Late Breaking News

As I am sure you would appreciate, it takes considerable effort and time to switch between face-to-face teaching and Remote and Flexible Learning – especially with changes of classes due to the new semester!  Despite our previous experience with Remote and Flexible Learning, the lack of a Pupil Free Day to prepare for this most recent lockdown does make this transition even more challenging.

If Regional Victoria is still in lockdown for the first two days of next week, students will be provided with work via Compass.  There will be no classes via Webex for these two days.  Due to the significant number of students who require to be on site, either through being vulnerable or the children of essential workers, staff will remain at the College during the lockdown and run timetabled classes.  If you are an essential worker or an authorised worker, or you believe your child is vulnerable (physically, emotionally or educationally), they are able to attend school and all of their normal classes on Monday and Tuesday.

If this lockdown is to continue past next Tuesday, further information will be provided to parents and students. We are currently working on a new Webex timetable based around the Semester Two timetable.

Thanks again for your cooperation and understanding.

Welcome Back

Welcome back to all students and staff for Term 3 – and the official start to the second semester. I hope and trust that everyone has been able to have a nice and relaxing break over the holidays and is re-charged for the run into the second half of the year.

At Assembly on Monday, we welcomed back Mr. Cornwell following his 6 months of long service leave and we also welcomed Mrs. Melanie Watts and Mrs. Fiona Lobley, who will be taking over Mrs. Ezard’s jobs of Science Lab Tech and Food Tech for the next 6 months.  Our new Chaplain, Maryann Grech officially begins her new role with us this term as well.  I am sure that they will enjoy their time with us and that everyone will make them feel welcome.

Due to the departure of Miss. Chambers at the end of last term, we have had to make some internal staffing changes with Mrs. Jackson assuming the Year 12 Maths Methods class, Mr. Marland the VCAL Numeracy, Mr. Calvert the Year 10 VCAL maths class and I will take the Year 8 maths class with Mr. Calvert.

LMR Cross Country

On Tuesday we finally hosted the on-again, off-again, on-again, off-again Loddon Mallee Region Cross Country event.  With approximately 1000 competitors on the day, it was a massive undertaking and one that we do very well.  Thanks must be extended to Mr. Knight and his team for their organisation of not only our team, but the whole event which ran very smoothly.

A massive thanks also to Parents' Club under the direction of Larissa Patton and Jen Small, who were able to pull together a small army of helpers to provide the catering for the day.  This is another significant task and we thank everyone, both current and past parents and friends of the College, who helped out on the day or the lead up to it.  Thanks also to our Year 10 students and some of our Year 8 students who helped on the day, either with checkpoints or helping with the food.  It was truly a team effort.

School Upgrade

During the holidays I spent a couple of hours with three potential architects at the College who are vying for the job as our architect for our $10M refurbishment.  It was great that they were able to have a complete tour of the site, learning about how we use the current facilities and what some of our ideas for the future are.  They were all able to provide some insight as to what they may bring to the table as our architects, and I will be travelling to Melbourne next week to interview each of them to decide who will be offered the position.

Reports

Over the holidays as well I had the opportunity to read over every student’s report.  I know that staff spent considerable time on the reports and I encourage you to spend time with your child reading over the information provided.  We have experienced some significant changes to our reporting due to the COVID pandemic and the effects of the lockdowns from last year.  This has had an impact on the consistency of our reporting, so this term, the staff have already begun looking at the format of our reports, to make them more informative for students and parents and with greater consistency across all subject areas.  If you would like to provide any feedback about our current reports, or suggestions on how we could improve them, we would welcome your contributions.

Reports will be available through Compass on Friday afternoon.

Parent Teacher Interviews

Parent Teacher Interviews are being held on Monday 26 July from 9:00am to 7:00pm. Year 11 and 12 classes will run as normal, which includes Year 10 students undertaking a Year 11 class.  Bookings for interviews will be able to be made through Compass from next Monday (19^th).

Tony Hand

Principal

There were over 800 runners who competed in 16 events throughout the day. All students from St. Arnaud Secondary College ran very well and should be proud of their efforts and the knowledge that they represented the College at Region Level. A big congratulations to Keegan Amos who has progressed to the State Cross Country Championships on the 5^th of August at Yarra Valley.

On behalf of St. Arnaud Secondary College, I would just like to thank the Parents’ Club team for working the canteen and the BBQ and to the many supporters who came throughout the day. Thanks to Brylea Knight, India Griffith and Craig Cornwell who assisted with the cross-country training and preparation for the event.  A special thank you must also go to all the students who acted as officials on the checkpoints - their efforts and professionalism was greatly appreciated.

Mr Knight

Sports Coordinator

Very excitingly, over the holidays the school purchased a new bike trailer to transport and store the school's mountain bikes. The trailer holds 24 bikes and has a lockable storage compartment in the middle to hold all the equipment.

The school plans on using the trailer to transport the bikes to a range of different camps, which will allow for greater savings for students, as they will not be required to hire some equipment when we have our own. Also, the trailer is versatile and can transport all types of bikes, which will allow it to be used when transporting bikes for the school triathlon.

A special thank you to Mr. Knight, who drove to Wodonga to pick up the trailer on the last day of the school holidays. Thanks also to Mr. Burke for making a stand for the back of the trailer to make sure it is safe while stored in the shed. A really big thank you to the MYLN’s students who assisted getting the bikes on the trailer and reorganised the new sports shed so the trailer could fit.  The shed has never been so clean or organised!

Year 10/11 Snow Camp – Final payment now due.

Notebook Program – Final payment now due.

Food Technology Fee - due now.

Helping families get their kids active

Eligible families can now apply for a voucher that helps subsidise organised sport and recreation activities

Does your child love sport and being active? Does your family have a Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card? You may be eligible for up to $200 to put towards the cost of your child’s participation in physical activities. The Get Active Kids Voucher Program helps eligible families get their kids involved in organised sport and active recreation activities. 

Under the program, children may be eligible to receive up to $200 to help with the cost of membership and registration fees, uniforms, and equipment. 

Special consideration also applies for children named on their own Australian Government Health Care Card or residing in care services as well as temporary or provisional visa holders, undocumented migrants or international students.

Applications for vouchers in round two of the program close at 5pm Friday 30 July.  For eligibility requirements and to apply, visit the Get Active Victoria website - https://www.getactive.vic.gov.au/vouchers/

Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund applications

The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund helps eligible families to cover the costs of school trips, camps and sporting activities. Applications for the Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) close on Friday 13 August.

If you have a valid means-tested concession card, such as a Veterans Affairs Gold Card, Centrelink Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card, or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible. The concession card must have been valid on either of the following dates:

• the first day of Term 1 (Wednesday 27 January 2021)
• the first day of Term 2 (Monday 19 April 2021)
• the first day of Term 3 (Monday 12 July 2021).

Payment amounts this year are $225 for eligible secondary school students. Payments are made direct to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions and sporting activities for the benefit of your child.

If you applied for CSEF through our school last year, you do not need to complete an application form this year, unless there has been a change in your family circumstances.

If you would like to apply for the first time, please contact the school office on 5495 1811 and ask for an application form.