Welcome back to 2015 - Heathmont College · Welcome to the students, families and staff of Senior...

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growing through knowledge HEATHMONT COLLEGE NEWSLETTER Feb 5 2015, Issue 20 HEATHMONT COLLEGE A Waters Grove, Heathmont 3135 P 9871 4888 F 9879 4770 E [email protected] W www.heathmont.vic.edu.au INSIDE THIS ISSUE Senior School 2 Music 3 Sport 3 Science 4 Careers 6 News in Brief 11 Noce Board 12 FEBRUARY 2015 Wed 4 Year 7 Camp Wed 11 Year 10 Outdoor Ed Camp Tue 17 Student Photos Tue 24 MEC Michael Carr Gregg Evening Thu 26 Year 7 Camp Celebraon Evening MARCH 2015 Mon 2 College Swimming Tue 3 Year 11 Outdoor Ed Camp Mon 9 Labour Day Public Holiday Tue 24 College Athlecs Fri 27 Last day of Term 1 Welcome back to 2015 Welcome back to all the families at Heathmont College. The College year has commenced on a very posive note and I would like to thank all of the staff who have spent many hours over the term break preparing work for classes, and to the Educaon Support staff who have been dealing with logiscs. I would especially like to thank John Ikin, our Maintenance manager for all the work he has done since early January organising the numerous tradesmen we have had in doing work. The school is looking very smart as a result of this. VCE Results 2014 We are looking forward to another successful year at the College – building on from our recent aca- demic successes. Heathmont has experienced sustained growth in Naplan and the VCE with the four year trend achieved here being stascally significant. Heathmont has once more performed on par with, or exceeding, the results of schools in the local area. The excellent outcomes have been reflected in the terary offers made to our students. These have been in the following fields of study: Medicine Veterinary Science Engineering Commerce Psychology Occupaonal Therapy Welcome to new staff Heathmont College Chaplain Alan Silverwood. Alan will be known to many within the College community as he has a long associaon with Heath- mont, having been School Council President and also a past parent. I am delighted that he is joining us. He will be a valuable addion to the student wellbeing team at Heathmont. Instrumental Voice teacher Beth Stephens Mathemacs Paul Garriga Learning Groups Would all parents please note that aſter the College review last year the recommendaon was made to place a greater emphasis on the role of the Learning Group Teacher. As a result, all phone calls from parents will be directed to the Learning Group teacher in the first instance. This will allow the teacher to have a much more acve role in the pastoral care of their students and build on the relaonship commenced at Learning Group interview day. Visitors to the College A reminder to all that visitors to the College must be registered at the office and issued a visitor’s pass. This includes parents who are coming in for scheduled appointments with staff. Parents who wish to meet staff are advised to call and make an appointment with them, rather than turning up at the College and hoping they are free. This is in order to avoid parents being disappoint- ed if the staff member cannot see them. Staff have busy metables and meengs are scheduled for nonteaching mes. Addionally, they have extra curricula commitments at the school to fulfil, which means it can be very difficult for them to be available at short noce. I appreciate parents’ cooperaon in this regard. Johanna Walker College Principal Social Work Nursing Educaon Informaon Technology Sport Management

Transcript of Welcome back to 2015 - Heathmont College · Welcome to the students, families and staff of Senior...

Page 1: Welcome back to 2015 - Heathmont College · Welcome to the students, families and staff of Senior School 2015. I hope the break has been a restful one for you and your family and

growing through knowledge

H E A T H M O N T C O L L E G E

NEWSLETTER

Feb 5 2015, Issue 20

HEATHMONT COLLEGE

A Waters Grove, Heathmont 3135

P 9871 4888 F 9879 4770 E [email protected] W www.heathmont.vic.edu.au

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E

Senior School 2

Music 3

Sport 3

Science 4

Careers 6

News in Brief 11

Notice Board 12

FEBRUARY 2015

Wed 4

Year 7 Camp

Wed 11

Year 10 Outdoor Ed

Camp

Tue 17

Student Photos

Tue 24

MEC Michael Carr Gregg

Evening

Thu 26

Year 7 Camp Celebration

Evening

MARCH 2015

Mon 2

College Swimming

Tue 3

Year 11 Outdoor Ed

Camp

Mon 9

Labour Day Public

Holiday

Tue 24

College Athletics

Fri 27

Last day of Term 1

Welcome back to 2015 Welcome back to all the families at Heathmont College.

