Principal's Report

Term One is passing by very quickly, interim reports and parent/teacher interviews are upon us. Late next week you will receive your child’s interim report via Compass. Simply log on using your parent/guardian log in and view your report under the ‘report’ tab. At the same time you have the opportunity to book parent/teacher interviews. These interviews give you and your child the opportunity to have a three-way conversation with your child’s teachers. I encourage you to take the most of this opportunity. (More information on how to access your reports and interview times will be available via Compass).

Students are not required at the College on Wednesday 29th March, as they are required to accompany parents/guardians to the interviews.

2017 is a review year where Mooroolbark College reflects on our achievements over the last 4 years. The first step of the process is to complete a self evaluation prior to the formal review and the development of the 2018 – 2021 Strategic Plan. During the parent/teacher interviews you may be approached to provide feedback to the College. We are particularly interested in your opinion regarding how Mooroolbark College encourages our parents and guardians to be partners in your child’s education. Please take the opportunity to provide this very important feedback and to help set the priorities of the College for the next four years.

The Mooroolbark College Council has been confirmed for 2017. The Council consists of the following people;

• Andrew Dingey – DET Representative

• Keith Hocking – Parent Representative

• Samantha McIntosh – DET Representative

• Julie Medlin – Parent Representative

• Peter Phillips – Parent Representative

• Jenny Roache – DET Representative

• Louise Scofield – Parent Representative

• Carol Wells – Parent Representative

• Rachael Williams - DET Representative

The remainder of the Council will consist of an additional four community representatives as determined by College Council including our SRC President, Ben Donald Wilson. The College Council plays a key role in the College by supporting and setting the direction of the College to ensure the best possible educational outcomes are achieved by Mooroolbark College students.

Mooroolbark College is also supported by the Parents Citizens and Teachers Association (PTCA). They support a variety of activities at the College including events like Ride2School Day, running a canteen for the production and music nights, hosting the annual Debutante Ball and much more. Whilst fund raising is not the prime objective of the PTCA, each year they donate a range of educational resources, including bikes for the Bike Education and Outdoor Education curriculum, the shade sails outside the canteen, student seating in the yard and much more.

The 2017 PTCA committee consists of:
President:  Peter Phillips
Vice President: Ann Woolley
Secretary: & School Council Rep: Mandy Hocking
Treasurer: Jenny Brown
General Committee: Linda Hill, Deb Alsop, Carol Wells, Kellie Wright and Michaela Gray

I wish to acknowledge the outgoing President, Mrs Debra Alsop who has steered the PTCA as President for the last 6 years. Under her leadership, the PTCA has grown and continued it’s wonderful support of the College. I wish to thank her for her dedication to Mooroolbark College and ongoing commitment to the school community.

It is with sadness that I announce the retirement of Mrs Sharyn Clarke from Mooroolbark College.  She has been part of the College for over 20 years and her contribution has been remarkable.  Sharyn’s enthusiasm for working with our students in Curriculum Support has resulted in us having a program which is best practice.  Sharyn will be missed by her team and the wider school community.  We wish her well as she pursues a range of interests outside of the College.

Finally, I hope our students and staff who are heading off for camps during the last week of school have a fantastic experience. Our College camps program allows our students to interact in a less formal environment and make new friends. Camps provide students with the opportunity to experience new things and places in a safe and supported environment. Our Year 9 students are travelling to Tasmania, while our Year 10 students are travelling to Central Australia.

College Captains

Lisa Lin (College Captain)

2017 is an exhilarating year for all of us, as a representative of the whole school I am indubitably looking forward to meeting new members of our College, learning the name of students and staffs within our community and having more interaction with everyone. As leaders before me have done, I would like to become a bridge between all my fellow peers of the school and the our amiable teachers; a school would not be school without its unique students and teachers. Hence, I am aiming to continue to work on the school assemblies to further celebrate the successes of my peers and continue to evolve such and generate the energetic vibe. Meanwhile, I would love to hear all the comments people do have, together we can work on innovation and enhancing the school culture, which becomes a legacy we shall leave behind.

Who is a leader that you admire and why do you admire them?
There are so many leaders in the world which are working on innovation for the good of the world, the country, community, friends, a stranger in predicament a or injured animals perhaps. It is not easy to identify individuals in comparison to all those leaders out there who may be known or not known by public, by you or by me. However, some leaders I do recall have said merely one sentence, have become a great mental support for me, greatest influence on me and valuable life lesson I have learnt. I would like to share these: 
Nelson Mandela: “All people are equal and therefore deserving of basic respect and dignity.”
 It seems to be a common sense thing and because it is so simple people tend to ignore. We naturally hold a bias stand upon other people, it is only when we do put down the coloured glasses that your will be granted the deserving respect and dignity.
Marilyn Monroe: “Sometimes things fall apart so that better things can fall together.”
Life is like a roller coaster, we have ups and downs, it is important to realise after the storm comes sunshine.
Winston Churchill: “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.
When everything peaks out in life, change the angle of yours and sees negative as an opportunity to become a better man.

