Parent Bulletin 1
February 3 2023
Welcome to 2023 from the Principal
I would like to welcome our students and their families back to Strathmore for the beginning of a wonderful school year. A special welcome to our new students and their families. I trust that everyone had an enjoyable holiday.
At Strathmore Secondary College we value:
This year we are also introducing our Learning Habits. A comprehensive period of consultation resulted in these 5 habits being identified by our students, staff, and wider school community as the most important habits for our students to demonstrate and practice in their learning. Our learning habits are:
Together with our PRIDE values the learning habits are displayed in every classroom in the school. They are also detailed in our new school diary, which every student has received on their return to school. Please ask your child to have a look at the diary, in particular the goals they were asked to set for their learning this year on page 4 and 5. Senior students are also able to use the diary to track their growth using the template provided on page 13-16. They should also use the SAC schedule to assist their planning on page 17 and 18. Our teachers also aim to do their best; therefore, Professional Learning Community (PLCs) meetings occur every Thursday morning. These are small teams of teachers working collaboratively on matters directly related to learning and thereby leading to higher levels of student achievement. To allow staff to meet in these teams, form assembly on Thursday will commence at 9.15am rather than 9:02am. A small number of Year 11 and 12 classes will run during the PLC meeting time because of the pressure we have on room availability. These classes will start at 8.25am. Of particular importance to parents are our Student Coordination arrangements. The central role of Team Leaders and Coordinators is to work with students and families to ensure students are happy and successful at school. Teams are led and overseen by a Leading Teacher Team Leader with two Coordinators in the Year 7 to 10 teams. Senior School has a Leading Teacher responsible for Year 11 and one for Year 12 with one Coordinator for each Team.
Senior School - Years 11 & 12:
Team Leader Year 11 – Andrew Beavis Team Leader Year 12 – Gokhan Karahan
www.strathmore.vic.edu.au/student-team-overview.html
Jenny Sali is responsible for organisational and administrative matters within the Senior School. Compass will continue to again be used as our primary means of communication in 2023. Parents are able to login to Compass via the link to the Compass portal on the Strathmore Secondary College website https://www.strathmore.vic.edu.au There is a help page available at this site, if you are having difficulty logging on. Year 7 parents received their parent login in December. If you have misplaced the letter or are having difficulty please contact the College via email: strathmore.sc@education.vic.gov.au. Mobile Phone Policy In 2020, the Department of Education asked all schools to implement a ban on mobile phone use during school hours. This will also take effect from day one of the 2023 school year. Any student who brings a mobile phone to school will be required to leave it, turned off, in their locked locker during school hours. The phone is not to be accessed at all during the day. I have included the Implementation guide into the body of this email and attached the link to the SSC Mobile Phone Policy so that you have full knowledge of how we will be rolling out this policy. If you have any questions, feel free to email the school - strathmore.sc@education.vic.gov.au. We ask for your support in implementing this policy. I hope that 2023 will be an enjoyable and rewarding year for students and staff alike. I am happy to meet with parents or carers to discuss your child's learning and to hear your feedback. If you would like to take the opportunity to meet with me, please contact Alison McKenzie - Executive Assistant, to make an appointment. Jillian English College principal ICT@StrathmoreSCThe College has comprehensive online guides for all things IT.
IT@Strathmore Secondary College Student Device Setup - ict.strathmore.vic.edu.au/purpose-statement.html G-Suite - ict.strathmore.vic.edu.au/browser-signin.html Student Software - ict.strathmore.vic.edu.au/student-software.html Parent Compass Help - ict.strathmore.vic.edu.au/compass.html Contact IT Staff - ict.strathmore.vic.edu.au/contact-it-admin.html The IT Office is in B Corridor. We are available 8:00am - 4:00pm daily. Gary IT Manager Student Attendance on CompassThe school is required to record attendance for every student and every class, including the reason for each absence.
Parents and guardians must update Compass Attendance in advance if a student will be leaving the school early for appointments, or for any other reason. Students cannot leave the school without parent or guardian approval and must not leave the school grounds without signing out at the General Office, before they leave. Students arriving late to school or returning from appointments, must also sign in at the General Office, before going to class and an explanatory note on Compass is required. If parents and guardians are unable to update Compass due to technical difficulties, they should telephone the Junior School Attendance Officer in the General Office for assistance. For instructions on how to use Compass to enter Attendance Notes, go to: ict.strathmore.vic.edu.au/compass-absence-help.html |
CHOOSE RESPECT ProjectIn 2023 and beyond, Strathmore Secondary College is encouraging all of its community members – students, teachers, support staff, parents, carers and others – to CHOOSE RESPECT.
