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Newsletter Edition 9 – Monday 1 August 2022

1st August 2022

In this Issue:

College Principal’s Report
Middle Years Campus – Principal’s Message
Senior Years Campus – Principal’s Message
Physical Education/Health
Humanities
Language
English
Wellbeing
Science
Mathematics and Numeracy
Library
Careers
Student Success
Community Noticeboard

Upcoming Events

School Holidays

Dec 20 2024 – Jan 27 2025 all-day

Offices Open for 2025

Tickets

Jan 22 – Jan 24 all-day

Public Holiday

Jan 27 all-day

All Staff Return for 2025

Jan 28 all-day

Years 7, 10, 11 & 12 Start for 2025

Tickets

Jan 29 all-day

College Principal’s Report

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Planning for Pathways

Term 3 is an exciting time at Mill Park Secondary College, as for many students they begin to look forward to what their programs, courses and pathways will be in 2023. I was pleased to see so many students and families at our recent Senior Campus Information night on Wednesday 20 July. For our current Year 9 and Year 10 students it was a chance to consider the options for their studies as they move into the final years of school. It was so impressive to see the thoughtful and mature way that the young people present engaged with the teachers and staff who were there to support them. Naturally there will still be lots of questions, and if these have not been answered in either Pastoral sessions, through interviews with the careers team, or though using the fantastic handbook which is now available on our website then I encourage you to contact us here at school. These are big decisions, but they should also be positive ones and there is lots of support here to help.

Our current Year 8 students will have an opportunity to attend school with their families for the Year 9 Information evening (2022) on 22 August at the Middle Years campus. More information will be available as we draw closer to the date.

Feedback / Reporting

I am hoping that all families have now had an opportunity to download and review their child’s reports for Semester 1. Semester Reports are an important piece of information to inform how a student is progressing in their studies, and more importantly, to identify the steps and strategies which will assist them to show growth in their learning as they move forwards. Students should be discussing this with their teachers, and the Student Agency Conferences are a great opportunity to do this. Based on parent feedback we have moved to adjust the timing of these conferences during the day to ensure that working families are better able to attend. We have also maintained the online format based on positive feedback from 2021. I trust that discussions at these conferences will be positive and productive, and I encourage you to contact the school if you need additional information or have questions or comments regarding your child after speaking with their teachers. For our Year 12 students they are entering the final weeks of classes before the trial exams and their study break. Ensure that they get the feedback that they need from their teachers to make the most of this precious time!

COVID-19 Safety

As you will be aware from my communication earlier this term, we have received advice from the Department of Education, making clear that students and staff are strongly advised to wear masks whilst indoors at school. Although there is no mandate or rule around this, I am seeking your support in having a discussion at home with the young people in your lives about why mask wearing may be a positive decision for them to make. This is certainly a discussion we are having here at school with both students and staff. Wearing a facemask indoors reduces the risk of transmission of COVID-19 and other winter illnesses. In his means lowering the risk of becoming ill and having to spend time away from the classroom as either a teacher or a student. You will understand the level of disruption that covid is currently causing in your workplaces and business and it is also having a big impact on continuity here at school. As mentioned above, for some of our students this time is increasingly precious so please consider the benefits of taking this step that will help the whole community.

School Review

As a College we are subject to a review every four years to reflect on our progress towards targets set for improvement and to identify the next steps that will help us build stronger outcomes for our students. This review has been completed with the assistance of external staff including a School Reviewer, experienced Principals form other secondary schools and Members of School Council. The review was able to identify clear areas under the banners of student learning, student engagement and student wellbeing where concrete strategies could be put in place to support our students. These will now be developed into a four-year School Strategic Plan, and I look forward to providing you with more information about this plan when it is finalised. I would like to thank all our students, staff and parents who contributed to this important process for our school community.

Student Agency Conferences

Student Agency Conferences will run on Tuesday 2 August 2022 from 11am-7pm via Webex. Please be advised that this is Student-Free day from school.
You are able to book in your conferences currently through Sentral, bookings will close at 11:59pm on Monday 1 August.

