The College continues to be busy with learning and activity as we approach the mid-point of Term 4. As Term 4 learning culminates, we have much to look forward to. Planning for 2024 has begun and we have approached awards season. Our end of year Awards and Presentation Evening is to be held on Thursday 14 December!

At this stage in the term, it is timely to consider our focus value of Teamwork. It is encouraging to see the many ways our students have been demonstrating this value including:

• Being inclusive of everyone and everything
• Contributing positively to group activities
• Sharing ideas and resources

STUDENT ATTITUDE TO SCHOOL SURVEY – 2023

This term the College received the results of the 2023 Student Attitude to School Survey. A summary of this data is included below.

It is very pleasing to see that our students continue to have a strong experience at school (especially compared to students across the state) and that their experience has been improving as the school grows. Our community can be proud of the work the College has done and can be confident in the experience our students have each day.

STAGE 2 CONSTRUCTION UPDATES

As you can see from both onsite and our social media updates, construction has commenced! The College is pleased that progress is being made and that things are moving along quickly.

Thank you to parents and community members who remain patient with the increased traffic along Glencairn Drive and for providing us with any feedback you have. We look forward to sharing more detailed drawings of our new facilities in the coming months.

NEW SCHOOL BUS SERVICE

Following extensive meetings and lobbying on behalf of our community to the State Government and Public Transport Victoria, the College is excited to announce that two new dedicated bus services have been approved for our students to use from Term 1, 2024.

All other bus services will remain the same in the area. The schedule for the new services will hopefully be released in December and will cover our enrolment zone. The two bus services will be:

• Meadow Heights – Greenvale Secondary College
• Greenvale West – Greenvale Secondary College

NEW STATEGIC PLAN – 2023 – 2027

Information was previously provided to you by our College regarding our review process and our reviewing panel’s recommendations. Since then, School Council has met and considered the review reports and recommendations and has accepted the new goals and key improvement strategies.

The new strategic plan for 2023 to 2027 is now available on our College website and includes the following goals and strategies:

• Goal 1- Improve student learning.
  • Key Improvement Strategies:
    • Enhance student agency in learning.
    • Embed the G5 instructional model and PLCs.
    • Develop the future curriculum and programs.
    • Further develop and embed parent and community partnerships.
  • Goal 2 – Improve student wellbeing.
    • Key Improvement Strategies:
      • Maintain a positive climate for learning.
      • Enhance the valuing of diversity and inclusion.
      • Implement a schoolwide framework for wellbeing.

In early 2024 the College will be working with our community to bring this plan to life and to create a shared understanding of what our College will be like in 2027!

START OF TERM ASSEMBLY

The start of Term 4 has been positive – even if the weather has been a challenge! Our whole school assembly was a success! It was a great opportunity to recognise our students’ achievements and to share our plans for this term, and beyond into 2024, with our entire school community. 

YEAR 7 2024

On 26 October we had the pleasure of welcoming our new cohort of Year 7 students who will join us in 2024, and their families, for an information night. Our Family Information Session aimed to set up our new cohort for success through presentations from several key staff members and knowledgeable students.  Whilst it is a long time away – the new year 7 class will graduate from Greenvale Secondary College in 2029! We look forward to forming a strong relationship with the class of 2029 across this time!

TERM 4 TEACHING AND LEARNING

It is hard to believe that we are progressing at such a rate through Term 4 that students are moving through their Milestone check-ins for their current units and will soon be preparing to undertake their final assessment tasks for Years 7 and 8. The Greenvale Secondary College Assessment Cycle plays a crucial role in supporting and measuring student learning growth each term, at three different points in a unit of learning.

Families are encouraged to discuss the learning students have done in the early parts of their current units as they prepare for summative assessments. Common Assessment Tasks (CATs) act as the final measurement against the Victorian Curriculum in a unit of work, and revisiting the knowledge and skills built throughout the term is a fundamental way to maximise the learning growth shown. Families can help with revision by:

• Scheduling time for both home study and rest breaks during busy assessment weeks.
• Providing a quiet and organised space to study or complete tasks.
• Assisting students in reading back over the term’s work in exercise books, on OneNote, and the material covered in textbooks and online resources- encourage notetaking systems such as writing three key points per 10 minutes of revision.
• Contact teachers if you feel that additional support is needed to assist your child with the assessment period.