We officially launched the ‘Choose Respect’ project this week, including a school-wide address from our school captains Elizabeth Wotten and Ruben Tuazon McCheyne; the release of our brand new classroom displays; and an induction session for Years 7-10, in which students were asked to consider a range of scenarios that occur in and outside of the school, and how respect can be demonstrated. We also presented a short video that features some of the school's senior students telling us their views on the importance and value of respect. You can watch the video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM4yWBNPG4k There’s more to come throughout the year. The ‘Choose Respect’ project goal is to ensure that all people at the school feel that they are respected by others, so that Strathmore Secondary College is a safe, inclusive, engaging and fun environment to learn and grow. We encourage everyone to CHOOSE RESPECT in every interaction they have. 
Burnet BulletinGood afternoon students, parents, carers and community of our Burnet students.
Welcome back from a well-deserved break. We hope that where you were able, you spent some time relaxing with family and friends and that you are refreshed and ready for the year ahead. It has been a really pleasant first week welcoming our students back on to the campus and hearing stories of their experiences and adventures over the holidays. It’s been so nice to meet our new Year 7s, they’re settling in nicely and navigating the college like experts, almost. It has already been a busy start to the year, and for us in the Burnet office it almost feels like we never left. We have reminded students of the importance of being prepared to start the year off and get in the right mindset to ensure a productive and enjoyable term. Day to day matters like ensuring pencil cases are filled, notebooks are named and labelled, devices are charged and the correct school uniform is worn is the best way to feel prepared and part of the college. To be confident and consistent in our start to a new school year it’s important that our students respect the regular expectations of all Strathmore students, that is: wearing correct school uniform, adhering to the mobile phone policy, ensuring students arrive to class on time and are fully prepared, and to consider how we will demonstrate the PRIDE values in our day to day actions and interactions at school and in the community. Year 7 Camp The annual Year 7 Orientation Camp will take place from the 1st to the 3rd of March at Camp Wilkin in Anglesea. This is an exciting way for our Year 7s to start their journey through secondary college and a fantastic way to get to know the rest of the cohort and the team. Consent and payment can be made through the parent Compass portal, the due date is fast approaching, and we will need to begin our planning for activity groups so we appreciate your prompt action. Year 9 Peer Support We will be continuing our peer support program this year and have a great group of Year 9 students that have offered to be mentors for our new Year 7s. The wellbeing team have run a peer mentor training day for our Year 9s already and we’re looking forward to the program beginning on Monday next week. The program has been successful over a number of years and we really appreciate the work our Year 9 students do with the Year 7s in assisting with their transition, leading activities to develop skills in organisation, resilience, conflict resolution and relationship building. StrathMORE Voice Our form assembly teachers will soon begin working with form groups to elect student voice representatives. The StrathMORE Voice Program aims to represent and give a voice to ALL students across the college. Students elected by their peers will participate in fortnightly forums before school or during lunch where they share thoughts and ideas in an environment built on trust and respect, and offer realistic suggestions for the good of the whole school community. Year 10 Leaders The Burnet team congratulates our Year 10 leaders for 2023: Toby Wood, Mia Christopoulos Julian Fernando, Viktoria Christopoulos We look forward to working closely with our leaders to continue to keep Burnet a positive, inclusive and enjoyable team and for continuing to build on student voice and agency in the college. We will be discussing additional representative and leadership roles with our students in Years 7 – 9 alongside the StrathMORE Voice initiative. We understand that the start of the school year may have some students feeling nervous or anxious about the challenges ahead. We and want to remind students that the Burnet team is here to support students and families as best we can. We have a great relationship with our student support services team who we can connect students with, and who can also assist students and families to access a range of external services if necessary. The Burnet office has an open-door policy and we hope that all students from all year levels will continue to drop in and say hello, have a chat and settle back in to a good routine. We look forward to working with all of you over the year to ensure the best outcomes for students and to strengthen the Burnet community. Welcome back, let’s have a great year. The Burnet Team
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https://www.thesaintssffc.org.au 
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