2025 Issue No. 1

Welcome to the 2025 school year!

It is with great excitement that I, and all the staff at Emerald Secondary College, welcome you all to what has been an energetic and enthusiastic start to the year. A warm welcome is extended to the newest members of our wonderful ESC community, our Year 7 families and students.

There was so much high energy and nervousness (and that was only from the parents!) as drop offs were completed and last pics were taken for the socials. During this time, a Parent Information Night was held and all the technical aspects of schooling were covered off for the parents/carers, namely the navigation of Compass and what to expect at the Year 7 camp.

We saw shiny new uniforms, massive backpacks, excitement, and wonderings. Things settled quickly as we are now into Week 2, and our Year 7s are starting to negotiate their way around the College, using Compass and familiarising themselves with their new teachers and learning environment. It seems that the biggest issue for some of our students has been those pesky locker padlocks!

Thank you to the Junior School team and all the staff that assisted with our settled start.

All the other Year Levels ran assemblies as well, where expectations of our students as learners was clearly outlined – student attention to their studies, attendance and respectful interactions with staff and their peers, was high on the agenda. Year 12s attended a study camp at the start of the year and had a fabulous time! Thank you to all the staff involved in the running of that camp.

Everybody has a role to play in 2025, as the new Values, new teaching and learning program and very high expectations begin to take hold.

EVERY student is valued

EVERY student has a right to learn

EVERY student has a right to flourish

EVERY student has a right to feel safe

EVERY student has a right to reach their personal best

Positive learning behaviours are core to the learning environment and our Assistant Principals (whilst their portfolios might differ in title) have a vision, where their work crosses over and everyone has a role to play. The learning sequence cannot move forward, skills cannot be taught, unless we have orderly classrooms.

Disrespect and rudeness will not be tolerated.

Teachers have the responsibility to prepare lessons that are stimulating and engaging, and students have the responsibility to display positive learning behaviours of collaboration, enquiry and focus…these goals are real and need to be part of a community learning environment.

Staff changes and new roles

We welcome our new staff, and some of our ongoing staff have changes to their work schedules this year.

Thus, please welcome to our college:

Mr Lachlan Cullen – Maths and Year 11 Engagement Leader

Mrs Leanne Rivas Vaquerano – Maths

Mr Cooper Smith – Outdoor Ed, PE

Ms Lana Raftopoulos – Music

Our Learning Engagement team for 2025:

Ms Emily Hay – Head of Senior School 10-12

Mr Anthony Craig – Acting Head of Junior School 7-9

Year 7 LEL – Ms Samantha McLean

Year 8 LELs – Ms Grace Sleit and Mr Steven McRae

Year 9 LELs – Mr Anthony Gale and Mrs Katie Ryan

Year 10 LEL – Ms Meredith Savage

Year 11 LELs – Ms Taylor Turton and Mr Lachlan Cullen

Year 12 LELs – Mrs Rebecca Holmes and Mr Sean Reid

Please contact the relevant Subschool with any query you may have, and they will happily assist you with most matters. Of course, as a community, we have an obligation to each other to ensure that all our conversations are professional, respectful and solution focussed – we want everyone to come together to sort any problem that may have arisen.

School Council 2025

Very shortly, I will be sending out some information about our School Council and invite interested parents to apply. Without going into too much detail right now, if our nominations exceed our vacancies, we will go to an election. More details to follow.

Building Upgrade:

The new roof on E Block (Science) and D Block (Technology) is very close to its completion. It will be great to be assured that a downpour won’t make us shut those classrooms down for weeks!

We are still finalising the start of the new G Block, as costings, labour and materials are processed.

James

College Principal

On behalf of the ESC School Council, I would like to welcome all our new, and returning families to an exciting year full of learning and adventures of all kinds. This time last year many families were living blissfully unaware of the damage that was about to be inflicted on us by the infamous February storms. I do know that there are still families living in our community, having to endure the ongoing torment of the storm and many more who live in varying degrees of anxiety with each mention of increased winds and storms. Just like you, I can only keep everything crossed that we make it through the remainder of this month without any natural disasters. Something that we can all take away from the experience, is that we all learnt new levels of resilience, the school in particular quickly adapting at the time to get communication out to our families and ensure that school could continue in the safest possible way.