WORLD TEACHERS’ DAY

World Teachers’ Day 2023 was celebrated across Australia on Friday 27 October 2023. This was a chance to recognise the teachers who work to make an impact in the lives of students at Greenvale Secondary College. Every day, we see GSC teachers go above and beyond for learners in our community. The School Council thoughtfully acknowledged and celebrated our teachers on the day, and our students had the following to say in thanks of the staff who have worked with them this year:

“Thank you for supporting me throughout the whole entire year. I really appreciate you helping me work and listen better and improve my learning.”

“Thank you to all teachers. Whether you teach Maths or English or something else, we’ll all be here to support you. You support us to learn and grow, and to keep our eyes on the future.”

“Thank you so much for helping us in how we show the school values.”

“Thanks to all the teachers for being supportive and always being there for our wellbeing, talking our problems out with you and providing a solution to our issues.”

“You teach us and support us in so many ways that I can’t think of a way to put it to thank you properly.”

END OF TERM EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES

As we move towards the end of the year, a range of educational and celebratory events and activities are being organised. These aim to engage learners in meaningful work until the end of the school year and to acknowledge the successes and achievements of 2023.

Events include: learning around careers and futures, ‘Early Start’ into Year 8 and 9, Year 7 2024 Orientation Day, SRC’s Survivor Day, on and off campus Activities Days, and the 2023 Whole College Awards Night. We encourage families to regularly check Compass to provide consent or to indicate attendance for these important upcoming events.

A busy final term of 2023 is halfway over and there’s still a lot to get through before we say goodbye to the 2023 academic year. The students are working through Milestone tasks in their subjects at the moment, which gives us an indicator of their progress in thier current unit. We strongly encourage families to have a discussion about what the tasks are and how they’re feeling about them.

This term we are focusing on the topic of bullying. In Mentor classes we have been working through a bullying unit to give students strategies to deal with a bullying situation and to inform students on what supports are available to them. This has also coincided with the National Week Without Violence, which took place early October. The year 7 students were able to listen to a guest speaker from The Pat Cronin Foundation. All combined, we hope this knowledge helps students make wiser decisions about bullying and acts of violence.

A huge congratulations to our recent Values Award recipients; they have constantly displayed their valued award, both in and out of the classroom.

Excellence: Elsa Ngo

Leadership: Emmie Chaiha

Respect: Benjamin Rose

Teamwork: Sebastian Francese

Away from GSC, it was very pleasing to have four year 7 students representing the school brilliantly at the recent Future Designers Workshop at The University of Melbourne: Aydin and Sarah from 7A along with Elsa and Yari from 7E. There was nothing but positive comments back from the organisers and the staff who accompanied the students. Congratulations to these four outstanding students.

As we draw closer to the Melbourne Cup holiday, it’s a good opportunity for our students to recharge their batteries and set their goals for what they want to achieve in the remaining time in year 7 or 8. There will soon be a Common Assessment Task (CAT) period, giving the students the opportunity to demonstrate their learning growth in term 4.

The Student Services team would like to introduce Niky and Aadya. Both are completing their Masters of Counselling through Monash University. Niky and Aadya will be with GSC in Term 4, 2023 and Term 1, 2024 providing 1 on 1 counselling and small group support.

WEEK WITHOUT VIOLENCE

The Week Without Violence is an initiative created by YWCA, USA in 1995. Over the past two decades, organisations around the world have hosted community events to end violence against women. This year’s theme is ‘Listen, Believe, Connect: Connect with organisations and people who can help.’

Every year hundreds of people mark the WWV by painting T-shirts. The Clothesline Project concept is simple: each participant expresses their feelings about family violence, on a T-shirt.

