Weekly Wrap

Weekly Wrap – Term 1, Week 3

Last week we had a strong week of academic learning in our classrooms.

With a clear focus on making progress every lesson every day our teachers set a high standard for our students.

We walked our classrooms each day and were pleased with what we saw.

Students are settled into some very positive routines.

Whilst the first two days of the week were hot and challenging we all encouraged students to stay hydrated, eat well and continue working hard.

In the main, our students did persist through the challenging conditions.

Deakin University Excursion

Last Tuesday, the Year 10 students attended an excursion at Deakin University where they were able to explore Tertiary options at the University located closest to most of their homes.

Academy students had a presentation from athlete, Melissa Tapper on Wednesday.

On track for a successful career in able-bodied sport, Melissa’s world was turned upside down when Paralympics Australia suggested she transition to Para-table tennis.

She soon began training for national selection, and her rise in the sport was meteoric.

She reached the bronze medal match on debut at the London 2012 Paralympic Games which, at the time, was Australia’s best performance in Para-table tennis at a Paralympic Games in 28 years.

Following the Games, she became the first Australian Paralympic table tennis player to qualify for an able-bodied national team when she was selected to represent Australia at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, and in 2016, Melissa made history again when she became the first Australian to compete at a Paralympic and Olympic Games in the same year.

She told a great story of persistence, resilience and hard work.

Renovation Update

On Wednesday we attended a design meeting with our architects.

Across the week we had surveyors measuring the site and preparing data for our architects to use in planning our new Science, Technology and Art classrooms.

Staff Update

We are still pursuing several teaching vacancies that remain unfilled.

We have advertised a number of times and unless we are satisfied the applicant will be a strong performer, we have chosen to re advertise and keep looking.

Our current round of advertisements close at the end of next week.

We hope to announce the recruitment of some excellent staff following this round of recruitment.

We have the view that despite there being a staff shortage across the nation, Forest Hill College is a proud academic organisation with the capacity to attract good teachers.

We will continue looking until we are satisfied we have found good teachers. Your children deserve that.

Annual privacy reminder for our school community

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 and the Schools’ Privacy Collection Notice.

Our Photographing, Filming and Recording Students Policy 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 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.

This information is also available in ten community languages: Amharic, Arabic, Dari, Gujarati, Mandarin, Somali, Sudanese, Turkish, Urdu and Vietnamese

All Access Ramp Upgrade

Works on the access ramps to classrooms and buildings across the College will commence next week.

We are going to experience some degree of disruption for about 3 to 4 weeks.

We have carefully staged the works to avoid major disruption to any area of the College.

The finished product will ensure the College complies with the latest standards for accessibility access in all buildings.

David Rogers

College Principal