Mr Kirkby, will provide further information about this process in due course.

At the time of writing this, we are 3 days into our ready to learn, locker bay trial, seeking to increase the number of Year 10 and 11 students who are in their classes on time at the beginning of the day, with learning materials for periods 1 & 2. Yesterday there were only 10 students who returned to their lockers after Connect (down from about 120 last week when I was out there). It appears that our strategy is starting to work, our students are adapting their habits and are being present for the vital starter part of the lesson. It generally takes over 18 days to form a habit, so the strategy will continue.

The Year 12 team has been analysing VCE data from semester 1 and will shortly be emailing students and families who may be at an increased risk of not achieving a 25-study score in their English subject (this is a pre-requisite English subject score for many, but not all, university courses). This will be done to ensure students can access the pathways team to explore any potential impact on the course preferences (for some it will not have an impact) and so students can make adjustments to their learning behaviours to try and increase their performance in time for their VCAA exam. There is time to change their trajectory and we are using this process to inform and support, so there is no need to be alarmed.

Have a fantastic week as we move into the final 3 weeks of winter!

Kind regards,

Nick Evans

Senior School Assistant Principal

Parents its over to you

As I mentioned last week the Parent Opinion survey is now OPEN. 

We would love to hear from you.

To access the survey log into Compass and on the STAR menu you will find a link to the survey: “Parent Opinion Survey [PIN: XXXXXX]”, click this link and enter the PIN you will find there (not XXXXX!).  

The survey is anonymous and will take you around 20min.

CURRENT SCORE: 3 Families

Kind regards,

Mike Parker

Assistant Principal

Year 10 

Mr Jake Uhlenberg 

The term is half-way done already and none of us can really believe it. We hope the opening half has been a productive time for our students and that the second half of the term will move swiftly and efficiently.

The big news for Year 10 is that we have released information regarding our Formal taking place on Friday the 13th of October at Frankston Arts Centre. 

Information regarding the event can be found on Compass, but the important information is as follows; the Formal will entail a 2-course meal as well as a DJ and Photobooth, it will run from 6:30pm to 10:00pm and students will need to have a nominated parent or guardian collect them at the end of the night. 

The dress code is formal wear to match our event theme: The Red Carpet.

We look forward to seeing our students at such an event before we usher them into their VCE pathways, both ATAR and VM. Please seek more information through Compass including our policies regarding the night and those of the venue and their security.

Year 10 Outdoor Education

Year 10 Outdoor Education class took on the challenge of the tall wall at Bayside Rock Climbing. While pushing themselves to their limits and working closely in team building activities, the class focused on safety process in the environment, equipment and people participation. I was extremely impressed with how the students conducted themselves; encouraging others and challenging themselves on the day.

The Year 10 Outdoor Education class also took part in cleaning up the school and within 7 minutes, the class was able to fill 4 big garbage bags.   They then sorted and counted the rubbish. We found over 505 pieces of rubbish, mostly paper from books, plastic wrappers, gladwrap and food scraps. It is sad to see so much rubbish left in our yard especially when we understand the impact it is having on our wildlife. Many pieces were found near school bins. WE NEED TO DO OUR BIT.  As such, the classes first assignment is a 'pitch' to the principal on innovative ways we can reduce our impact on the environment and have a more sustainable community. 

Year 11 

Dr Jasmine Keough

Preparations for the Year 11 Formal is well underway! Ticketing has opened and the students should be getting excited! We are now halfway through Term 3 and the Year 11 students have settled into a steady rhythm. 

On the whole, students have been following the uniform expectations but there are still some who are wearing the wrong pants or shoes or wearing hoodies. If any student has difficulties with getting the correct uniform, please contact the Year 11 Coordination team and we can help you. 

Some students are still being reminded to not use their mobile phones or airbuds/airpods in class. Consequences for not following teacher instructions to remove these can result in suspension. It is best if students leave these in their lockers at the start of the day to avoid the temptation of using them. Please support us to ensure students are following school and government rules on mobile phones.

Year 12 

Mr Scott Kirkby

Revision seminars

Connect seminars are now live as events.  The schedule aims to minimise clashes but cannot guarantee them. If a clash occurs, you may pay for both to get the resources and attend one or just choose which one you would like to attend. A minimum of 15 students are required in each seminar for the events to go ahead, so please ensure you register early to avoid cancellations. 

Events will be published this week and be accessible via Compass at a cost of $42 per seminar which will include a professionally bound text book and work booklet to complete during the session. 

Connect seminars will not clash with trial exams that week. Trial exam schedule will be published next week. No VCE ATAR classes will run in Term 3, week 10. Vocational Major classes will be running as normal 

Valedictory

Dear Parents, Guardians and Students,

The Year 12 Valedictory Dinner will be held on Tuesday 17th October at New Peninsula Baptist Church, 370 Craigie Rd, Mount Martha, from 6:30pm – 10pm.

We are pleased to invite parents, guardians, and family members to join our Year 12 students as they are formally presented with their graduation certificates and achievement awards, celebrating their successes at Mornington Secondary College. 

The event includes a three-course meal, and multiple photographers will be available on the night to capture the event, with a link sent out to all attendees to download the photos free of charge. Formal proceedings will be followed by dancing.