Tim Natoli

College Principal

Middle Years Campus – Principal’s Message

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Student Agency Conferences

These conferences will be happening on Tuesday 2 August between 11am and 7pm and booking can be made via the Sentral Parent Portal. If you have any issues making bookings please call the General Office on 9407 9700. In planning your bookings also remember to have your child present, this may involve sharing meeting links with them, if you are connecting online from different locations.

Teaching and Learning and Student Engagement models

Students have completed a reflection based on our Teaching and Learning and Student Engagement models, focusing on their relative strengths related to the student actions. This reflection will be the basis of conversations with staff, in order to identify how teachers and families can assist students to reach goals, they set related to learning and engagement. If you notice this task is unfinished in your child’s Google Classroom, please prompt them to finish this on the weekend as it is a useful exercise and provides information for teachers on areas your child would like to focus and receive support, even if you are unable to attend the conferences. Below are both models for your reference. It is advised students have their reflection goals handy or in mind for the conferences.

Production Excursion for Year 7, Instrumental and Performing Arts students

After such a ‘Wicked” audience experience in April, our Year 7 students will all be viewing this year’s production on Wednesday 10 August. Please make sure consent is given via Sentral or contact the General Office on 9407 9700 if you are having issues with Sentral. No Year 7 classes will be running during sessions 1-4 on the day, any student unable to attend the production will only have classes during sessions 5 & 6. We encourage families to still come along and see the show during the evening performances.

Students in Year 8 & 9, enrolled in instrumental music or performing arts electives, have also been invited to attend. Classes will run during sessions 1-6 for any Year 8 or 9 student who declines this invitation via Sentral.

School Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS): Responsibility

I would like to take the opportunity to acknowledge both effort and areas for improvement and ask you to find a time for a conversation at home to support our college value of responsibility.

There have been more instances of students reporting concerns to staff. This is helpful, as it allows us to work with other young people to support them to grow (often in social and emotional learning), but it also helps people see we have positive expectations within our community. While students have shown improved ability to name inappropriate behaviours with staff, there may be some missed opportunities for peer leadership in some cases. How confident does your child feel to call-out inappropriate behaviour with kindness? What do they think this looks and sounds like in class or in the yard?

Last term’s City School excursion was a great representation of our school with students acting and speaking respectfully out in the broader community, while following our school uniform guidelines. These expectations are being met by the majority of students and I thank them for taking on this responsibility.

While colder weather is influencing some choices that don’t meet uniform expectations (hoodies and non-uniform jackets), this is not an excuse for not meeting the positive expectation so many others manage daily. Additional layers must be beneath the uniform and largely unseen. There are many options for plain white or blue layer/s to help maintain warmth. If students wear an additional rain jacket, while in transit to and from school, this must be kept in their locker during the school day. Please check in at home to make sure your child has adequate and warm uniform items or layers which can be worn beneath the uniform. If you require support with uniform, please contact the school.

Students out of uniform can expect to be given the following options:

Remove non-uniform items and replace them with items provided by the school.
Remove non-uniform items and replace them with items provided by family (if practical).
Remove non-uniform items, without replacement.

The focus is on how we support students to meet the expectation of being in uniform, so please have a conversation at home to make clear this is not a negotiable expectation.

Senior Campus Information Night (Year 9 into 10 – Subject Selection)

What a great turn-out from students and families last Wednesday! We hope the night met your needs and we would love to receive any feedback about what worked well or what we could include in the future.

All students should now have received a practice subject selection form and their web-codes to complete the final online selection. The practice form contains links to forms for expression of interest into early entry for a VCE or VET subject and the Senior Campus Subject Handbook, which can also be found on the Year 9-10 page of our website:

https://www.millparksc.vic.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/MLPSC-2023-Senior-Campus-Handbook.pdf

This handbook contains a wealth of information on individual subjects and the course structure at Year 10. If you have questions about subject selection, please contact us for help. Try speaking with your homegroup teacher, as they will have worked through the process for selections in Pastoral and if they are unable to answer your questions, they will be able to direct you to someone who can.