The College year has commenced on a very positive note and I would like to thank all of the staff

who have spent many hours over the term break preparing work for classes, and to the Education

Support staff who have been dealing with logistics. I would especially like to thank John Ikin, our

Maintenance manager for all the work he has done since early January organising the numerous

tradesmen we have had in doing work. The school is looking very smart as a result of this.

VCE Results 2014

We are looking forward to another successful year at the College – building on from our recent aca-

demic successes. Heathmont has experienced sustained growth in Naplan and the VCE with the four

year trend achieved here being statistically significant. Heathmont has once more performed on par

with, or exceeding, the results of schools in the local area.

The excellent outcomes have been reflected in the tertiary offers made to our students.

These have been in the following fields of study:

Medicine

Veterinary Science

Engineering

Commerce

Psychology

Occupational Therapy

Welcome to new staff

Heathmont College Chaplain Alan Silverwood.

Alan will be known to many within the College community as he has a long association with Heath-

mont, having been School Council President and also a past parent. I am delighted that he is joining

us. He will be a valuable addition to the student wellbeing team at Heathmont.

Instrumental Voice teacher Beth Stephens

Mathematics Paul Garriga

Learning Groups

Would all parents please note that after the College review last year the recommendation was made

to place a greater emphasis on the role of the Learning Group Teacher.

As a result, all phone calls from parents will be directed to the Learning Group teacher in the first

instance. This will allow the teacher to have a much more active role in the pastoral care of their

students and build on the relationship commenced at Learning Group interview day.

Visitors to the College

A reminder to all that visitors to the College must be registered at the office and issued a visitor’s

pass. This includes parents who are coming in for scheduled appointments with staff.

Parents who wish to meet staff are advised to call and make an appointment with them, rather than

turning up at the College and hoping they are free. This is in order to avoid parents being disappoint-

ed if the staff member cannot see them.

Staff have busy timetables and meetings are scheduled for nonteaching times. Additionally, they

have extra curricula commitments at the school to fulfil, which means it can be very difficult for

them to be available at short notice.

I appreciate parents’ cooperation in this regard. Johanna Walker

College Principal

Social Work

Nursing

Education

Information Technology

Sport Management

Page 2: Welcome back to 2015 - Heathmont College · Welcome to the students, families and staff of Senior School 2015. I hope the break has been a restful one for you and your family and

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Welcome to the students, families and staff of Senior School 2015. I hope the break has been a restful one

for you and your family and the Christmas Season was a time of shared joy and peace with those dear to

you.

As the 2015 school year commences, I would like to take the opportunity to introduce the Senior School

Team:

Head of Senior School- Haroula Christodoulou

Year 10 Co-Ordinator-Nicholas Barca

Year 11 Co-Ordinator- Dean Hewitt

Year 12 Co-Ordinator- Melissa McMurray

VCAL Co-Ordinator- Linda Lopez

VASS Co-Ordinator- Patricia Johnston

Student Pathways- Nina Ling

Given the slight changes to staffing in 2015 it is timely to remind parents and guardians about our systems

of communication at the College. It is important for parents and students to have access to Compass, as

this will be the main port of communication in the College. As has always been the case, the Learning

Group Teacher is the first port of call for any issues or information that is required. Our Level Co-

Ordinators, as outlined above, should be contacted for more serious issues.

