Thank you to Senior College staff and to our Student Leaders
As we draw close to the end of second term, on behalf of all our students and families, I would like to thank our teaching staff, our secretarial staff and our maintenance staff for all of the wonderful work they have done this Semester to assist our Senior College students.
I remind all Senior College families that our teaching staff have been working tirelessly in recent weeks correcting examination papers and preparing Semester subject reports which will become available online in the first week of the upcoming holidays, which commence at the end of next week – the last day of Term 2 being Friday 23 June.
I would also like to thank the members of our Student Leadership Team (Sienna Gerin, Angus Maynard, Louise Smith, Mitch Lacey, Adele Bicknell, Daisy McMillan, Grace Power, Jayan Pillay, Patrick Kenna, Vicky Wang and Edward Wang) who have all been truly outstanding in all that they have done. Our Senior House Captains (Caleb Fitzpatrick, Amy Richardson, Karly Rosenbrock, Nick Spencer, Nick Harrison, Chloe Pearce-Schmidt, Daniel Smith, Lucy Wheeler, Robyn Dolphin and Mackenzie Smead – all in alphabetical House order) have also worked tirelessly across the semester with House Athletics and House Singing being their two major events. Similarly, our Semester 1 Mentor Group Leaders have done a sterling job assisting their pastoral Mentors and their peers on a daily basis.
Examinations
Last week, our Semester 1 Year 11 VCE Unit 1 and IB examinations and our Year 10 Semester 1 examinations were held and I particularly thank our Year Level Co-ordinators Mr Nick Stefanac, Year 11, and Mrs Heather Ruckert, Year 10, for their co-ordination of these examinations. I know students were well prepared for the examination procedures and certainly all examinations ran smoothly. I also take the opportunity to thank our new Year 12 Co-ordinator, Ms Nicole Morphett, who has “hit the ground running” immediately in taking over from Mrs Jen Tsai Bove who has commenced her Family Leave.
Our Year 12 students and all Year 11 students who do a Year 12 subject this year have sat for the GAT today and I thank Mr Andrew Cho (our VCE-VET Co-ordinator), Ms Annie Fairweather (our VASS Administrator) and Mrs Ingrid Moegerlein-Barnes (our Chief Examination Supervisor) for their organisation of this major logistical exercise.
Year 12 IB students, apart from sitting for the GAT, have also had a busy time this past few weeks – not only working to finalise their Extended Essays and many Internal Assessments, but also preparing for delivery of their Theory of Knowledge Presentations this week on Thursday 15 June. As acting IB Co-ordinator this term I have appreciated the collaborative approach of your Year 12 IB students who have made it very easy for me in taking on this role while Mrs Nola Brotchie is on Long Service Leave.
Our Year 10 students will be on Work Experience next week and we expect to hear glowing reports from our visiting staff confirming how impressive our Year 10 students are when working in the wider community. In anticipation, I thank staff who make the time to visit the students at this very busy part of the School year. In particular, I thank Mrs Heather Ruckert, Year 10 Co-ordinator and Careers Counsellor, and Mrs Julie Ennor, Careers Assistant, for their organisation of the Work Experience placements and staff visits.
Information Evenings
I again remind our Year 10 and Year 9 families that this evening, Wednesday 14 June, we have the first of our major information sessions relating to student subject selection for 2018. Tonight’s event, our Pathways Evening, enables Year 9 and 10 students and their parents/guardians to hear about the major features of our three Senior College Pathways – the IB, VCE and VCE-VET combined programs. We are very proud to be the only school in the Region which offers all 3 programs and we are similarly proud of the continuing outstanding success we enjoy across all 3 programs. The Pathways Evening is held in the CM Wood Centre, commencing at 7.30pm, and it is critically important for all Year 10 students and their families to attend in order to personally hear the information presented by each of our program co-ordinators, focussing on the special features of each pathway. Parents/guardians should have received an e-mailed invitation to this evening already.
Then, early in Term 3, we have a follow-up to this evening with our Subject Showcase on Wednesday 26 July (7.30pm in the Anderson Centre). Again this evening is focussed on current Year 10 students and families, as information on each specific IB, VCE and VET subject we offer will be available. Our Year 9 families will also be invited to attend this evening, as there will be detail provided about specific VCE Unit 1/2 subject offerings that are available to Year 10 students in 2018.
I wish all members of the Senior College enjoyment of the semester break and I remind all families that we look forward to greeting all students back at the start of Term 3, on Tuesday 18 July.
by Geoff Connor, Vice Principal – Senior College, Administration & Students
