Issue 1

10 February, 2020

www.gleneagles.vic.edu.au | Reema Boulevard, Endeavour Hills VIC 3802 | T: 9708 1319 | F: 9708 1324

PRINCIPAL NEWS

The New Year has brought many challenges for the Australian community with the terrible bushfires and the concerns over the Novel Coronavirus; our thoughts are with those impacted by these events. For us as a College the year has begun with a sense of enthusiasm and optimism.

College Values

Last week we formally launched the new College Values with our students in Home Group and Mentor classes. At Gleneagles Secondary College we value Respect, Inclusion, Stamina and Excellence.

As a College;

Respect - we value ourselves, others and the environment

Inclusion - we welcome and celebrate all

Stamina - we build our capacity to embrace challenges

Excellence - we have pride and confidence in everything we do

Very quickly these values are helping us to create a positive climate for learning.

Mobile Phone Policy

Change was also in the air with the State-wide ban on Mobile Phones in schools. I am pleased to say that students have worked positively with us to ensure that mobile phones are no longer used during school hours. I am grateful for the support that families have given us over the introduction of the new Mobile Phone Policy.

As a result of the Mobile Phone ban we have seen students more engaged in their learning, enjoying socializing with each other and generally less stressed about what may or may not be happening in social media.

Staffing and Sub-schools

This term we launched the new Middle Years Sub-school led by Sarah Reynolds and Team Leaders Lucinda Turner, Tim Hooper, Tim Pearson and Helen Liapis. The Sub-school is already proving to be a busy hub for our Year 9 and 10 students enabling us to provide extra support and a place to belong.

Along with the new Sub-school we also welcome the following new staff to the College: Carl Beer, Rachel Brick, Penny Panayi, Melanie Sinadinos, Cheyenne Montebello, Rebekah Mann, Natasha Dickinson, Susan Harris, Anoma Hetty Arachchige, Suzy Gaymer, April Ewing, Sarah Porter, Holly Entwistle, Shamindi Pathirana, Berit Böhling, Dee Berwick and Ashlee Manning.

We wish them well in their new roles at Gleneagles.

We would also like to welcome back the following staff returning from leave: Mai Dang and Mumta Puri.

Annual privacy reminder

Our school collects, uses, discloses and stores student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy

Please take time to remind yourself of the school’s collection statement, found on our website www.gleneagles.vic.edu.au

For more information about privacy, see: Schools’ Privacy Policy – information for parents. This information is also available in nine community languages.

Car Parking

‘Drop off’ and ‘Pick up’ time at the College can be very busy with traffic banking up around local roads. I want to thank parents and carers for their patience with local parking conditions.

This is also the time to remind families that for safety reasons we do not allow parents to drop off or pick up students inside the College car park unless we have agreed special circumstances. I thank families for respecting this reminder.

Simon Sherlock | Principal

YEAR 11 CAMP This week the year 11 students travelled to Phillip Island for our annual study camp. After arriving on the Island, they had some time to head down to the foreshore and enjoy a relaxed lunch before workshops began in the afternoon. Students attended some informative sessions in relation to the formal expectations of VCE and were introduced to the VCE manual. We highly recommend they all download a copy of this for reference over the coming 2 years.

Students participated in some workshops about maximising their mental capacity and surviving the VCE. These sessions provided them with strategies and tips to support their academic endeavours across all subject areas. Other workshops presented provided valuable information about how they can ensure a ‘healthy living lifestyle’ not only throughout their VCE but also as they complete their studies and move on from Secondary schooling. Students also sat through a session from our careers team on ‘where to after year 12?’ Some important decisions will be made over the coming 2 years and this session was aimed to provide students with information to assist them in this process.

Some of our staff members ran team building activities with the students to get them interacting with each other and to develop a sense to collaboration and solidarity among them. We also hope this helped them foster some new friendships along the way. Students were provided with the opportunity to take some time out and consider their current situation, then write a letter to their future self. This was a great reflective experience and it will be interesting to see their thoughts and reactions when they revisit these a year from now.

Aside from the formal workshops, students also had the opportunity to spend some recreational time around the campgrounds which consisted of sporting activities as well as swimming for those brave enough to jump into the pool. Our evenings were quite busy between a visit to the penguin parade and our fancy-dress trivia night. It was a fantastic 3 days and a great way to start the final years of schooling as VCE students. Thank you to all the staff and students who made this camp a success.

Helana Corrigan & Lyn Spooner | Year 11 Team Leaders

YEAR 7, 2020 – FIRST DAY On 29 January 2020, Gleneagles welcomed over 300 year 7 students to start their high school journey. Students officially sat in their first year level assembly, had their first home group session, got their first locker and started their first year 7 classes.

It was fantastic to see all our new students embracing the college values. The year 7 cohort collectively showed a high level of stamina by asking for help when they needed it and supporting each other to problem solve.

They were able to follow instructions, were wearing the uniform correctly, were punctual and were able to listen to others.

We were also very pleased to see several older students role-modelling positive behaviour, and helping the new students to read their time table, find their locker or get to classes on time.

The year 7 team look forward to meeting and working with year 7 students, parents and families throughout the year.

Sophie Sykes, Kevin McCall & Zohra Salehi | Year 7 Team

IMPORTANT DATES

Tuesday 11 February Yr 7 BBQ – starts at 5.30pm

Monday 17 February All Ages Softball & Baseball

Tuesday 18 February Yr 12 EAL Excursion – “Extinction” Play Performance

Wednesday 19 February Swimming Carnival

Monday 24 February Yr 9 Outdoor Ed Trees Adventure (tbc)

Tuesday 25 February School Assembly

Wednesday 26 February Yr 10 Studio Arts Excursion – Bunjil Place

Thursday 27 February School Photos

Friday 28 February Yr 12 Geography Fieldtrip

Monday 2 March Mop Up School Photos Intermediate & Senior Tennis

Tuesday 3 March Intermediate Cricket & Volleyball

Thursday 5 March Division Swimming

Friday 6 March Women in STEM Morning Tea – Casey Tech

Monday 9 March LABOUR DAY HOLIDAY

Tuesday 10 March CURRICULUM DAY

Wednesday 11 March Yr 7 Tennis, Volleyball & Cricket

Friday 13 March Yr 10 Humanities Coast Exursion Yr 12 Physics Excursion - Scienceworks

SCHOOL BELL TIMES

Condiments 30 cents

Toasted Sandwich or Toasted Wraps(V)Cheese $3.20Ham and Cheese $3.90(V)Cheese and Tomato $3.70

Chalkboard Catering @ Gleneagles S.C

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