Rita Chiodo is our Wellbeing Co-Ordinator and, for the first time this year, we are introducing a School

Chaplain, Alan Silverwood, who will be available once a week. As Head of Senior School, I have the overall

responsibility for your child’s academic progress and wellbeing. It is very important that parents and

guardians have a good working relationship with the Learning Group Teacher, Year Level Coordinator and

Head of School. We also expect that you contact subject teachers when and if the need arises.

Together with the classroom teachers, the senior school team is really looking forward to working with

students this year. We will continue to strive towards our motto of See it. Believe it. Achieve it. We are

proud of the graduating class of 2014, who received such outstanding results. They proved that with hard

work, determination and a drive to succeed, you can reach your goals and live your dreams. Our vision is

to continue to grow and improve student outcomes with the class of 2015.

The College looks forward to a very exciting and prosperous 2015 school year with the College value

“growing through knowledge” guiding our direction and purpose.

Haroula Christodoulou

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Attention all budding singers!!

New to Heathmont College in 2015, vocalist and songwriter Bethany Stephen has been writing, recording, touring and performing extensively, both locally and internationally, with her group, The Little Stevies, for the past twelve years. Having studied Voice at The Victorian College of the Arts (Jazz/Improvisation), recorded four original albums that have gained wide public exposure on Australian media outlets including Triple J, ABC, Triple R and commercial television, and having performed at various major music festivals and events throughout Australia and North America, you want to learn to sing from her. Whether you want to make it as a professional singer, songwriter or entertainer, or just love to sing because it makes you feel good, be sure not to miss the opportunity to enrol in instrumental voice lessons for this year. Contact Miss Stephens on 98714888 or via Compass.

MUSIC

In 2015, we have implemented a few important changes in the sports department that the college com-

munity needs to be aware of.

Firstly, School Sport Victoria has restructured the districts in the Eastern Metropolitan zone. We have been placed into

a brand new division called Mullum that will see us play sport against similar sized schools in Ashwood College, Auburn

High School, Forest Hill College, Mullauna College, Templestowe College and Warrandyte High School.

Another change is that we have increased the cost of all sports excursions from $5 to $8. Sport at Heathmont has

stayed at a cost of $5 for a number of years and we still offer sport at a cheaper price than many other schools in our

area. Each sport day is a considerable cost to the college when you consider bus hire, court/field hire, umpire pay-

ments and CRT cost and this price increase will help assist in covering some of these costs.

Finally, we will no longer be providing students with paper permission slips for sports excursions. We would like par-

ents to complete consent and payment through Compass. If wishing to pay cash, students will need to receive a print-

ed permission slip from the general office before school, recess, lunch or after school and hand this with their cash

payment to the general office.

I look forward to an exciting 2015 and I hope we have many successes on the sporting fields.

Andrew Wright

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As part of their study of “Doing Science” the year 7s have been finding the colours hidden within other colours. Using water based textas, water and filter paper the students have created their own rainbows of colour.

As part of their study of “Being Scientific” the year 8s have had money to burn. Using paper “money”, matches and the magic of our own custom solution, the students have watched their money go up in flames – without burn-ing!

As part of their study of “Consumer Science” the year 9s have been finding out just how stretchy snakes can be. Using a variety of confec-tionary snakes, and a ruler, the students’ un-derstanding of comparing similar items has also been extended.

Page 5: Welcome back to 2015 - Heathmont College · Welcome to the students, families and staff of Senior School 2015. I hope the break has been a restful one for you and your family and

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From the Chaplain’s Pen

“Introducing me”

My wife Bonnie & I have been involved in various ways in schools for almost 30 years. I started as Chaplain at Great Ryrie PS in 2007 & Boronia PS [now Boronia K-12 College] in 2008.

Our 3 children all went to Heathmont College - Sam [almost 33, married, a teacher, son Ezra], Paul [30 & a roofing technician] & Natalie [27, married & is an OT with Eastern health]. Bonnie mainly works in catering, including for funerals.