REMEMBER: Online selections are due on Friday 26 August!

30-Day Challenge – next steps

We were delighted with the positive responses to last term’s challenge on positive relationships. Students certainly enjoyed being recognised, but also showed a great deal of gratitude in recognising staff and peers.

Staff have identified the opportunity to keep a focus on positivity, but also a lack of learning stamina (which is understandable as we continue our journey towards “bouncing-back”, amidst continued absence and uncertainty), as the two most important considerations for our next challenge. The Student Engagement Leaders are looking at how we can bring a positive focus to learning stamina, as just expecting students to become more focused is unlikely to be the solution, as it may detract from focusing on the positive.

We will publish further information but aim to run our second challenge covering the last few weeks of Term 3 and first few weeks of Term 4.

Simon McRae

Middle Years Campus Principal

Senior Years Campus – Principal’s Message

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Info Night – VTAC

Mill Park Secondary College will be holding a VTAC Information Night for all Year 12 students and their families at the Senior Campus on Monday 1 August at 6:30pm. The session will cover information about applying to universities, TAFE institutes and independent tertiary colleges within Victoria; as well as information about the ATAR, special consideration, scholarships and offers. This event will be of relevance to students in Year 12 (and their parents), who are considering their tertiary study options. The Careers Team will be there to answer any questions you may have after the information session.

On Thursday 21 July, our Senior Campus ran a PJ day, students arrived in their dressing gowns, oodies, and uggboots, we had a Sausage Sizzle at lunchtime as well as a dance performance, it was a fantastic day!

We raised $826.84 for the Pyjama Foundation to raise awareness for children in foster care.

A big thank you to everyone who donated!!

On Tuesday 26 July, our Senior Boys Soccer team competed at the Northern Metropolitan Region Soccer Tournament at Darebin International Sports Centre. The team were outstanding, with everyone playing their hearts out! In the group games, the boys drew the first game 1-1, followed by two wins, taking them to the final.

The final was very tight, 1-1 at full time which took them into extra time. With penalties looming they scored an amazing team goal to make it 2-1 with only 2 minutes to go. They held on to win the final and progress to the next round at State!

Congratulation’s boys, MPSC are so proud of you!

Our Year 12 VET Sport and Recreation students are having a great time at Mt Buller, learning to ski and snowboard as well as participating in valuable skills such as cooking and cleaning as a team!

Senior Campus Course Information Session for 2023

Course selections for 2023 started last week with the Senior Campus Course Information Evening. We had over 100 people in each of the two presentations, so it was a full house.

As well as information sessions to Year 10 students in 2023 and VCE students in 2023 held in the Library, the gym was set up with information stalls for each of the subject areas as well as some of the further education possibilities such as RMIT and LaTrobe University.

Students now have until the Friday 12 August to select their subjects for next year. This is being supported through Career counselling sessions at school.

Richard Dungey

Senior Campus Principal

Physical Education/Health

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Year 11 Health and Human Development – Development across the lifespan

As part of Unit 2 Outcome 1, students have been learning about Physical, Intellectual, Emotional and Social development that occurs as youth transition to adulthood. In class, students explored what Intellectual development means and the aspects associated with development including development in language, thought patterns & problem solving, creativity, attention, and knowledge & memory. To strengthen their understanding of the topic, in class students participated in several activities and games including Uno, Chess, Guess Who, Memory match, O and X’s, Mindfulness drawing, completing jigsaw puzzles and attempting to solve a Rubik’s Cube. While participating in the games and activities students were required to reflect on the aspects of Intellectual development and discuss how each of the games required students to demonstrate one or more of the aspects Intellectual development. All students thoroughly enjoyed the session.

Senior Campus Course Information Night

On Wednesday 20 July, the Senior Campus held our annual Course Information night which was extremely successful and well attended. Many students and their families attended the evening bringing along many thoughtful and insightful questions for staff regarding their future pathways. Students considering a Physical Education / Health and Outdoor pathway have many options when selecting subjects from Year 10 -12 which are outlined below.