This year every Greenvale Secondary College student had an opportunity to participate in this activity. The results were outstanding!

Prevention of violence starts with modelling respectful relationships and having conversations with your children and young people. For support around having these conversations please see the links below:

• ReachOut Parents: Chatting to your teen about domestic violence – YouTube
• Violence against women: prevention | Raising Children Network

If you or anyone you know needs support or advice please see the link and helplines below:

NIFVS | GETTING HELP

• Safe Steps Family Violence Response Centre (24 hours): 1800 015 188
• Berry Street Northern Family & Domestic Violence Service (03) 9450 4700
• The Orange Door, North East Melbourne 1800 319 355

PAT CRONIN FOUNDATION

Greenvale Secondary College invited the Pat Cronin Foundation to come and speak to the Year 7 students during the Week Without Violence. In partnership with schools, Pat Cronin Foundation is hoping to end social violence that destroys young lives.

The information session provided students with a better understanding of how to deal with anger before it becomes aggression. Students were shown how a single decision can have life-lasting consequences. Students also discussed and developed an awareness of strategies that suits them and their friends.

STATE SCHOOL RELIEF

We have just been informed by State School Relief that a number of changes are going to take effect from the 27th of November, 2023.

These changes include:

• Rather than part reimbursement per item, all vouchers issued from 27th November have a dollar value
• Each voucher will have a value of $85
• There will now be a limit of 1 voucher per application and a maximum of 3 vouchers per student/per calendar year
• SSR vouchers will be valid for 3 months from the date of issue
• Vouchers can be used to purchase any item/s at any uniform supplier or school shop.

As a result I would encourage you to make contact with the school prior to this date if you have uniform needs for your child for 2024 and you meet the criteria for State School Relief Support.

Please note that State School Relief do not have text book vouchers for 2023/2024.

UNIFORM AND TEXT BOOKS DONATIONS

The end of the year is near and we are planning for 2024.
We are aware that purchasing school uniforms and school books are expensive and the school tries to assist where possible. We have been asked about second-hand books and uniforms and in the past, this has been difficult being a brand-new school. Moving into 2024 as our 3rd year of functioning we hope to have second-hand texts and uniforms on offer. 

If you have any school uniforms or textbooks you would like to donate to the school we would be more than happy to take these items off your hands to be included in a second hand store at the school.

NOVEMBER WELLBEING TOPIC

Resilience:

The weather in Melbourne sometimes reflects our life. One minute the sun is shining, providing instant energy and warmth. Then, the wind unexpectantly blows, nearly knocking us off our feet. Building resilience in our students supports these occasions.

Many people believe that resilience is just about one’s ability to bounce back. Resilience is so much more than that. Resilience is about building the skills to be able to endure hardships.

Resilience is the ability to adapt to difficult situations. When stress, adversity or trauma strikes, you still experience anger, grief and pain, but you’re able to keep functioning — both physically and psychologically. However, resilience isn’t about putting up with something difficult, being stoic or figuring it out on your own. In fact, being able to reach out to others for support is a key part of being resilient.

KIDS HELPLINE EXPLAINS RESILIENCE

Resilience is what allows us to get through tough times and get back up on our feet.

Resilience might look something like this:

‘Bouncing back’ and moving forward after tough times.

Dealing with challenges and still getting through your day-to-day.

Being a problem-solver.

Being adaptable and flexible – you can go with the flow!

Standing up for yourself.

Coping with life is being able to handle both the good and the not-so-good stuff that life throws at you.

Having healthy strategies. Healthy strategies are like good plans to feel better when things are difficult. It’s like having a secret recipe to stay strong and happy inside.

Emotional toughness and your strength from inside.

Giving things a go and trying your best.

Having a ‘growth mindset’ – you know that by trying, learning, and not giving up you can do anything!

