Principal's Report

DISCOVERY DAY

Term 3 has been a busy term with the College community participating in many events. We kicked the term off with Discovery Day where over 500 primary school students attended for a day of fun and activities. Also, during the day our year 9 and 10 students participated in careers forums and subject selection interviews. It is pleasing to know that our students are being well prepared for their future studies and work lives.

AWARDS CEREMONY

This years mid-year Awards ceremony allowed our community to share a sense of pride in the achievements of many of our students. I am always extremely proud to see each of the recipients achieve their goals and receive well deserved accolades. Please see the awards page for a list of awards and recipients.

ATTENDANCE

One of the biggest impacts on student learning is low attendance at school. I would like to remind all families how important it is that your child attends school everyday and that 'its not ok to be away'.

This year the College has been working on building our attendance communications and processes and I am pleased to report that our attendance rates have improved dramatically with a significant increase in the number of students with less than 10 days absence. See graph below.

Research shows that missing 10 percent of school, or about 18 days, negatively affects a student’s academic performance. That’s just two days a month and that’s known as chronic absence.

Students who miss one day a fortnight end up missing out on 20 days across a year which is 4 weeks of learning they are missing out on.

HEADSTART

The College has been selected to participate in the Head Start program which is an exciting new $49.8m (over 4 years) initiative from the State Government to increase the number of students undertaking high quality apprenticeships and traineeships, while still completing their senior secondary studies through flexible arrangements. The initiative is part of a suite of reforms, including $109m to transform careers education, and $25.9m to strengthen vocational education in schools.

Head Start apprenticeships and traineeships are designed to meet employer requirements and provide a strong pathway for students wishing transition from school into employment qualified in their chosen field.

flexible delivery of VCAL and VCE to assist in maximising time on job, and with a strong focus on literacy and numeracy;
quality training delivered in a way that matches time on the job to support achievement of competencies; and
maximised time in employment, with time on job increasing each year in order to support genuine progression through the apprenticeship or traineeship.