Forty years ago, our school was built with the intention of being a community college, providing education to all families in our catchment, while also developing a sense of place and identity for people to form friendships and build networks. In towns like ours, together with our neighbours, that make our larger community, local schools and sporting groups are integral to success. I hope for all our families, that you feel a sense of belonging to our school community and that your children enjoy the successes that come from being part of Emerald Secondary College. We have a rich history and no doubt an even more prosperous future.

Our school has been so incredibly lucky to already reap the rewards of being part of such a wonderful community. Our wonderful friends at the Cockatoo Country Market, have generously supported our school in working towards our target to get a roof over the bike area. We were successful in receiving the Cockatoo Country Market Community Grant which was presented at their beautiful market on Saturday. You too, can help in getting us closer to our financial target in order to keep our student’s bikes safe from the elements. Payments can be made through Compass or you can contact the school on (03) 5968 5388.

Please be sure to get along to the next Cockatoo Country Market where they will celebrate their 10th Birthday. Join the celebrations and find some wonderful gifts for friends, family and yourselves. Pop it in the calendar now so you don’t miss out on the fun – Saturday 1st March from 3pm – 8pm, it’s the perfect way to spend your Saturday evening.

I hope everyone has had an excellent start to the school year. Sometimes there can be a few bumps along the road but there are always supports available, whether that be through the school directly or a friendly face in the school carpark at pickup or drop off times. Here’s to a wonderful 2025 and more immediately, a month of calm weather.

Nadia Beardshaw

School Council President

Welcome to the 2025 school year! We are thrilled to have our students back and look forward to another year of growth, achievement, and success. At ESC, we remain committed to lifting academic emphasis and maintaining high expectations for all our students.

This year, our key focus will be feedback—ensuring that every student understands where they are in their learning and what they need to do to improve. By fostering a culture of continuous reflection and growth, we aim to empower our students to take ownership of their learning and reach their full potential.

NAPLAN 2025

For our Year 7 and Year 9 students, NAPLAN will be an important milestone this year. These assessments provide valuable insights into student progress and help us identify areas for improvement. We encourage all students to approach NAPLAN with confidence and see it as an opportunity to showcase their learning. Parents can support their child by reinforcing the importance of preparation and a positive mindset.

Student Excellence Program

At ESC, we are dedicated to recognising and nurturing student potential. This year, we will be continuing to use data—including NAPLAN results, classroom assessments, and teacher recommendations—to identify students for extension opportunities through our Student Excellence Program. This initiative is designed to challenge and extend high-achieving students, ensuring they are engaged and reaching their full academic potential.

Staying Connected

We encourage all parents and guardians to regularly check Compass for updates on student progress, important announcements, and upcoming events. Open and clear communication between school and home is vital, and we appreciate your ongoing support in helping our students succeed.

We are excited for a fantastic year ahead and can’t wait to see our students excel both in and out of the classroom. Here’s to a successful and inspiring 2025 at ESC!

SWPBS

The School Wide Positive Behaviour framework has now been introduced to every year level. We have begun to explicitly teach expected behaviour within our BEST classes as an entry task, each week.

There is some extensive information about the program and how we have developed SWPBS in context with the needs of Emerald Secondary College. Please feel free to contact Mel Findlay at any point to discuss the rationale behind SWPBS at ESC, or to find our more information on behaviour support.

What is SWPBS?

School-wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS) is a framework that brings together school communities to develop positive, safe, supportive learning cultures.

SWPBS assists schools to improve social, emotional, behavioural and academic outcomes for children and young people.