TIPS TO IMPROVE RESILIENCE

• Get connected. Building strong, positive relationships with loved ones and friends can provide you with needed support, guidance and acceptance in good and bad times.
• Make every day meaningful. Do something that gives you a sense of accomplishment and purpose every day. Set clear, achievable goals to help you look toward the future with meaning.
• Learn from experience. Think of how you’ve coped with hardships in the past. Consider the skills and strategies that helped you through difficult times.
• Remain hopeful. You can’t change the past, but you can always look toward the future. Accepting and even anticipating change makes it easier to adapt and view new challenges with less anxiety.
• Take care of yourself. Tend to your own needs and feelings. Participate in activities and hobbies you enjoy. Include physical activity in your daily routine. Get plenty of sleep and create consistent bedtime rituals. Eat a healthy diet. Practice stress management and relaxation techniques, such as yoga, meditation, guided imagery, deep breathing or prayer.
• Be proactive. Don’t ignore your problems. Instead, figure out what needs to be done, make a plan and take action. Although it can take time to recover from a major setback, traumatic event or loss, know that your situation can improve if you work at it.

The first few weeks of term 4 have been an amazing time for the instrumental music program with students very excited for our first annual performing arts gala. Last term, when first announced, our performing arts gala (to showcase our student’s hard work throughout the year), and the fact that everyone would be performing in front of the entire school community, brought mixed reactions. Students had a range of responses– from excitement to nervousness.  But, these students overcame their feelings and put on an amazing show for our attendees. It’s great to see students pushing themselves to show resilience through the performing arts where many haven’t performed in front of a large audience, or performed at all before! This is to be recognized and congratulated!

We began our performing arts gala with Bossa Nova from Blake, Benjamin and Wez, who are the core of our jazz ensemble (which aims to extend students’ musical reading and playing abilities). We continued our gala night with singers, guitar ensembles, pianists, and drummers. One student performed an original song. Deniz B played the saxophone. The Greenvale ensemble finished the show.

The performing arts is not just music, but dance and drama as well. Through a dance number performed by Khadijah and Emmie, we were able to showcase just a fraction of what has been happening at the college. These students were an important part of the Victorian State School Spectacular (VSSS) dance team, who performed at John Cain Arena in front of 10,000 people for two shows.

We would like to thank our MCs for the night, Christopher and Elsa, for hosting us so spectacularly. We would also like to thank everyone else who made the performing arts gala night possible, from Jack, Ms McPhail, to the office ladies for decorating the library, and to Liz our business manager for the refreshments. It was a spectacular night and we cannot wait for the next one!

Our students did an incredible job showing the importance of extra-curricular programs at schools like the instrumental music program. VSSS expressions of interest for dance and singing are now open. We have a diverse range of instruments available to learn for 2024 including the: trumpet, clarinet, trombone and even tuba. Feel free to get in touch with Mr Rocek or Ms McPhail for more details on how to join the music program. 

Lastly, we have welcomed a new member of the instrumental music team, Jack, who will be taking over guitar, keyboard and a few other instruments. Jack has been a great help over the past term, and we officially welcome him as a member of staff.

MEET OUR ADMINISTRATION TEAM

Elizabeth Cullen – Business Manager

Liz is responsible for all HR, finance, facilities and operations matters at the College. Please be in touch if you need to discuss how the College can best support you and your students.

Sonia Saitov – Sub School Administration

Sonia is responsible for sub-school administration and attendance. 

Connie Midiri – Executive Assistant/Daily Organiser

Connie is responsible for daily organising and the school’s schedule. Connie is also responsible for transition and enrolment enquiries.

Jasmine Spurr – Administration Trainee

Jasmine is completing her Certificate II in Business while working as a trainee at the College. Jasmine is the first point of contact at Reception and can help you with any enquiry.

Susi Dombrzalski – Finance Officer

Susi is responsible for all accounts payable and receivable. You can get in touch if you have enquiries about billing, payments or CSEF applications.

Our Administration Team are always happy to assist and support all students and families at the front reception daily. Our Administration Office is open 8:00am – 4:00pm Monday to Friday. We are committed to doing our best and if you ever have any questions or queries, we are here to help.

