Dear Parents and Families

On behalf of the School Council and staff, we would like to thank you for the support you have given us this year.  It has been an unexpectedly challenging year, most particularly in terms of responding to and managing instances of dysregulated behaviour, and in supporting student wellbeing.  Whilst we know that this has been an experience shared across many schools, nationally and internationally, it has required a consistent and unrelenting focus on responsive, as well as proactive, actions.

Our guiding principle of “high expectations, high support” has ensured that we have individually and collectively kept our eye on maintaining ambitious goals for all students in terms of their social, emotional and academic growth; and at the same time, being committed to providing the support that our students and families need to manage the impacts of the last two years on learning and wellbeing and to emerge strongly from this.

It is important to acknowledge the tireless work of our Sub School teams in this regard, and of our Wellbeing and Individual Needs teams.

We also thank and congratulate our teaching and education support staff for their expertise and the commitment they bring to their students each day and for the difference they have made this year to the lives of all the young people with whom we work.

Farewells……….

Several staff will be leaving St Albans Secondary College this year.  Jenny Tarr, Ian Crocker and Jessica Jones have been tutors in our Tutoring Learning Initiative program since it began two years ago.  Whilst the Tutor program will continue next year, Jenny and Ian will commence their postponed retirements in earnest and Jess is looking forward to a sea change.

Jacquie Hunter will take up a role as a Careers Practitioner at Elevation Secondary College, and Lesley Walker, one of our literacy teachers will return to her position at Western English Language School.  Stella Dang is moving to Berwick Secondary College as a Visual Communications and Art teacher.

On behalf of their colleagues, the students, and the school community, our thanks to each of them for their dedication and for all they have contributed to St Albans Secondary College.  We wish them well.

Our best wishes, too, to Linda Soulieman and Ashley O’Dowd who will be on family leave during 2023; and to Patrick Bruce, Stewart Fraser and Andrea Holliday who are taking leave for 2023. 

Finally, a huge thank you to our wonderful team of Casual Replacement and short term contract staff who have supported us through some extremely challenging times with staffing: Patrick Agius; Andrew Buttigieg; Fiona Byrne; Tim Guarde; Jeffrey Ji; Ranjili Mudaliar; Krizza Salugsugan; Loue Triainou; Peter Sinclair and Liston Williams.  We have been so fortunate to have such expertise to draw on.

Our Supporters……….

There are so many individuals and organisations who generously and expertly support our work in education.  Without them, we would be less able to meet the diverse and often complex needs of students and families, to offer rich experiences beyond the classroom, to provide life-changing scholarships, and to meet our guarantee that our students will leave St Albans Secondary College with a high-quality pathway ahead of them.

To all our business and community partners, our Alumni and university partners, we extend our deep gratitude for the work you do with us and the difference you make.

VCE Results 2022

Congratulations to the students who received their VCE results this week. The results were very pleasing, with many students achieving results above what they expected.

This year 20 students, or 15.5% of students, achieved an ATAR over 90; and 49 students, or 38%, achieved an ATAR result over 80.

Congratulations to our Dux, Anthony Tran, who achieved an ATAR of 99.85. He also received 3 perfect study scores of 50, in Further Maths, Specialist Maths and Chemistry.  He has also been awarded a Hansen Scholarship, providing free accommodation at Little Hall, University of Melbourne.

Our Median Study Score was 31, which is the highest for the College ever.  8.8% of study scores were above 40, and there were 3 study scores of 50.

As always, success for each individual student can mean many different things, and we congratulate all those students who have overcome adversity, such as COVIDlockdowns and remote learning, to achieve the best they can.

Congratulations to all the parents, families and staff who have supported the Class of 2022 throughout their schooling.

We encourage all Year 12 students to utilise the support offered through the Careers Team to work through the change of preference process to help ensure the most appropriate pathway for 2023.

Scholarship

Congratulations also to Phu Nguyen who was successful in receiving a residential scholarship to Trinity College (University of Melbourne). This scholarship is worth $36,855 for 2023. Thanks to those staff who supported Phu through Western Chances, Peta Burgess and Linda Souleiman, as well as Sophie Williams and Matt Olthof for supporting this particular application.

 
Reports

Semester 2 reports for Years 7 to 10 are available on Compass. Please discuss these reports with your children, and as always, if you have any questions please contact the relevant Year Level Coordinator.

School Staff Survey & Parent Opinion Survey

We recently received the results of the School Staff Survey, which included areas such as school climate, instructional leadership, school staff safety and wellbeing, and teaching and learning. We are pleased to report that we achieved results well above network and similar schools in the teaching and learning modules of practice improvement, planning, implementation, and evaluation.  We have put many processes and strategies in place that have contributed to this improvement and it is a testament of the hard work of all the leaders and teachers in the college over an extended period of time.  We will continue to further refine what we do to continue to improve.