Year 10 Electives include Physical Education, Health and Outdoor Education

VCE Subjects include, Physical Education, Health and Human Development, Outdoor and Environmental studies, VET: Sport and Recreation and VET: Community Service.

On Thursday 14 July, both the boys and girls participated in the Whittlesea Division Senior Basketball Competition at Diamond Valley Basketball Stadium. Both teams represented the college exceptionally well, with the Girls winning all games and progressing to the Northern Region Finals. The boys progressed through to the final, where they lost a close game to Whittlesea Secondary College.

Well done to all students and coaches involved.

Year 8 Physical Education: Sport Education in Physical Education (SEPEP)

Students across all Year 8 classes are currently preparing for and participating in a Sport Education in Physical Education (SEPEP) unit throughout Term 3. SEPEP is a program that is completely organised, run, and directed by the students as a collaborative group, with teachers taking on more of a facilitating role than direct teaching. Students are required to fully engage in the sport system whereby the students select a sport of their choice by taking on extra responsibilities such as coach, captain, team manager, scorer, or referee. Like many pedagogical models used in physical education, SEPEP shifts the focus from the content to transferable skills, knowledge, values, and behaviours, with its main objective of the model being to develop students as competent, literate and enthusiastic sports persons.

Below are some of the key benefits of a SEPEP program:

Students share in the planning and administration of sport experience
Students develop their leadership skills
Students work effectively within a group towards common goals
Students develop the capacity to problem solve and make reasoned decisions about sport issues
Students develop and apply their knowledge about umpiring, refereeing, and training

The first session of the unit involved allocated coaches and captains running a training session for their team before the competition begins next session.

Promoting Lifelong Physical Activity at home

How can I promote an active and healthy lifestyle for my children?

Most young people’s waking hours are spent sitting at school and at home, so it’s important to get them to be more active as part of everyday life. Parents and caregivers play an important role in promoting an active lifestyle for their children, and there’s heaps of ways to get involved! It’s not only a chance to put a busy life on hold and enjoy some quality time with the kids, but it also can make a substantial difference to their health by encouraging good habits that can stay with them for the rest of their life.

How can you get involved?

Encourage children to participate and get them active and involved in the community by visiting a local club or play organised sport.
Instead of heading straight home after school, go to the local playground, park, oval or beach. Fly a kite or throw a Frisbee. Play games like tag, jump rope or hopscotch in the backyard.
If the weather isn’t great, make fun the focus by having a family dance competition inside, visit an indoor swimming pool, or try a new activity such as rock-climbing or mini golf.
Learn from grandparents and/or parents the games they used to play and play them at home and also bring them into the school community.
Teach children new skills to help them be physically active – like how to skip, ride a bike, skating, throwing, catching, or hitting and kicking a ball.
Walk, ride a bike or skateboard all or part of the way to school instead of taking the car.
Make and eat a healthy snack at home, or have a cooking competition that uses fresh and healthy food
Be a positive role model and show your children how you plan to incorporate physical activity into your daily routine. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Get off the bus one or two stops early or take the dog for a walk with the family at the end of the day.

Thursday 28 July – Monday 8 August

Commonwealth Games

Humanities

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Year 12 VCE Legal Studies – Mock Trial

To celebrate the incredible achievement of completing their Unit 3 studies on criminal and civil law, our Year 12 VCE Legal Studies students held a mock trial this week in Courtroom 13B. A mock trial is a simulation of a fictional courtroom scenario, where students are given a set of facts to argue out as barristers would do in court.

With Judge Fraser presiding, assisted by Judge’s Associate Geena K, students chose their roles and prepared their own opening and closing statements, as well as questions for examination-in-chief and cross examination of the witnesses. Defence barristers Daniella B & Janet K were victorious on the day, using keen persuasive techniques to convince a jury of twelve (including Senior Campus Principal Mr Dungey and Assistant Principal Mr Tonis) to find their defendant, our College Vice Captain, Harry S, “not guilty” beyond reasonable doubt. The pair faced formidable opposition from the prosecution, Maja G and Shunniel G, who each demonstrated an impressive depth of legal knowledge in finding related precedents to the trial at hand. Our witnesses, Monique B and Kaleigh L, prepared measured responses to the questions posed, and the victim, Andrei C, gave a rousing testimony as to the impact of the alleged crime on his wellbeing. Foreperson of the jury, Sarah M, did an excellent job of walking the jurors through the verdict determination process, and court artist Marisol JP immortalised the proceedings in pencil. A special thank-you must go to Ms Palamara for videoing the proceedings.