CANTEEN ORDERS

Families can order their child’s lunch through Compass each day, before 10:30am  Students are to go to the canteen to collect their orders at the start of recess (the 2^nd break time of the day).

If you miss the cut off for lunch orders, you are welcome to bring lunch or money to the Administration Office so your student doesn’t miss out. Please note, there are no IOUs available through the Canteen.

LAPTOP LOAN PROGRAM

The College has laptops available for loan should your student forget theirs or if they need a replacement for a short period of time. These must be loaned out from the IT Office each day and returned at the end of the day

ARRIVING LATE TO SCHOOL

Students who arrive late to school, after 8:50am, must sign in through the Compass Kiosk either using their student card or Compass Login details.

Parents/Guardians can either use the Compass Kiosk to sign their child in late or they can contact the Office on 8393 0000 to advise us why their child will be late.

EARLY DEPATURE FROM SCHOOL

We realise that at times you need to pick up your child early from school. When your child needs to be picked up early from school, please either contact the Office on 8393 0000 or send your child with a note to bring into the Administration office letting us know the time you will be picking up your child. This will ensure the class teacher will be notified when your child needs to leave class. 

When picking up your child early, you are required to come into the Administration Office to sign your child out through the Compass Kiosk.

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PROGRAM

The instrumental music program is an optional opportunity for students interested in learning, or exploring, a musical instrument. The College offers a variety of instruments taught by highly qualified music teachers. For families wishing to re-enrol or enrol for 2024, please collect a form from the office to complete.

For students already participating in the program, please remember to let your music teacher know in advance if you need to miss or reschedule a music lesson. You should also speak with your music teacher as a first point of contact if you have any questions or concerns.

COMPASS LOG IN

Families requiring assistance with their Compass login can contact the Administration Office on 8393 000 and we can assist you with your login details and password.

FIRST AID

Unfortunately, we know that students sometimes fall ill or hurt themselves while at school – accidents happen! The College has first aid trained staff and a well-equipped first aid room. The Office will notify parents or emergency contacts if there is a serious injury. You may be asked to collect your student if we cannot care for them at school. The Office may also contact you to seek your advice about how you’d like us to manage your child. Please remember to update the College with any important medical information so we can be aware and best support your child.

Please discourage your child from contacting you via mobile phone – if they are unwell, they can come to the Office at any time and we will contact you as needed.

PARENT PAYMENTS

Greenvale Secondary College would like to remind all parents of our voluntary financial contributions for 2023. Schools provide students with free instruction to fulfil the standard Victorian curriculum and we want to assure you that all contributions are voluntary. Nevertheless, the ongoing support of our families ensures that our school can offer the best possible education and support for our students. We want to thank you in advance for all your support, whatever it may be, during your time at Greenvale Secondary College. It will make a huge difference to our school and the programs we can offer.

You can read more about the College’s Parent Payment arrangements here: 2023-GSC-Parent-Payment-Arrangements.pdf (greenvalesc.vic.edu.au) Payments can be made via Compass, over the phone or at the front reception desk.

2024 Parent Payment arrangements information will be released in Term 4.

MOBILE PHONE REMINDER

Greenvale Secondary College has a firm policy regarding student use of mobile phones at school.

At Greenvale Secondary College, inappropriate use of mobile phones by students is any use during school hours (unless an exception has been granted), particularly use of a mobile phone:
• in any way that disrupts the learning of others
• to send inappropriate, harassing or threatening messages or phone calls
• to engage in inappropriate social media use including cyber bullying
• to capture video or images of people, including students, teachers and members of the school community without their permission
• to capture video or images in the school toilets, changing rooms, swimming pools and gyms
• during exams and assessments
• to communicate with other mobile phone devices or social media

The College understands that students may bring a personal mobile phone to school, particularly if they are travelling independently to and from school. At Greenvale Secondary College:
• Students who choose to bring mobile phones to school must have them switched off and securely stored
during school hours.
• Exceptions to this policy may be applied in certain circumstances.
• When emergencies occur, parents or carers can reach their child by calling the school’s office.

