Weekly Wrap
Welcome to week 5.
It was wonderful to see sports teams heading out to play against other schools for the first time in a very long time. Signs we are putting Covid behind us are very encouraging, especially in light of the Premier’s announcement this morning lifting some restrictions.
Our Swimming Carnival, moved due to the snap lockdown, will be held next Wednesday. This is a fun day, and not just a swimming carnival. It is also an opportunity to dress up in Tribe colours, meet new friends, and hang out with existing friends. We encourage everyone to get involved, as it really is a fantastic whole school event.
We were successful with our application to be part of the Creative Works program from Regional Arts Victoria and have been paired with Steph Almond and Ben Opie who will join us for three days a week for the whole of semester 1. They are both musicians and installation artists who work in the field of storytelling though sound and light. This week they started their work with Year 11 VCAL and Year 12 Art and will soon be working with year 7s and other student groups across the semester to capture stories and present them in creative ways.
A reminder to everyone that the canteen is in operation, but only in an online capacity. Students can go on to Compass and order lunches, made by local Café Oggi.
Finally, we experienced an incident recently at the College where a number of students behaved poorly and stepped outside acceptable standards of behaviour, to the extent that I had to expel them. The safety of our community is our number one priority, and we will not tolerate any behaviour that compromises that safety.
David Rogers
This week in the school library we have been having a delayed celebration of Random Acts of Kindness Week by painting Kindness Rocks and creating a Kindness Garden in the courtyard.
On Tuesday night, Matthew Nash represented Forest Hill College at the Lions Club Youth of the Year awards. Along with contestants from Blackburn High School, Mallauna College and Kingswood College, Matt was interviewed, responded to two impromptu questions and gave a speech on a topic of his choice- ‘Why the Australian Open should not be held during the COVID-19 pandemic?’
The impromptu questions required students to think on their feet through their response to the questions – ‘If you could give anything in the world, what is the greatest gift you could give?’ and ‘Should there be laws regulating social media?’
It was an extremely close competition, with only 2 points separating first and third place. Although Matt missed out on being awarded Youth of the Year, we are incredibly proud of his bravery, the perspective shown in his responses and the articulate way in which he spoke. Congratulations Matt!
Allison Savige | Teaching and Learning Leader: Tribe and Community
Proposed Parking Changes
As you’ve probably experienced, the traffic around the College before and after school can be a challenge. We’re pleased to let you know that Whitehorse Council has responded to our request to review the traffic and parking arrangements around the College and they have returned with a proposal to install a new Kiss and Go zone along the front of the College on Mahoneys Rd.
The proposal is that the Kiss and Go zone will be in place from 8 am to 9.15 am and from 3pm to 4pm on Weekdays, and extend across 19 parking spaces in Mahoneys Rd.
The zone will mean that drivers will only be able to park for a maximum of 2 minutes and remain with their vehicle.
We have also asked for a review into the School Zone speed signage on Mahoneys Rd that has been forwarded on to the Department of Transport.
As yet we don’t have a timeframe of when this might happen, but we will keep you up to date with any developments.
In the mean-time this is a great opportunity to remind our community of the importance of safety when dropping off and picking up your children. We ask that you do not double park and only park within designated spaces in the carpark. Please also avoid parking in the drop off zone at the end of the day and, instead, use it only once your child is ready to be picked up.