Language

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Italian

This month for Italian language learning, we have been focusing on the following;

The Year 7s are beginning to learn about ‘la famiglia’ and have been exploring words in Italian associated with ‘the family.’

Our Year 8s are working through the topic on ‘un po’ di shopping – shopping and clothes’. All students are building their vocabulary when using clothing nouns and adjectives.

The Year 9 Italian elective class is beginning to look at ‘la casa – the house’ in Italian. Students have started to also build their language skills by identifying what furniture is found in the house. The students were able to enjoy pizza in class as a LOTE/Language Week celebration. Look out for next month’s newsletter to see some of the wonderful activities that were run during the week to celebrate language learning!

The Yr 10 Italian students recently gave a thorough and fascinating presentation on La Piazza in Italy. They were colourful and informative. Currently, they are working on the use of the imperative by researching and writing up Italian recipes for the class cookbook. Buonissimo!

The VCE students are busily preparing for their upcoming exams and assessments!

English

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In 9E English, students are studying the memoir Night by Elie Wiesel. In our class, we have been exploring and analysing the main themes and ideas in the memoir through a variety of learning activities. Recently, our class completed a gallery walk in response to Chapter 1 of the memoir where students walked from poster to poster to add their contributions to the topics of discussion surrounding the pacing of the memoir. It was great to see each of the students taking turns writing their responses and enjoying the added pressure of the timer to finish their response before having to move on to the next poster.

Students across the college are tackling a range of new texts from the coming-of-age Australian novel “Nona and Me” at Year 8 to comparing the biography of the famous Pakistani activist Malala Yousefzai to the uplifting film “Pride” at Year 12. For all students, this will be the final chance this year to refine text analysis skills, so they really need to make the most of the term and push toward creating a strong piece of writing at the end of the term. This is only done through consistent and ongoing effort both in and out of class which I am happy to say is seen right across the college from so many students.

Senior Campus

While we are what seems like just past the halfway mark of the year, it is certainly much more than that – especially for the VCE students. Now is a time to stop and reflect on what has been learned and more importantly what has not been learned effectively and start working on those gaps consistently for the rest of the year. Is it as simple as that you have not read the novel? Now is the time to read or re-read it. Do you struggle with effectively answering an essay question? Get some practice ones from your teacher. Do you need to improve your vocabulary? Find some texts to read and highlight the new words and use them in your next conversation.

Wellbeing

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Black Dog Institute are presenting FREE webinars in August and September. Information including registration can be found here: https://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/education-services/webinars/upcoming-community-webinars/

Presentation Descriptions

For adults:

Breaking Down Depression – During this 40 minute presentation a presenter shares their lived experience of mental illness, either they experience mental illness, or they are a carer. The presentation covers causes, signs and symptoms of anxiety, depression and bipolar disorder, when and where to seek help and practical strategies for helping a friend or family member

For high school aged students:

Insights – During this 30 minute presentation, our presenter will share their lived experience of mental illness, along with signs and symptoms of depression, anxiety and bi-polar disorder. This presentation aims to increase mental health literacy, reduce stigma and promote help seeking for young people.

Mental Fitness – In this 30 minute presentation, students will learn practical positive psychology strategies to help them build mental strength, resilience and endurance. During this interactive presentation students will practice these strategies which can be used to improve their wellbeing. Mental Fitness is very closely linked to our 6 Week Mental Fitness challenge on BITEBACK

For parents and Carers:

Navigating your teen’s mental health – This 45 minute presentation is for parents and carers of young people. Parents and carers will learn how to spot early warning signs of mental health issues, when and where to seek help and how to support a young person they care about.

