Dear Parents and Guardians

On behalf of the School Council and staff, we would like to extend our deepest gratitude to you for the support you have given us this year in many different ways, most especially in helping us to keep learning alive and strong for your children during online classes. We can be immensely proud of what we achieved together, and in knowing that we are richer and more resilient as a school community because of what we have experienced over the last two years. Thank you from all of us.

On your behalf, we also congratulate our staff for their dedication, adaptability and expertise throughout 2021. They have done all they could to maintain each child’s wellbeing and learning growth. They were creative, resourceful and always focused on their students.

 

Farewell ……

Several staff will be leaving St Albans Secondary College this year. Sophie Bark, who has taught Maths and co-led the Maths Learning Area, is moving interstate; Sam Cowan, one of our Food Technology and Textiles teachers, will pursue a new venture in hospitality; and Tiyana Jones, head of our Individual Needs department, is moving to St Albans East Primary School as a speech pathologist.  We wish each of them well, and thank them for all they have given to our students, staff and school community.

Greg Sheen has announced his intention to retire at the end of this year. Greg joined the staff of the College in 1986 after commencing his career at Sunshine West high School in 1985. He has taught Commerce and Humanities to many hundreds of students over 36 years here. These years represent such a significant contribution to the lives of so many young people. Greg’s work as a teacher has always been defined by his knowledge of and commitment to his subject area; and by his genuine care and compassion for all the students he teaches, and the staff with whom he works. His commitment to the school and to the community of St Albans is evident in his service.

As well as through his teaching, Greg has shaped the school with the work he initiated on improving the physical landscape of the grounds many years ago. He was one of a group of staff who worked on creating new raised garden beds outside the Art rooms and on the selection of trees for these.  It made such a difference to the look of the school in those days, and to how we imagined what it could look like. It is such a significant and longlasting contribution to the school.

We congratulate Greg on his contribution to St Albans Secondary College, and to government school education, and wish him every happiness and fulfillment in this next phase of his life.

Best wishes, too, to Liz Hedger, Lizzy Fitzgerald, Lynette French, Seijiro Nishioka and Kristina Sungmongkol who will be on leave from our school for 2022.

 

 

Arrangements for the start of the 2022 School Year

Students will commence school next year on the following dates:

• Monday 31 January – Year 7, Year 10 and Years 11 and 12 VCE
• Tuesday 1 February – Year 8 and Year 9
• Wednesday 2 February – Year 11 and 12 VCAL

Please see the Compass post for further details about where students should go at the start of their first day.

 

A big congratulations to Amila on the arrival of her daughter, Amara.

Best wishes to the new family!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year 10 Formal

To mark the end of the school year for Year 10, many students took part in the Year 10 Formal at Ultima reception centre on Friday 3 December. The night was a fantastic way to celebrate the end of the year and to connect with one another in a setting outside of school.

There was a great deal of dancing, awards were presented and a treasure hunt took place throughout the evening.  Everyone who was in attendance had a great time, including the staff who all could be found on the dancefloor at least once during the evening.  Thank you to all the students who came along and made this such a joyful occasion. We would like to acknowledge the work of the Middle Sub School team of Becky Annetts, Brendan McFarland, Ashwini Mana Mohan, Sean Ryan, Dane Stammers, Emily Dickinson and Lynda Vo for their organisation of the evening, judging the awards and treasure hunt and ensuring everyone had a great time and got home safely. Well done to all involved.

 Year 12 Formal

The graduating class of 2021 was able to celebrate their end of year formal at Luxor Receptions in Sydenham on Thursday 18^th November. 150 students and staff joined together to dance and enjoy each other company to celebrate the end of a challenging year. We would like to wish all Year VCE students the best of luck with their results which are released this week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year 7 to 11 Reports

All Year 7 to 11 reports are now available on Compass. Please take some time to go through these with your child, and have them start to think about what they might be able to do to improve next year. As always, if you have any questions please contact the relevant Year Level Coordinator.

 

Fashion Awards

We had eight students enter the Stitch don’t Ditch competition with Vi Pham winning the Year 11/12 Upcycle section. The winners were feathered on ABC NEWS on Thursday 9 December and can be watched on ABC Iview or on the @fahionawardsaustralia on Instagram. All the winning garments can be seen at the Manor Lakes shopping centre for the next two weeks.  A photo of Vi’s winning dress is below.

Congratulations to Vi and the rest of the entrants who was supported by teachers Nick D’Aglas and Michael Bowden.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Survey results from the Staff Opinion Survey

We have recently received the results of the School Staff Survey.  This survey was completed during remote learning:

• This year we had a lower participation rate than previous years
• Two of the areas covered are School Climate and Teaching & Learning

 

For the School Climate module we achieved above the State mean in 6 of the 10 included areas.

Our results were more than 10% above the State mean in the following areas:

• Academic Emphasis
• Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum
• Trust in students and parents

 

There were Four Teaching and Learning modules included: Practice Improvement, Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation. We are currently analysing the results in these areas and identifying areas for focus or further investigation. The Leadership Team have already begun the process of reflecting on the data and exploring it in terms of what it means for individuals and teams of staff and how we might go about improving in targeted areas.

 

We are still awaiting the release of results for the parent survey but would like to take this opportunity to thank those parents who took the time to complete our 2021 survey.  We will publish the results in a later newsletter, once they become available.  We encourage all parents to take part in 2022 when we send out the invitations for all parents to participate in the Parents/Carers/Guardians Survey.

 

 Year 7 and 8 Activities week – A Celebratory end to 2021

We have again run an activities week program during this last week of term and there was a wonderful sense of fun and celebration as students took part in a range of activities.  Year 7 took part in a Zoo excursion linked to the Science curriculum and Year 8 had a team building day at Oak Park Pool.  Students took part in careers planning, trivia competitions, games, research, and Year level awards ceremonies. There are some photos of the activities undertaken across the week in the montage below.  Well done to all our Year 7 and 8 students who so enthusiastically took part in the activities and congratulations to the staff for the creative program they prepared and ran.  Special thanks goes to the Junior Sub School for their efforts throughout this action packed week for all our Year 7 and 8 students.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As the school year draws to an end, students in Year 10 and accelerated Year 9 students have been involved in VCE orientation programs to prepare them for their studies next year.  In the final assemblies of the year, students’ achievements and successes were recognised and celebrated, and there were a number of exceptional music performances too.