Monbulk College

Thursday March 28th, 2024

End of Term 1 2024 — Principal Update

Dear Students/Parents/Carers/Guardians,

As Term 1 draws to an end. I wish you all a restful and safe two week break and look forward to seeing you all back on Monday 15th April 2024. Some of our highlights were:

YEAR 7 CAMP
Our annual 3-day Year 7 Camp to Phillip Island was attended by 108 students and 14 staff, including the Principal for one day. Fantastic experience for students and staff. The camp was a great opportunity for students to get to know everyone. They participated in many team building activities.

YEAR 8 CAMPS
We have a new partnership with Rubicon Outdoor School. This Department of Education school conducted two 5-day camps for our Year 8 students. The theme of the camp was water and many of the activities were based around this theme. Our students really enjoyed the camp.

YEAR 9 CAMP
Our Year 9 students have been invited to attend the Outdoor School - Bogong Campus which is situated mid-way between Mount Beauty and Falls Creek, in the foothills of the spectacular Bogong High Plains. This is a new camp partnership. Bogong provides high quality, exciting and challenging outdoor education programs and experiences including bushwalking, overnight camping, rock-climbing, orienteering, high ropes course, mountain bike riding, environmental studies, canoeing and rock hopping.

YEAR 7 BBQ
Parents, students and staff attended the Year 7 BBQ. A great event where parents, staff and students were able to meet and greet everyone.

SPORTING EVENTS
Swimming Carnival - Great success and attendance. “Ranges (Red)” House were the winners.
Volleyball - Success and heading to divisional competitions. We are now competing at the regionals.

2024 SCHOOL COUNCIL
We wish to thank retiring school councillors: Colin May (President), Lisa Paulin (Vice-President), Alex Gartrell (Parent Representative), Bruno David (Parent Representative), Spencer Bos (Student Representative) and Jasper Francis (Student Representative). Their support and involvement has been invaluable and very much appreciated.
Welcome to new & returning councillors:
Parent Representatives – Nic Green, Naomi Nicholson (President), Di Daly (Vice President), Brent Dakis (Treasurer), Brendan Peacock, Rebecca Bos
Student Representatives – Rory McCluskey and Grace van Kampen
School Employee Representatives – Jenny Halkier, Charlotte Wiltshire, Kevin Osborne, Fiona McNair and Mark Quinlan (Executive Officer)

PARENT STUDENT TEACHER CONFERENCES
Tuesday 12th March - Thank you to all of the staff/students/parents for making it a successful Student Progress Conferences. Specific feedback on the students’ progress helps support their learning. A special thank you to Joel and Josh for the organising the online conferences for our community. We had a record number of bookings with a higher proportion of households making interview times. Well done to everyone. Some of the statistics for 2024 are 1179 bookings for 604 students and an average of 2.07 bookings per household.

PRIMARY SCHOOL VISITS AND OPEN WEEK
Daniel Mackney and I have been visiting primary schools. We had an extremely successful Open Week – Wednesday to Friday, 20th to 22nd March 2024. Our classrooms were all open for prospective parents to visit.

Mark Quinlan
College Principal ... See MoreSee Less

Monbulk College

Saturday March 9th, 2024

Principal’s Report — February 2024

Welcome to the new school year. I hope everyone had a safe and restful break.

VCE & VCE VM RESULTS 2023

College Dux: Congratulations to Elliot McInerney who gained an ATAR of 95.55, which places them in the top 4% of the state. They achieved 40+ scores in English and Art Creative Practice. Elliott worked extremely hard as a VCE student and we are proud to see that their effort towards their studies was so richly rewarded. We congratulate Elliott.

Elliot McInerney and Ben Jordan received scores above 90+. 24% of our students were in the top 30% of the state.

Charlotte Humphries (Year 11 Student): studied two Year 12 subjects, obtaining a 50 (perfect score) in Biology (top 0.2% in the state) and a 49 in Psychology (top 0.3% in the state).

We wish our entire Year 12 cohort all the very best and are very proud of their effort, persistence and resilience.

2024 KEY IMPROVEMENT STRATEGIES ALIGNED TO STRATEGIC GOALS

Our key improvement strategies for 2024 are as follows:

• Excellence in teaching and learning: Strengthen a consistent whole-school approach to high-quality instructional practice linked to our whole school strategic goal - Improve learning outcomes for all students.

• Positive climate for learning: Strengthen school-wide wellbeing processes and programs linked to our whole school strategic goal – Develop students as healthy, resilient, and connected members of the school community.

FRAMEWORK FOR IMPROVING STUDENT OUTCOMES (FISO) 2.0

The Framework for Improving Student Outcomes (FISO 2.0) reflects the necessary stronger and more explicit focus on wellbeing and learning identifying them as co-drivers for school improvement. It sets out 5 core elements that together realise the goals of excellence and equity through developing the learning and wellbeing of every Victorian student.