Butterfly Foundation also provide support via Body Kind Families – a FREE initiative to boost parents/carers confidence in promoting positive body image and responding to body image concerns in their child(ren). More information can be found here – https://butterfly.org.au/get-involved/campaigns/bodykindfamilies/#msdynttrid=30yXH95s-R7yVy3zd4l1TZV9WGgzBzSQvF7f5Db9pvw

Science

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On Friday 15 July , approximately 80 Year 11 and Year 12 students attended the University of Melbourne Genetics Centre to perform two practical investigations relating to their Unit 4 Biology content. First they conducted an observation of the change in wing type in a species of fruit fly over several generations, representing mechanisms that contribute to evolution. They then performed a scientific test called an ELISA that is used within laboratories to investigate the presence of antibodies in a sample, which is an indicator of immunity against a disease. This was a wonderful opportunity for students to apply their understanding of the human immune response and the action of vaccinations on a real-world issue of disease transmission.

The students had a great time exploring a large university genetics lab, and interacting with biology tutors during the day, and their teachers Ms Aiello, Mr Graham, Mr Beagles and Miss Scanlon were very impressed with their behaviour and enthusiastic participation in the day’s activities.

Mathematics and Numeracy

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Our teaching team is committed to implementing a well-balanced, integrated and holistic mathematics course, which targets teaching to the needs of individuals. Because of this we use the Math Pathways Model at our college.

Over the next couple of weeks we will be exploring various areas of our Math Pathways Model.

Growth Data

The important measure we try to focus on is GROWTH RATE. This is a percentage grade and is a measure of how much new math your child has learned in a class. It is related to the level data as follows:

If your child has a growth score of 50%, they are on track to learn half a year’s math each year
If your child has a growth score of 100%, they are on track to learn one year’s math each year

If you child has a growth score of 200%, they are on track to learn two year’s math each year

Your child’s growth score is an excellent measure of how well they are doing in mathematics right now. A high growth score is a cause for celebration: it means that your child is a highly successful mathematical learner. A low growth score could be a cause for concern: you may wish to work with the teacher to help your child improve.

Library

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Senior Campus Library

Over the next few weeks we will be celebrating Australia’s participation in the Commonwealth Games. Students have decorated the library with flags and posters, have a medal tally ready to go and are looking forward to filling it in.

Australia’s best Commonwealth Games was in 2006 in Melbourne, with a record 221 medals won. The flag bearer of every Commonwealth Games (excluding 1978) has gone on to win a gold medal in their event.

Students can participate in a competition to guess how many gold medals Australia will win at these games. Please visit the library to enter. Good luck!

#Booktok has arrived at the Middle years Campus library.

A subcommunity of the popular app, TikTok, #Booktok is the space for all things related to books and literature.

At the Middle Years campus, discover all top trending books, directly recommended by the influential readers of TikTok. With the recent addition of the “#Booktok Made Me Famous” display, students can now find books like Heartstopper, Six of Crows, Everything Everything and plenty more. Students are more than welcome to borrow any of these books, or make a request with the librarian if their favourite book is not available on the shelf.

Special thanks to Ms. El-Mohammad and the Book Club for their contribution to this display.

Careers

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Congratulations to student Nathan who commenced his school-based apprenticeship through the Head Start pathway program.

Nathan is undertaking a Certificate III in Cabinet Making

Well done we look forward to supporting you through this journey.

If you would like information regarding the Head Start pathway program, please contact Trish from the Department of Education on 0488 991 164 or trish.gentile@education.vic.gov.au

VTAC Info Night

Mill Park Secondary College will be holding a VTAC Information Night for all Year 12 students and their families at the Senior Campus on Monday 1 August at 6:30pm.

The session will cover information about applying to universities, TAFE institutes and independent tertiary colleges within Victoria; as well as information about the ATAR, special consideration, scholarships and offers.

This event will be of particular relevance to students in Year 12 (and their parents), who are considering their tertiary study options.

The Careers Team will be there to answer any questions you may have after the information session.

To view the latest Career’s newsletter please click here.