When SWPBS is implemented well, teachers and students have more time to focus on relationships and classroom instruction. Students and staff benefit from:

• increased respectful and positive behaviour
• increased time focused on instruction
• improved social-emotional wellbeing
• positive and respectful relationships among students and staff
• increased adoption of evidence-based instructional practices
• a predictable learning environment with improved perceptions of safety and increased attendance.

SWPBS can be implemented in any school setting to support students from Foundation through to Year 12. The framework supports schools to identify and successfully implement evidence-based whole-school practices to enhance learning outcomes for children and young people.

Emerald Secondary College SWPBS Philosophy

Emerald Secondary College provides a safe, welcoming, and engaging environment for our students, staff and community.  We expect, nurture, and provide opportunities for students to experience success through academic, social and emotional learning.  Our values act as our broad expectations to support expected behaviours at Emerald Secondary College.

• We encourage Respect
• We practise Resilience
• We strive for Excellence
• We model Harmony

Through SWPBS, we aim to:

• Improve student/teacher/parent and community relationships.
• Foster, reinforce and recognise positive learning behaviours.
• Ensure everybody feels valued and has their voice.
• Enhance academic and social behaviour outcomes for all students.
• Influence culture shifts towards a community that proudly celebrates and values positive learning behaviours and a growth mindset.

This is a whole-school approach to create an environment which encourages effective learning that develops positive and calm atmospheres within the school. It is proactive and preventative, switching the focus from negative behaviours to positive expectations and interactions.

Emerald Secondary College SWPBS Team

Why teach Social Skills?

We can’t assume that all students come to school with an understanding of how to behave. Students are not born with bad behaviours, nor do they learn better ways of behaving when only given aversive consequences.

• If a child doesn’t know how to read, we teach, and we provide learning opportunities.
• If a child doesn’t know how to swim, we teach, and we provide learning opportunities.
• If a child doesn’t know how to multiply, we teach, and we provide learning opportunities.
• If a person doesn’t know how to drive, we teach, and we provide learning opportunities.
• However, if a student doesn’t know how to behave, using a traditional approach, we punish them.

Students must be directly taught the expected behaviours to learn better ways of behaving. To retain new behaviours, students must be given specific, positive feedback and opportunities to practise in a variety of settings where the behaviours should be used.

At Emerald Secondary College, explicit behaviours will be taught explicitly through the positive education, BEST (Build Engage, Succeed, Thrive) curriculum. Each term, we will focus on a different broad expectation.

Term 1 – Resilience

Term 2 – Respect

Term 3 – Excellence

Term 4 – Harmony

Theory underpinning SWPBS: Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA)

SWPBS is grounded in the science of behaviour known as Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA). Applied Behaviour Analysis is the design, implementation, and evaluation of environmental modifications to produce socially significant improvement in behaviour. In short, the science of behaviour focuses on making changes to the environment to lead to changes in behaviour – changes to improve an individual’s quality of life. For the past fifty years, Behavioural Science has researched the conditions necessary for the development of motivation, self-regulation, perseverance and social competence.

The variables that motivate children (and adults) to behave in socially acceptable ways are the same variables that motivate them to behave in socially unacceptable ways. Often, modifying the environment leads to preventing problem behaviour and encouraging expected behaviour. When we talk about changing the environment, this could refer to several variables, including:

• the physical environment
• timing of activities
• how requests and instructions are given or
• adjusting transitions.

Promoting Positive Behaviour

According to the Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation in NSW, the most effective behaviour management strategies are:

• engagement, e.g. active supervision
• rules, e.g. setting specific expectations for walking between classes
• routines, e.g. routine for going to assembly
• praise and feedback, e.g. school-wide acknowledgment systems
• Consistent responses to behaviours of concern, e.g. behaviour flow charts implemented well across all settings and validated by data.

Here’s what changing the environment using a SWPBS approach looks like:

Acknowledgement Systems

In SWPBS, an acknowledgment system is in place to ensure that positive reinforcement is used to increase the likelihood of that behaviour reoccurring. Teachers are encouraged to consistently acknowledge positive behaviours in class verbally promptly as the primary reinforcer on the acknowledgment continuum; it immediately tells the student they have done something correctly and, more importantly, it is a reminder for staff to consciously look for and ‘catch’ students doing the right thing.  Staff feedback will be used to present students with values awards during end-of-term Celebration Assemblies.

