As we approach the end of the school year our current Year 11 students have completed Year 12 Orientation and are well underway to gaining an appreciation of the work required during their final year of Secondary School. Similarly, our current Year 10 cohort spent their final three days of this school year in Year 11 orientation classes. The step up to VCE is significant and it is vitally important that all students use their time effectively during the summer break to complete the work set by teachers and in particular, read ALL the prescribed novels.
I would like to take a moment and congratulate our newly appointed School Captains for 2023, Madelynne Lyons and Zahlia Meroka. They will be well supported by our Vice Captains in, Rusira Tharinda Danwatta Liyanage, Koray Yasar and David Jankulovski. I also want to congratulate our international student leader in Fan xi (Oscar) Tay.
Last week Year 9 students completed their exams. This is a great opportunity to experience exam style pressure and I encourage students to use these opportunities to ‘train’ for the real exams in a few years’ time.
Soon ALL students will receive their subject confirmations and booklists for 2023. This is the perfect opportunity to encourage your children to read their novels in preparation for next year. The benefits of reading are significant, and it is never too late to find a book that is of interest to your child. Encourage them to read every day and model the behaviour. Have books in your home, go to the local library together, speak to our knowledgeable librarians about what type of book might be of interest to your child and utilise our wonderful resource, which is superbly stocked with a great range of fiction and non-fiction material.
On Tuesday 22nd November, our teachers used the afternoon presenting and sharing the learning from their Professional Learning Communities (PLC). It was a great celebration afternoon. Teachers have been working in these teams since Term 3 and have used this time to develop, discuss and enhance their pedagogy and teaching capacity. I would like to take this moment to acknowledge all our staff for the commitment and tremendous effort they have invested understanding and learning during this process. The benefits of these professional interactions flow through to our students allowing them to become better learners.
I take this opportunity to remind all parents to take the time to thank our staff for their work and acknowledge the difficult task that they do every day. This year has been a very challenging year for students, staff, and society, and as we approach the last few weeks of this school year and remind our families of our school values of Respect, Initiative and Learning (RIL). These are our college values and pertain to all members of our community, our students, staff, and parents. The behaviours expected and linked to these values have been provided below for your perusal. I ask that you take the time to discuss these values with your children. We look forward to continuing to work as partners in raising well rounded students, who are respectful, think critically, show initiative, and take responsibility for their learning and actions.