Principal's Message

Add to this the aspects of the job that aren’t scheduled and I soon gained further appreciation for her. I am once again enjoying all the challenges of working across both campuses however, I am continuing to teach Year 12 English and this will remain one of my priority areas as we reach the pointy end of the year.

To commence the week I had the privilege of meeting with Gene Reardon from Regional Office in Melbourne who visited the College to view the work of our Early Years team.  Leanne Coates proudly showcased the detailed planning that sits behind each lesson and Kathryn Edwards spoke about our team work, synthetic phonics and instructional models. Gene was suitably impressed with the work and took away a number of artefacts to share with other schools.

A range of experiences and extracurricular activities over the past fortnight have offered our students an opportunity to shine, step out of their comfort zones, work collaboratively and delve into their interests.

Twenty-eight Year 11 students participated in our Debutante Ball. The students presented themselves in a confident and polished manner and showcased their dancing skills.   Preparation for this event enabled students to further cement friendships and appreciation for each other’s talents.  We received lots of positive feedback from guests about all facets of the ball. Thanks must be extended to the parents who worked tirelessly to organise aspects of the ball – we are very fortunate indeed to have such wonderful parental support at the College.

The Book Week Parade at the Junior Campus was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the joy of reading. I was amazed with the effort that some children and their families went to in order to dress as their favourite book character. A number of costumes such as a walking papier-mâché toilet and a blue cardboard ball piqued my interest and made me realise that I had lost touch with what is popular with young children currently, resulting in a quick trip to the library to read some of the picture story books.

Twenty-two performances made up the Instrumental Music Winter Concert. A range of students from beginners to the experienced performed pieces on the violin or keyboard. Mrs Pugh does a wonderful job with her students and it was lovely to see the students confidently and enthusiastically presenting their pieces.

Students in Year 7 – 10 participated in awareness raising workshops conducted by VCAL students as part of their Health Day. Pairs of students presented on some of the health conditions that students at the College deal with on a day to day basis. College alumni in the health field volunteered their time to have input into the presentations and this was highly valued. Congratulations to the VCAL students on presenting their information and activities in an engaging and confident manner.

Learning about science through an inflatable planetarium culminated our Science Week activities on Friday. The Starlab visit exposed students from Prep – Year 12 to the world of astronomy.

Katie Taylor and I spent the start of the week at Deakin University learning about the use of synthetic phonics as an intervention tool in secondary schools. We have another two days of training in a fortnight. NAPLAN results were released to schools on Tuesday but I have had little opportunity to examine them and will include an overview in the next newsletter. Student results have been posted home today.