TICKET SALES AND SEATING INFORMATION

Ticket sales will close on Monday October 2nd, 2023. No further tickets will be available to purchase after this date. 

Ticket are prices at $102.50 plus 50c Trybooking fee and can be purchased through the following link: https://www.trybooking.com/CJJWI

Round 1 Ticket Sales

All families can purchase up to 3 tickets (student ticket plus 2 additional tickets).  Round 1 will close on Thursday 24th August 2023.

*Seating allocation is enabled via TryBooking upon purchasing tickets.

We understand that some families may require separate seating. For ease of booking, all odd table numbers are located on the left-hand side of the venue and even numbers on the right. Additionally, please note this preference in the comments section as table numbers are subject to change.  

If you plan to purchase additional tickets if available, please note this in the comment section on Trybooking.

Round 2 Ticket Sales

For families who have already purchased tickets in Round 1, extra tickets may become available for purchase from Friday 25th August until Monday 2nd October 2023. The number of tickets that may be purchased will be dependent on the balance of remaining tickets.

As per school policy, this event will be smoke and alcohol free. 

Mornington Secondary College is committed to creating and maintaining a child safe environment in which students feel safe and are safe. Mornington Secondary College has a Child Safe Policy and a Child Safety Code of Conduct.

Careers/Pathways 

VCE Results & ATAR

Register now! This includes all VCE, VCE VM (Year 12) & Year 11 Unit 3/4 students. Students - please refer to your Year Level Teams page (Careers Channel) for more information.

When are 2023 results and ATARs available?

The VCE Results and ATAR Service operates from 7am Monday 11 December until 5pm Friday 15 December 2023 via the website and mobile app.

What information will be available on the VCE Results and ATAR Service?

The VCAA provides you with the following information:

• the certificate you have been awarded
• whether you have been awarded the VCE (Victorian Certificate of Education)
• whether you have been awarded the VCE (Baccalaureate)
• whether you have been awarded the VCE Vocational Major (VM).
• whether you have been awarded the Victorian Pathways Certificate (VPC)
• whether you have been awarded the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL)
• a list of all Year 12 studies you completed in 2023, with your grades and study scores

If you qualify for an ATAR, VTAC provides you with the following information:

• your ATAR
• your VTAC scaled study scores.

Only 2023 results are available on all services

Refer to the FAQs for more information

MSC Career Practitioners can be contacted at careers@mornsc.vic.edu.au

2024 Vocational Education & Training (VET)

Over 100 Year 10 and 11 students have submitted applications to undertake VET in 2024. 

For students completing VCE VM next year, enrolment in VET is compulsory.   VET programs are delivered on a yearly schedule and students are unable to change VET programs during the year.  Most programs run for two years and if planning on continuing into the second year, students still need to complete an application.   If students are not continuing with their VET program in 2024, an application will be required for their new VET choice.

Some TAFEs and Registered Training Organisations are now accepting expressions of interest from schools for their VET programs.  This year, Carpentry, Electrical, Automotive, Plumbing, Animal Care, Early Childhood Education & Care, Information Technology (Cyber Security) and Sport & Recreation were fully subscribed, and some students were not able to be placed in their preferred program.   Demand for places is expected to be high again in 2024.

Applications will be lodged with the TAFEs/RTOs in the order they are received by the Careers Office.  For more information, please contact the Careers Office at 5970 0271 or careers@mornsc.vic.edu.au.

THANK YOU

A big thank you to Tara from British Paints and Ailz from Bunnings for donating paint to use on the exterior of the school cottage.

Bunnings Mornington have always been an enormous advocate for our Hands on Learning Program and the college in general.

Thank you for your ongoing support we very much appreciate you!

Staff profile

Grant Olarenshaw

My Name is Grant Olarenshaw and I have been in education for 17 years. In that time, I previously worked at Mooroolbark College for 12 years before making the sea change to Mornington Secondary College. My leadership experience includes Sports Coordination (1 year), Year level Coordinator (2 years), Leading Teacher – Head of House (6 years), Assistant Principal – Head of Senior School (3 years), Year 12 Coordinator (4 years) and currently Director of Teacher and Learning Excellence alongside Matt McKenzie.

For me, I still get the ‘buzz’ from teaching in the Health and Physical Educational department (HPE) and equally from being part of the leadership team that makes tangible changes that supports student outcomes.  I love my job. 

In my leadership role this year, Matt and I have supported staff in focusing on building good classroom routines, effective lesson structure (utilising our STAR instructional model), incorporating differentiation into lessons and encouraging students to challenge themselves academically to grow in each class.  Alongside this we have increased the visibility of our Leaders within the classroom through Learning Walks so we can target best practices to meet the needs of our students.

I’m really looking forward to what our school can achieve over the next 4 years.

Outside of school I coach my son and daughters’ basketball teams and I am obsessed with renovating. I love travelling, our family wakeboarding holidays down at Lake Eildon and entertaining around the pizza oven and pool. Although I have lived in Mornington for 6 years, I still am amazed at where we live and you will often find me with the family on the beach (even in winter with our rain coats on). 

Don't forget to look on compass for sport sign ups, excursions and any other information sent to students and parents. 

Below is a link to help guide you in your use of compass.

https://mornsc.vic.edu.au/for-parents/compass-parent-guide/

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