We are currently analysing the results in the area of school staff safety and wellbeing, which encompasses professional and psychological safety. Staff will be exploring areas for focus or further investigation, and the leadership team has begun the process of reflecting on the data and exploring its implications for individuals and teams of staff.

We are still awaiting the results of the parent survey, but we would like to thank all parents who took the time to complete it. We will publish the results in a future newsletter once they become available. We encourage all parents to take part in the 2023 Parents/Carers/Guardians Survey when invitations are sent out.

We are currently analysing the results in the area of School Staff Safety and Wellbeing which encompasses the areas of Professional and Psychological safety.  Staff will be exploring areas for focus or further investigation. The Leadership Team has 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 celebrating our successes and improving in targeted areas.

We are still awaiting the release of results for the Parent Opinion Survey but would like to take this opportunity to thank those parents who took the time to complete our 2022 survey.  We will publish the results in a later newsletter, once they become available.  We encourage all parents to take part in 2023 when we send out the invitations for parents to participate in the Parents/Carers/Guardians Survey as your feedback.

Year 7 and 8 Activities week – A celebratory end to 2022

We have again run an activities week program during this last week of term and there was a wonderful sense of fun and celebration. Students in Years 7 and 8 took part in a range of activities including careers planning, trivia competitions, games, research, and year level awards ceremonies.  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.

Year 10 Formal

To mark the end of the school year for Year 10, approximately 180 students took part in the Year 10 Formal at Ultima reception centre on Friday 2 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. 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, Emily Dickinson, Ashwini Mana Mohan, Sean Ryan, Dane Stammers, Ana Miskovic, Ashley O’Dowd 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. We also thank the Year 10 students who assisted to organise the event; Long Nguyen, Sally Li, Kelly Lam & Matt Mangali.  Well done to all involved.

Interact Club

Congratulations to the Interact Club for a very successful year in 2022. We completed both our local and International Projects (see the August Alba for details). With the assistance of the local Rotary Club of East Keilor, we raised in excess of the $5000 target for Project W, raising funds to provide clean drinking water and sanitation in disadvantaged schools in Cambodia.

We had an official event for the changeover of the office bearers on Wednesday 16 November where we thanked the outgoing executive team of:

  • President – Isra Siddique Y11
  • Vice President – Tracey Nguyen Y11
  • Secretary – Kathleen Phan Y11
  • Project manager – Deedee Colussi Y12
  • Public Relations – Vianna Tran Y11
  • Treasurer – Salli Li Year 10

…and welcomed our new executive team going in to 2023 of:

  • President – Salli Li Year 10
  • Vice president – Rahima Muradi Year 9
  • Secretary – Jennifer Le Year 10
  • Treasurer – Aiden Duong Le Year 9
  • Public relations – Kelly Lam Year 10
  • Project coordinator – Minhthu Huynh Year 9

Here is a link to the newsletter that show the event:  Keilor East Rotary – Newsletter November 2022

 

Both Rahima and Aiden attended the Interact District Assembly Day at Camberwell Grammar on 5 December and found it very informative. Thanks to Jennifer Tarr for taking the students across for this valuable experience.

Arrangements for the start of the 2023 School Year

Students will commence school next year on the following dates:

  • Monday 30 January – Year 7, Year 10 and all Years 11 and 12
  • Tuesday 31 January – Year 8 and Year 9

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

Prepared for learning in 2023

Each term, our school works with students to build their wellbeing around a common “Connect, Protect and Respect” (CPR) theme. Our CPR theme for Term 1 2023, will be “prepared for learning.” Research shows that students are more likely to flourish and experience success when they have a calm and supportive environment, a resilient mindset, and all the materials and equipment they need for learning.

Through our work with students on this theme, we aim to explicitly teach them what it means to be ready for learning and what they need to do each and every day to maximise their chances of learning success. This will also involve a renewed focus on what is required to ensure an effective learning environment that is calm, predicable and consistent for all students.

Families play a vital role in supporting students’ school readiness. You can help by supporting your child each day to be school ready by making sure they have the materials they need, discussing school with them and helping them to complete any tasks due ahead of time. It is also critical to work with your child to develop a healthy study, sleep and exercise routine. By being positive and enthusiastic about school your child is more likely to look forward to going to school.  Over the holidays, check uniforms and shoes so they are ready to go for the first day and get books and stationery ready. Booklists are available on our website.

We are always here if you need some additional support, so reach out to our child’s Coordinator if you have any questions or concerns. We are looking forward to a fantastic 2023 in partnership with our students and their families.

And finally……….

We hope all members of the school community have an enjoyable and relaxing break over the holidays; and offer our very best wishes for the future to students and families who are leaving St Albans Secondary College this year.