The 5 core elements that reflect the evidence of what makes the most difference to our student outcomes are:

• Leadership: development of shared processes and actions by staff and students that build a positive school climate for learning and wellbeing

• Teaching & Learning: responsive practices and curriculum programs through which students develop their knowledge, skills and capabilities

• Assessment: use of evidence and data by school leaders and teachers to assess student learning growth, attainment and wellbeing capabilities to design and implement priorities for improvement

• Engagement: relationships and actions that support student learning, participation and sense of belonging

• Support & Resources: processes, products, services and partnerships that enable every student to strengthen their wellbeing capabilities and achieve the highest levels of learning growth

Monbulk College will be using FISO 2.0 to develop the 2024 Annual Implementation Plan to meet our three goals for student achievement, student engagement and student wellbeing. Some of our targets are:

• Improve benchmark growth for all students in reading writing and numeracy for Years 7 to 9
• Improve VCE Mean study scores and percentages of scores above 37
• Improve student attendance, student voice and agency
• Improve sense of connectedness and resilience

2024 LEADERSHIP PROJECTS

• Continued development of assessment structure with stronger links to the Victorian Curriculum and continued development of learning continuums
• Embedding the Monbulk Instructional Model (LEARN) into every lesson plan and classroom
• Embedding the School Wide Positive Behaviour Framework (SWPBS) in the whole school community
• Continue to build the capacity of student voice, agency and leadership
• Continue to build the capacity of student engagement
• Continue to focus on teaching and learning and wellbeing

2024 LEADERSHIP STRUCTURE

Our Leadership Team structure for 2024 to target our 2020 to 2024 Strategic Plan as follows:

• Fiona McNair – Assistant Principal: Oversees Middle School/Student Engagement & Wellbeing/Curriculum

• Kevin Osborne – Assistant Principal: Oversees Senior School/Literacy/Numeracy/Student Engagement & Wellbeing

• Rachel Edwards – Leading Teacher (Director of Middle Years): Leading Data, Student Learning & Engagement and professional learning communities

• Joel Guye – Leading Teacher (Director of Curriculum & Assessment): Leading Curriculum, Assessment & Reporting

• Sandy Miller – Leading Teacher (Student Engagement): Leading Monbulk Voice Agency & Leadership and School Wide Positive Behaviour Support

• Glenn Rockelmann – Leading Teacher (Senior School): Leading Pathways, Student Learning & Engagement

• Sue Ditchfield – Learning Specialist (Numeracy): Leading whole school numeracy, tutoring, MYLNS, coaching and professional learning communities

• Chris Sutton – Learning Specialist (Literacy): Leading whole school literacy, tutoring, MYLNS, coaching and professional learning communities

SUB SCHOOL TEAMS – MIDDLE AND SENIOR YEARS

Our sub school team structure has been developed to better target our 2020 to 2024 Strategic Plan and to support our students and families as follows:

Middle Years Team – Rachel Edwards (Leading Teacher - Director of Middle Years):
• Year 9 Team Leader – Helen MacInnes
• Year 8 Team Leader – Jessica Stovold
• Year 7 Team Leader – Eleanor Rockelmann
• Year 7 Transitions – Daniel Mackney

Senior Years Team – Glenn Rockelmann (Leading Teacher - Senior Years Sub School Leader):
• Year 12 Team Leader – Tom Mahoney
• Year 11 Team Leader – Claire Mosley
• Year 10 Team Leader – Rebecca Noone


WELLBEING TEAM

Our wellbeing team structure to target our 2020 to 2024 Strategic Plan Goals as follows:
• Stephanie Villani – Mental Health Practitioner
• Jean Pierre (JP) Giuliani – Student Wellbeing Coordinator
• Romy Schauble – Regional School Nurse

2024 TERM 1 STAFF UPDATES

Monbulk College welcomes the following new/returning staff for 2024.

New Staff:
• Danny Balla – English/Humanities Teacher
• Jeanette Cawley – English/Drama Teacher
• Rachel Edwards – HHD/Science & Leading Teacher (Middle Years)
• Suguru Endo – VM Numeracy & Japanese Teacher
• Joel Guye – English Teacher & Learning Specialist (Curriculum & Assessment)
• Ashleigh McLaren – Japanese Teacher
• Tom Mahoney – Maths Teacher & Year 12 Year Level Leader
• Chris Jung – Health & PE Teacher
• Kate Richardson – Integration Aide
• Beth Dixon – Integration Aide
• Marilyn Commerford – Numeracy Tutor
• Keiko Hata – Language Assistant

Returning Staff:
• Natalie Andrews – Arts/Technology Teacher & LA Leader (Arts)

PRIVACY

Our school collects and uses student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy (www.vic.gov.au/schools-privacy-policy) and the Schools’ Privacy Collection Notice (www.vic.gov.au/schools-privacy-collection-notice).