I was on School Council, including as President, in the last years of our time at Heathmont. It is great to be here in a different dimension.

I am excited about the opportunity to bring an extra dimension to pastoral care at our College. I will be here on Wednesdays, and can meet with students, staff or family members.

We all struggle with life issues, and need someone to listen, and to help identify feelings, and strategies to cope. All of this is kept confidential.

I will also be involved as needed in school-based programs, supporting teaching staff, and attending extra school programs as appropriate.

Alan Silverwood - Chaplain

Farm School Program 2015:

The College has been offered the opportunity to participate

in the Farm School Program based at Woori Yallock.

Focus: Personal Confidence and Team Building

Who: open to all year 8 students

When: 5 week program will run on a Monday for 5 weeks-all

day 9 am -3pm

The first program will begin Feb 16.

Note there will be 6 programs offered throughout the year

What: Team building activities/studies in Sustainability/

excursions/historical fieldtrip/bike ride

Cost: none to student

Transport: School Bus

Details: will be provided to students at an assembly

and COMPASS feed to parents

In charge: Ms Rienits/Ms Richards

Page 6: Welcome back to 2015 - Heathmont College · Welcome to the students, families and staff of Senior School 2015. I hope the break has been a restful one for you and your family and

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Page 7: Welcome back to 2015 - Heathmont College · Welcome to the students, families and staff of Senior School 2015. I hope the break has been a restful one for you and your family and

growing through knowledge

Page 8: Welcome back to 2015 - Heathmont College · Welcome to the students, families and staff of Senior School 2015. I hope the break has been a restful one for you and your family and

growing through knowledge

Page 9: Welcome back to 2015 - Heathmont College · Welcome to the students, families and staff of Senior School 2015. I hope the break has been a restful one for you and your family and

growing through knowledge

Dear Parents Second-hand Textbook Trading

The College is delighted with the outcomes and will continue to use the services of the Sustainable School Shop to enable families to buy and sell their second-hand textbooks and other student resources. We encourage families to continue to support this helpful service.

Please be informed that the complimentary subscriptions provided by the Sustainable School Shop for the past year will commence to expire.

Families are offered three levels of access:

Search only - registering/logging-in on the Sustainable School Shop, searching all the for sale ads and gaining the sellers’ contact details is free.

Single items cost $1.00 to be advertised Subscription - an annual subscription costs $19.95 and is the most anyone will pay. These are taken by

families who have many items to advertise.

The service provides access to second-hand textbooks, calculators, stationery, musical equipment, etc all year round. Parents can even trade with other parents from nearby schools and sell items no longer in use at our college. Many schools in the area are using this service.

For the best results:

Register on the website: www.sustainableschoolshop.com.au List your items for sale List wanted ads for those items you are looking to buy The college’s booklists are loaded into the system to make listing ads easy The system matches the ads of buyers with sellers and notifies the buyer via email Buyers contact sellers and arrange where and when to trade Most trading will occur with other parents from the school Parents are well supported via Sustainable School Shop’s telephone (1300 683 337) and email help lines The system is simple and easy to use - If you don’t have a computer, internet access or an email address,

please call the Sustainable School Shop for assistance You can pre-arrange the transaction and then trade after the texts are not required.

All enquiries should be directed to the Sustainable School Shop on: 1300 683 337 or help is also available through ‘Contact Us’ on their website at www.sustainableschoolshop.com.au We hope you will make the most of this opportunity and gain the benefit from recycling your student’s school items and assist another family at the same time.

SECOND HAND BOOKS

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Page 11: Welcome back to 2015 - Heathmont College · Welcome to the students, families and staff of Senior School 2015. I hope the break has been a restful one for you and your family and

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STUDENT ABSENCES

Parents are requested to ring the College absence line before 9:00am if their student is to be late, away due to

illness or for any other reason. We encourage parents to use the College’s Compass Parent Portal to register

absences. Unfortunately late arrivals cannot be registered.

