PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

YEAR 7 CAMP 

Our Year 7 students returned last week from an incredibly successful camp in Phillip Island. It was fantastic to see students embrace the camp’s theme of forging new friendships, with their randomised activity groups and cabins. 

From the heights of the giant swing and flying fox, to the teamwork of raft-making and team rescue, our students enthusiastically participated in a range of exciting activities. A particular highlight was providing many students with their first ever surfing experience at the beautiful Smiths Beach. Our annual camp trivia nights and talent shows never disappoint and this year’s editions were no different. Students particularly enjoyed some hilarious staff and peer support leader cameos! 

The year level has really bonded, and many students have returned with new friendships and funny stories to share. We're incredibly grateful to the Year 7 student management team and the dedicated staff who helped make this camp such a memorable experience for our Year 7 students.

PI DAY

We recently held our annual Pi Reciting Competition, celebrating the International Day of Mathematics, also known as Pi Day, which falls on 14 March (3/14) each year. The Pi reciting competition objective is to recite the most decimal places of the irrational number π (pi), to become the Year Level Champion. 

The results were impressive, with the highest number of places being 206! All students earned house points to go towards the 2025 House Cup, and the Year level champions will be receiving awards and prizes at the next General Assembly. 

Congratulations to everyone who participated. Please see the Maths article for more details on the winners and the incredible efforts of Dr Sandy Law (staff).

YEAR 10 INFORMAL 

On Friday 21 March, the Year 10 students got together to celebrate their Informal  celebration night with a "Y2K" themed event. Students and staff dressed up in their favourite new millennium outfits to catch up, eat pizza, mingle, and enjoy a night full of festivities.  

They enjoyed music with our teacher DJ Mr Abela, Student v Teacher Dance Off, and of course the awards for the night. It was a fantastic celebration that created memories for our Year 10s at the McKinnon Road Campus.

Thank you to the staff who came to help in the evening, our Media and AV teams and all the students who got involved to make this event so memorable.

VCE THEATRE STUDIES

I was delighted to attend the VCE Theatre Studies production of "Clue”, on Wednesday night.

This thrilling adaptation of the beloved board game Cluedo was brought to life and included detailed sets and costumes and other theatrical designs.

It was brilliantly performed by the cast and expertly produced by our talented students, and I congratulate them all on a mesmerising and engaging production.  

Thank you to our Theatre Studies teacher, Ellie Adler, who encouraged and inspired our students to achieve such excellence. Thank you also to Michael Birkett, Caleb Goldwaser and the entire AV and Media teams for ensuring it ran smoothly. Thank you to all of the friends and family for attending the performance and for supporting our students.

VICTORIAN SCHOOL SPORTS AWARDS

On Wednesday 26 March I had the pleasure of attending the School Sport Victoria Sports Awards Ceremony at the MCG. It was a wonderful event where two of our Year 10 students, Harish Salwathura & Ishi Tiwari were recognised for their sporting achievements in Cricket. Carole Hooper, our former junior sports coordinator was also awarded a Life Member award for her incredible service to the Kingston division's sports coordination. You can read more about these awards in the Sports pages of the newsletter. Thank You to Mrs Jen Pemberton for nominating the students and Carole for these prestigious awards. 

In other sporting news, we have had great success in the swimming pool at the Southern Metro Region Championships where we came 3rd, and much to celebrate with many triumphs at the Kingston Division Senior and Intermediate competition days. All the details of these events are also in Sport News. 

SOCIAL MEDIA STUDENT PRIVACY

I would like to remind families to be mindful when using any form of social media. We recommend keeping your accounts set to private. Using names and/or photos of students without consent is not acceptable.

There are legal implications around what people can post and share about others. The idea of privacy in the online world can be confusing, but essentially posting or sharing personal information about another person online requires consent. 

If you upload photos on social media of school events, be aware of who is in the background. Some parents and caregivers do not want themselves or their children on social media.

SCHOOL ACCESS

The school grounds should not be accessed during the school day, including pick up and drop off times. If parents need to sign their child in or out or drop anything off for their child to collect, please do so at the General Office.

We have a duty of care and need to know who is on our school grounds at all times.