What are some of your goals for the future?
My goal is to make the most out of high school for everyone. I would like to pass on the message that everyone is as important as anyone else within the community. Inspiring them to see their potential to stand up for their belief and make a change that would become their legacy. When I have graduated from high school I would like to continue on my committed with community service despite the work load as I am responsible for these duty as a member of the community. 

Final message
Never be afraid to be different.

Supporting Friends Program

Fifteen Year 9 students have been selected to be involved to become mentors/leaders for the Supporting Friends Program.
The aim of the program is for Year 9 supporting friends ambassadors to build positive connections amongst Year 7 and 8 students in order to help them with their studies in English and Mathematics while also being supportive / fantastic friends.
It allows students to be supportive friends in their school while also providing assistance with homework tasks and demonstrating what it means to be good role model.

Matthew Bell
Year 9 Coordinator/Yellow House Leader

Year 8 Girls Softball Zone Champions

A huge well done to the 12 girls who represented the College in Year 8 softball:
Abbey Addison, Ashleigh Bayliss, Maddy Bayliss, Char-Lee Beavis, Jordyn Bianchi, Georgia Booth, Amy Dodd, Caitlin Fletcher, Zoe Griffin, Shaneyl Parker-Hawden, Hope Sumner and Olivia Szalay.
The girls applied themselves tremendously to come from behind and win against both Norwood Secondary College and Ringwood Secondary College. Despite some early nerves, the girls settled down and worked really well together.
In game 1, after taking an early lead, Norwood came back to leave us trailing by 1 leading into the final innings. We scrapped through to get the single home run needed for a thrilling win.
Next up, we played a very vocal and confident Ringwood. After a little panic in the field that led to a 4 run play we quickly found ourselves down 6-2. However, the girls would not be defeated and kept Ringwood to zero in the next innings while we ran over them with a whopping 5 run innings. By full time, we had sealed a very pleasing 9-7 victory to take the zone title.
By far the most pleasing aspect of the day was the positive and friendly attitude shown by all 12 girls. There was nothing but encouragement for each other and a willingness to equally share time on the field. Yet again, a pleasure to be involved with such a good group of students.

Adam Lorkin
Assistant Principal - Teaching & Learning and Transition

Year 9 Duke Of Edinburgh Award

Part of the Year 9 Duke Of Edinburgh Award is completing 2 major camps throughout the year that relate to Leadership, Fitness and fending for yourself in the Natural World.

Our first step towards that was a walk to Lilydale Lake where we completed a Peer Assessment and other smaller activities on the way.  These included this picnic table challenge where the whole class had to fit on the 2 bench seats!

Mr Mccormick

China Tour

It is that exciting time of year when you have the opportunity to be one of the lucky students that can enrol in the China Study Tour. There are only 10 positions available for the Tour and deposits must be paid by the 31st March.  If you need any additional information, please contact Miss Delgas at the College on 9727 8100.

Click here for more details

 

Intermediate Girls and Boys Volleyball

On Wednesday 8th March, the Intermediate Girls and Boys played Interschool Volleyball at Dandenong Stadium. The girls team had some very close matches, however, were unable to come away with a win. The boys had 3 teams competing in the round robin tournament. The ‘A’ team faced a competitive Norwood Secondary College and Ringwood Secondary College side which they took to 3 sets, unfortunately couldn’t get the win. In the last game of the day, they took away a victory against Melba Secondary College in 2 sets. The ‘B’ team was extremely successful with 3 wins on the day and the ‘C’ team finished the day with a win and a loss. Well done to all students involved, it was a fantastic day!

Click here for photos

Host families needed for International Student Exchange

Mooroolbark College has accepted an invitation from the Department of Education (International Division) to participate in the International Students’ Study Tours Program.

Mooroolbark College will be hosting 10 students and 4 staff members from Wujiang Senior Middle School 
We are seeking families who are interested to be hosts to accommodate these students.
Date of Study Tour:
Friday August 4th – Monday August 14th 2017
Reimbursement for Host Families:
$200.00 per student

If you are interested in being involved in this exciting program, please contact Miss Delgas at the College on 9727 8100.

ANN STRATFORD
Principal

 

Calendar TERM 1 2017

 

 

 

 

Tuesday 21st March
College Council AGM 7.00pm

Saturday 25th March – Monday 3rd April
Year 10 Central Australia Camp

Tuesday 28th March
Community Relations Meeting

Monday 27th March
Year 7 Immunisations

Monday 27th – Friday 31st March
Year 9 Tasmania Tour

Wednesday 29th March
Parent/Teacher Interviews
Students are not required at the College on Wednesday 29th March, as they are required to accompany parents/guardians to the interviews.

Friday 31st March
Last day Term 1 – 2.30pm finish

Term 2

Thursday 18th April
Term 2 begins

Wednesday 26th April
OPEN NIGHT 7pm

COLLEGE OFFICE HOURS
   MONDAY—THURSDAY
   8.15AM—4.00PM
   FRIDAY 8.15AM—3.30PM