Thank you for your ongoing cooperation in this matter. Phone 9871 4888 then select 1

COLLEGE TOURS Heathmont College tours have commenced for 2016 Year 7 enrolments.

Appointments can now be made via the website or by calling the office on 9871 4888.

Tours run Wednesdays at 9.15am

Wellbeing is in need of old college uniforms in good condition.

Please deliver any contributions to the office.

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Uniforms can also be purchased directly from

Klad Sports 8 Macro Crt. RowvilleTel: 9763 0266

Monday – Thur: 8:30am – 5:00pm.

Fri: 8:30am - 4:30pm

Saturdays: 9:00am – 1:00pm

~ Cheques are not accepted ~

~ All EFTPOS transactions must be over $20 ~

SELL YOUR SECOND HAND UNFORM ITEMS

KLAD sports now offers a second hand uniform service. Uniform items of good quality can be submitted for sale on

consignment

Take your freshly laundered quality uniform items to KLAD Sports at either the College uniform shop or to their Rowville store. Set a price and a sell by date. If the items are sold KLAD Sports will

contact you and arrange payment. If items are unsold you will be contacted to collect your items

For more information please contact KLAD Sports on

Uniform Shop Hours

SCHOOL TRADING HOURS

Don’t forget to keep those knitting needles

and crochet hooks busy producing poppies

for our ANZAC commemoration in 2015. Thank

you for your contributions already.

Single poppy kits are available from the College

office

KLAD SPORTS HAS MOVED!!! New address as from 12/1/2015

8 Macro Crt, Rowville Vic 3178

Tel: 9763 0266

from this funding agreement are those

who are the most vulnerable.

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Rationale Uniform assists students to develop a sense of pride in belonging to the college community. It enables identification of our students both at and away from the college. By providing a variety of options, the uniform caters for student preferences and individual needs. College uniform, being neat, distinctive and easy to maintain, minimises the cost of clothing for parents and promotes a safe inclusive sense of community.

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to:

assist in the development of self-discipline by specific attention to dress;

help reduce social and economic differences between students;

assist in the provision of a safe and secure environment through immediate identification of unauthorised people in the College buildings and grounds;

foster a positive image of Heathmont College in the local community.

Guidelines

1. All students are required to wear the designated College uniform - see uniform options as listed.

2. College uniform must be worn correctly to and from the college, at the college and for all college activities unless the Principal gives an exemption for a particular activity such as a student-free dress day.

3. College uniform requirements will be described in detail in the student diary, college documents/website.

4. College uniform should be practical and easily available.

5. Heathmont College sports uniform must be worn for physical education and when representing the college at sporting events.

6. Provision through such agencies as the Wellbeing at the College and State Schools Relief Fund will be made to assist families who have financial difficulty in providing a uniform.

7. All staff members are responsible for monitoring student uniform.

8. The Student Code of Conduct will be implemented to ensure that students comply with uniform requirements.

9. Wearing of specialised uniform items such as the Year 12 Jacket/tour windcheaters/sports team uniforms have strict parameters. This guideline will be reviewed by School Council as required.

Basis of Discretion

Exemption from the policy will only be varied by the Principal where special circumstances exist.

Program Implementation

1. The Uniform Sub-Committee will make recommendations regarding changes to uniform.

2. A student who is not in complete uniform must bring an explanatory note from a parent/guardian to the appropriate Level Co-ordinators office prior to period one.

3. Period one teacher must check uniform and record the infringement on COMPASS.

4. The Level Co-ordinator will be responsible for issuing temporary uniform passes to students who provide adequate explanation for being out of uniform.

5. Any student who is out of uniform shall be referred by the appropriate Level Coordinator to the General Office, and will be required to change into correct uniform provided by the College.

6. If a student refuses to change the parent will be contacted and appropriate action will be taken. This may include the student being excluded from class/receiving uniform from home.

