Principal’s Message

Dear Parents,

A successful and busy first term draws to a close… As we approach the end of term one, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our students and staff for their hard work and all parents for their support. It was quite a busy term for every one of us. Last Roll Call, Year 7 camp, New Parents Welcome BBQ, International Women’s Day, Harmony Day, excursions, incursions, pastoral care and extra-curricular activities were major events of this term.

Before I start my message, I would like to express my sincerest condolences and pray for all the victims of the Christchurch terror attack, as well as their families and the NZ Muslim community. As we condemn such acts, we strongly reiterate the need to stand united to promote peace and harmony. We organized a whole school assembly on Monday 18th of March in order to show our solidarity with our community and stand against terror and violence. We had Mrs Karen Percy from ABC Melbourne as a guest speaker, a short video, a prayer by our Pastoral Care Coordinator Mrs Ruveyda and a speech by Mrs Bahriye Bol Apak. I would like to thank them all and particularly Mrs Percy for her great presentation and show of support. She firmly reminded us that we are one community and we are not alone as the wider community all around Australia and the world is sharing our time of grief.

Year Seven students had a camp for two nights at YMCA Lady Northcote. It was a great experience for them to understand that living together with different people in the same environment requires skill, patience and sacrifice. Camps are great tools to improve students’ friendship and life skills such as confidence, taking responsibility and helping others. I hope all our students enjoyed and learnt a lot from this camp. Thanks to our teachers for spending their time away from their families, and for all their effort and dedication. Your effort really deserves all my appreciation.

Our Pastoral Care and Community Engagement departments organised a new parents welcome BBQ on Thursday, 21st of February. It was a beautiful day filled with the sharing of food and socialising with our parents. We had an opportunity to introduce our teachers and our pastoral care and community engagement programs and get to know our new parents a little better. I would like to sincerely thank our Pastoral Care coordinator and Community Engagement officer for organizing this event. Your job was timely and very helpful. Our doors are always open for our parents and we know that building bridges between our school and parents and establishing productive networks are very important in order to improve students’ academic performance and mental and social well-being.

Harmony Day celebrations were held throughout week 8. There was a cultural dress parade/mufti day for students and all the money raised will be donated for the social justice project run by our Year 12 girls. I would like to express my thanks to all parents, teachers and students, especially SRC for their help and contributions. Our students were able to wear a cultural dress and attend the parade, or wear school sport pants and the symbolic orange colour and bring along posters/banners with positive messages to share in order to celebrate our cultural diversity and understand how Australians of different backgrounds live together.

SEQTA Login: We all believe parent involvement in schooling is paramount. SEQTA is a powerful school information system that provides parents with access to real-time information on students' academic and behavioural progress. We strongly recommend families to log in regularly. You will be able to view your child’s online assessments, communication notes from their teachers, forthcoming assessments and projects, awards, and behaviour records.

Traffic & Car Park Safety: Peak times, in the morning and afternoons, might often cause families to feel some pressure. However, the safety of all our students is of utmost importance. Please be considerate and patient and a good role model for our students and other community members around. Obey all traffic rules and signage. Thank you for your cooperation!

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all our students, parents/guardians and staff a safe and happy holiday and to encourage all students to use their time wisely during their holidays: read widely and increase your general knowledge. We look forward to seeing all students back at school on Tuesday 23rd April 2019 for the start of Term 2.