Our Photographing, Filming and Recording Students Policy (www.monbulkcol.vic.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/Photographing-filming-recording-students-policy.pdf) describes how we collect and use photographs, video and recordings of students. The policy also explains when parent consent is required and how it can be provided and withdrawn. We ask parents to also review the guidance we provide on how we use Microsoft 365 (arc.educationapps.vic.gov.au/software/30) safely at the school and what parents can do to further protect their child’s information. If after reviewing the guidance, you have any questions or concerns regarding your child using Microsoft 365, please contact the school. For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ Privacy Policy — information for parents (www.vic.gov.au/schools-privacy-policy-information-parents?Redirect=1). This information is also available in ten community languages: Amharic, Arabic, Dari, Gujarati, Mandarin, Somali, Sudanese, Turkish, Urdu, and Vietnamese.

ATTENDANCE

• Every day counts at Monbulk College - Going to school every day is the single most important part of a child’s education. Students learn new things at school every day – missing school puts them behind.

• We all want our students to get a great education, and the building blocks for a great education begin with students coming to school each and every day. Going to school more often can lead to better outcomes.

• Monbulk College has developed processes for checking attendance:
o Teachers’ mark rolls every period
o Automatic SMS to parents/guardians if a student has an unexplained absence for Period 1
o Attendance Officer contacts home if a student has an unexplained absence
o Year Level Leaders follow up on student absences

• Parents are encouraged to access and update Compass with a non-attendance reason


STUDENT ACCIDENT & PROPERTY INSURANCE

• Student Accident Insurance & Ambulance Cover Arrangements
Parents are reminded that the Department does not provide personal accident insurance or ambulance cover for students.
Parents and guardians of students who do not have student accident insurance/ambulance cover, are responsible for paying the cost of medical treatment for injured students, including the cost of ambulance attendance/transport and any other transport costs.
Student accident insurance/ambulance cover policies are available from some commercial insurers. For more information, contact an insurance broker or search online for a suitable personal accident insurance.

• Valuables & Property
Personal property brought to school by students, staff or visitors is not insured and the Department of Education does not accept any responsibility for any loss or damage.
This can include mobile phones, calculators, toys, sporting equipment and cars parked on school premises (special events). Please note that neither the school nor the Department hold insurance for personal property brought to schools and will generally not pay for any loss or damage to such property.
We request the support of parents and guardian in ensuring students are discouraged from bringing any unnecessary or particularly valuables items to school and that any such items brought to school are looked after carefully at all times.

SCHOOL COUNCIL NOMINATIONS

Nominations for vacant College Council positions are now closed.

The timeline is as follows:
• Thursday 22 February 2024 – Nominations open
• Friday 1st March 2024 – Nominations close at 4:00pm
• Friday 8th March 2024 – Ballot papers distributed if election is necessary
• Friday 15th March 2024 – Ballot closes
• Wednesday 20th March 2024 – Announcement of ballot results
• Wednesday 27th March 2024 – Annual Reporting Meeting and First Council Meeting

Those elected will serve on College Council from 1 April 2024 until 31 March 2026.

The following Monbulk College Council members complete their term of office on 31 March 2023:
• Parent Members: Colin May, Lisa Paulin, Rebecca Bos, Bruno David, Naomi Nicholson, and Alexandra Gartrell
• School Employee Members (staff): Fiona McNair and Kevin Osborne
• Student Members: Jasper Francis and Spencer Bos

The College Council is constituted by:
• Six parents (elected)
• Five school employees (elected)
• Two students (elected) and
• up to four community members.

Members of the College Council continuing in the second year of a two-year term in 2024 are:
• Charlotte Wiltshire
• Jenny Halkier

The Principal, Mark Quinlan, holds the position of Executive Officer.

Vacancies arising for 2024 are:
• 6 Parent representatives
• 2 Student representatives and
• 2 School employee representatives.

In addition, up to four community members can be appointed. Community members may be co-opted when deemed appropriate by the College Council.

Mark Quinlan
College Principal ... See MoreSee Less

Monbulk College

Friday March 8th, 2024

School Closure — Saturday 9th March 2024

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Our college is in the Yarra Ranges Local Government Area (LGA) and a Bushfire at Risk Register (BARR) Category 2 site.

We have been provided with information from the Department of Education Emergency Management Team about Saturday 9th March 2024.

With the weather predicted to be classified as an Extreme Fire Danger Rating for our Local Government Area (LGA) on Saturday 9th March 2024, and our school on the Bushfire at Risk Register (BARR), our school site will be closed and we request no one comes to the college grounds or facilities. No external groups can use our facilities. We encourage all families to enact their family fire plans and take precautions.

Stay safe and cool this long weekend. Take care.

Mark Quinlan
College Principal ... See MoreSee Less