College Principal’s Report
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We are close to the end of a very busy term and both students and staff will be looking forward to the upcoming break. There has been much achieved this term and you will see this reflected in the reports from each Campus in this edition of the College Newsletter.
I have been very pleased with the way our Senior students have conducted themselves and really begin to focus on their academic progress. Our Year 10 exams took place last week and this is the first time that we have run examinations mid-year at the College. Students took this opportunity seriously and it will support them as they move towards more formal exam periods in VCE. Our Year 12 students have been working hard: completing revision sessions at the end of Unit 3, masterclasses and practice exams in English, and lots of catch-up assessment where required. It has been great to see our Study Centre and Library full of small groups of students working together to progress their learning. We are now approximately two thirds of the way through our Year12 students’ academic year which is an exciting milestone. I encourage all of our senior students to use their break well from a study perspective, but also to take time out to rest and recharge.
Our students at Middle Years are also progressing well. Students in Year 9 recently experienced City School for the first time and the way that they represented our college in the community was outstanding. I congratulate them and also thank their teachers for their hard work in making this happen. In the past two weeks we have been proud to send a number of delegations of students to local events to mark World Environment Day. In particular a student convention at the Whittlesea Shire Offices and a forum at Mill Park Library last Friday, where the Hon. Lily D’Ambrosio spoke with students from a number of schools. I am continuously impressed by our students and the way they represent our school at these type of events, and we are committed to taking advantage of as many as these opportunities as possible.
Across the school, Compass tools are being fine-tuned and rolled out to support better sharing of information, and consistency of approach, in particular in the wellbeing and engagement area. On average as a school our attendance data continues to be a concern although there is a significant amount of work across the college to support improvement in this area. Time away from school can occur due to a range of factors: many of which are unavoidable. We understand this, however the cumulative impact is significant and at present we have a significant percentage of students who have experienced more than 10 days absence across the year so far. I urge all families to discuss this issue at home and consider setting positive targets for attendance in Term 3. Every day counts and if we work together I am sure we can get this figure moving in the right direction.
At present we are working hard to upgrade learning spaces and other facilities within the school – in particular at the Middle Years Campus which is the older of our two school sites. Over the term break six classrooms will be fully refurbished with new carpet, painting and brand new furniture. This work, along with the upgrades that have occurred this term is long overdue and will be ongoing. I acknowledge the leadership of our campus principals, as well as the Business Manager and facilities team for pushing to make this happen and look forward to sharing some images of the work when it is complete.
As I write this report we have officially passed the solstice for 2023, the shortest day of the year, it will get warmer and brighter from here! I hope that all of our families have a safe and restful break and return positive and ready to go for Term 3. It will be a busy one and for our Year 8 – 11 students an exciting time as they attend our senior Campus Information Course Information Night on Wednesday 19 July. I look forward to seeing many of you at that event or in other forums at our school.