7. Persistent offenders will be subject to the disciplinary procedures of the college which may include lunchtime detention or after school detention.

8. Physical Education teachers shall ensure that correct PE uniform is worn; this includes safe and supportive sports footwear - no soft canvas runners

9. PE uniform can be worn all day when a student has a timetabled PE lesson or is representing the college at sport.

10.Acceptable college uniform will be published in the student diary, staff handbook and on the college website.

11. Second hand uniform shop is available through the Uniform Shop.

12.Excursion permission forms will specify if uniform or casual dress is required.

Evaluation This policy will be reviewed every two years, with recommended changes to be presented to College Council.

Heathmont College Uniform Policy and Dress Code

UNIFORM POLICY

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General

1 2 3 4 5

Uniform must be clean and tidy Damaged clothing must be repaired promptly - frayed/torn/stained Shoes should be clean with matching shoe laces Any fashion accessories must not be worn with the uniform- this includes excessive jewellery such as bangles/bracelets/necklaces/rings Religious or medical id acceptable

Seasonal Changes

1 2 3 4

It is recommended that girls’ summer uniform be worn in Term 1 and 4 It is recommended that girls’ winter uniform be worn in Term 2 and 3 No blending of uniform to occur- e.g. no tights with summer uniform Boys/Girls may choose either shorts or long pants all year

Uniform length

1 2 3 4

Summer uniform/winter skirt is to be no higher than 5 cm above the top of the knee Shorts to be no higher than 5 cm above the top of the knee Shorts are not to be rolled up Long pants should be neatly hemmed and be at shoe level

Shorts/Pants

1 2 3 4 5

Only Heathmont College approved navy shorts/pants may be worn – sold at Uniform Shop Sports shorts cannot be worn except on PE/sports days No skins are to be worn/visible under shorts College track pants only to be worn on PE/sports days Girls’ pants should be plain, navy and ankle length (no logos)

Polo Tops 1 2 3

College white polo top only must be worn Sports top must not be worn as an alternative to white polo Only short sleeved white under layer can be worn under the white polo

Jumpers/Jackets/ Rugby tops

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

College jumpers colour appropriate to Sub School VCE jacket allowed at Year 12 only - no modifications to be made by students Spray jacket can be worn all year Sports track suit jackets to be worn at PE/sports events only No hoodies to be worn, including to and from school No special ‘TOUR’ windcheaters/t-shirts to be worn except when given permission by Principal. Special Events garments can be worn with permission from Principal Rugby top can be worn with all uniform

Shoes/socks

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

All students are expected to wear appropriate black leather school shoes. Boys –black leather lace up school shoes (polishable) Girls –T-bars or black leather lace up school shoes (polishable) No unbuckled T-bars allowed Correct sporting footwear must be worn for PE/sport-no marking soles, must be lace up No canvas/suede/platform heeled shoes allowed No boots allowed – a boot is defined as a shoe which rises above the ankle bone Socks are plain white or black for boys and girls Winter –short white/black plain socks/black tights with the winter skirt No socks to be worn over tights Socks must cover the ankles

Sports Uniform 1 2

Only College sports top/shorts and tracksuit are to be worn No leggings/branded track pants are to be worn

Hair Accessories/ Make-up/Tattoos/ Piercings

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Hair colour must be of “NATURAL TONES” Hair must be kept neat and tidy and tied back during specialist classes No extreme hair styles, e.g. mohawks Headbands should be in College colours only-navy/plain No added adornments such as flowers/clips should be worn in hair Scarves may be in single College colour –navy only Hats are not to be worn at school except for ‘sunsmart’ purposes and playing sport. Only sunsmart hats are to be worn at school Make-up be minimal and natural in colour tone No visible tattoos No facial jewellery, paraphernalia or adornments Ear piercings - small studs or small sleepers accepted

Heathmont College Uniform Policy and Dress Code

DRESS CODE