Please note that students are not permitted to use their mobile phones to pay at the canteen – cash or physical card is accepted.

You may receive a call asking you to collect a student’s mobile phone from the front office if the phone has been confiscated more than once.

Please take a moment to remind your students of these expectations. Thank you for your ongoing partnership.

LOST PROPERTY

The College collects lost property that is handed in and is stored at Reception. All unclaimed items will be disposed of at the end of each term.
We strongly recommend that all items are labelled and named so they can be easily identified and returned to you.
The team at Reception can also organise replacement Student Planner and/or ID cards for purchase if needed.

 KEY DATES

ATTENDANCE – IT’S NOT OK TO BE AWAY! 

Daily school attendance is important for all children and young people to succeed in education and to ensure they don’t fall behind both socially and developmentally. Children and young people who regularly attend school and complete Year 12 or an equivalent qualification have better health outcomes, better employment outcomes, and higher incomes across their lives. It is important that children develop habits of regular attendance at an early age. 

We realise some absences are unavoidable due to health problems or other circumstances. But we also know that when students miss too much school – regardless of the reason – it can cause them to fall behind academically.  

It is important that you contact the school as soon as possible on 8393 0000 or log onto the Compass Portal to inform us of your child’s absence.  

We also ask parents/guardians/carers to regularly monitor their child’s attendance through the Compass Parent Portal. 

EVERY DAY COUNTS 

A day here or there doesn’t seem like much but… 

PURCHASE OF UNIFORMS

Uniform items can be purchased from Noone Imagewear.

New Craigieburn Store Open. Shop A2-E,  420-440 Craigieburn Rd, Craigieburn.  Shopping Precinct – Craigieburn Junction. Cnr Craigieburn Rd and Aitken Boulevard. Store is located next to Carpet Call.

Online orders can also be placed directly at https://www.noone.com.au

SUPPORT YOUR CHILD’S EDUCATION WITH 12 MONTHS FREE INTERNET AT HOME

The Australian Government has established the School Student Broadband Initiative to provide free home internet for one year for up to 30,000 eligible families with school-aged students.

The initiative aims to boost education opportunities. NBN Co is leading the rollout of this initiative across the country.

How the School Student Broadband Initiative can help your child

Children who can access online learning at home as part of their education are more likely to engage in classroom activities.

Access to fast internet at home can also support children to build their digital skills, learn how to safely use the internet and take part in a world that is more reliant on digital technology.

Eligibility

To be eligible, families must:

• have a child living at home enrolled in an Australian school in 2023
• not have an active National Broadband Network internet service at their home (having a mobile internet service does not affect eligibility)
• live in a premises that can access the National Broadband Network through a standard connection. NBN Co will check this for you after you apply
• register interest with your school and complete a consent form to be assessed for eligibility.

How the School Student Broadband Initiative works

If you are eligible, your home internet service will be provided at no cost for one year with a participating internet provider over the National Broadband Network. Each internet provider has its own step-by-step process to get you connected, which may involve you providing identification.

Once you sign up, the internet provider will help you set up your connection. The initiative does not include devices such as a computer or tablet. Other members of your household can use the internet service provided through this initiative.

The one-year period will start from the day your service is activated with your chosen provider. At the end of the one-year period, you will not be placed onto a paid service by your internet provider without your consent. The Australian Government is considering options beyond the one-year free period.

How to apply

• Ask your school for a copy of the School Student Broadband Initiative consent form.
• Complete the consent form and return to the school.
• NBN Co will use student address details on the consent form to confirm eligibility.
• If you are eligible, NBN Co will issue a voucher for your family to use to sign up with a participating internet provider. This will be provided to you by your school.

Please note: NBN Co will review the home address for eligibility. No personal information other than your main home address will be shared with NBN Co. Please see the consent form for details about how personal information will be used.

Find out more

For more information about the School Student Broadband Initiative, visit https://www.infrastructure.gov.au

LA TROBE NEXUS PROGRAM