Classroom routines

Classroom routines are a way of ensuring consistency for students and teachers. Data shows us that when students know what to expect from their teachers, they are more likely to engage with expected behaviours. Classroom routines have the most powerful impact when they are followed by all staff with fidelity. We rely on our teaching staff to ensure that preventative measures such as classroom routines are followed.

Universal Support

Universal management strategies are designed to meet all students’ needs and develop a common language and focus for all school staff, families and community members. Universal support strategies are designed to be implemented consistently and efficiently across all school settings, classroom and non-classroom, e.g. toilets or hallways. This includes teaching specific behaviours or social skills that will lead to success in school, providing frequent positive reinforcement for expected behaviour, consistently addressing social errors, and arranging teaching and learning environments to ensure success for all.

Schools usually find this meets the needs of around 80% of students.  The remaining students may require additional support. Emerald Secondary College will use the below matrix for teaching expected behaviours. Note this matrix is to suit the 2025 context and point of need. The matrix will evolve and develop over time, supported by data from our monitoring systems.

 Individualised Support

Individualised support is developed to provide more specialised and intensive support for students who present risk factors and demonstrate repeated behaviours o

f concern. These strategies are matched to need or function-based and applied to the relatively small proportion of students who require more than universal prevention support for their social success in school. Sub-schools and the Wellbeing team provide interventions for these students. Teachers can address these minor behaviours in their classrooms. Approximately 15% of students may require additional Tier 2 support to experience success at school.

Targeted Support

Targeted supports are developed to provide highly specialised and targeted practices and systems of support for the relatively small number of students who engage in chronically challenging behaviours. Examples of major behaviours that require targeted support are provided below. Students who exhibit these behaviours should be referred to sub-schools via the major behaviour chronicle Compass.

Melissa Findlay & Tiana Clayworth 

Assistant Principals

Senior School

Welcome to our 2025 Senior School students and their families. In Senior School we are really excited about the year ahead. There is a genuine buzz around the College, and we are proud of the positive efforts the Senior students have made thus far contributing to their final years of education.

Some introductions to Senior School and point of contacts to take note of are as follows:

Head of Senior School: Emily Hay

Year 12 Learning and Engagement Leaders: Rebecca Holmes and Sean Reid

Year 11 Learning and Engagement Leader: Taylor Turton and Lachlan Cullen

Year 10 Learning and Engagement Leaders: Meredith Savage

Senior School and VCE Administration: Annie Gesthuizen

Careers and Pathways / VET coordinator: Sarah Kennedy

In 2025 we have created visions and goals for our sub-school and cohorts with the main emphasis, “Building VCE & VCE VM Success and Looking into the future”. This encompasses things like; academic excellence, cohort cohesion, positive transitions, and providing outstanding pastoral care in line with our school values. Our focus is to support all our students and create opportunities for everyone to succeed and connect to their commitment of their future pathways post-secondary school.

Parent / Guardian Information:

Find attached our Senior School Handbook. Please familiarise yourself with the procedures and policies. I am running an assembly with our VCE & VCE VM students on Monday, which I will share with the community via compass newsfeed.

Level of Achievement:

A reminder for our VCE students,  our level of achievement and grading scale as outlined in our student handbook,  on all SAC / SAT outcomes is 50% which is aligned with the VCE grading scale.

SAC Calendars:

The VCE SAC Calendars have been pinned to Compass. It is important to note that some SAC’s may be scheduled for afterschool when there is more than one class occurring for a subject area.

Attendance:

For each Unit (VCE and VM), students must maintain a VCE % Attendance of at least 90%.
At the conclusion of a Unit (VCE, VCE-VM or VPC), if a student has less than 90% attendance for a Unit, then this will lead to an ‘N’ result for that Unit.
Family holidays, part time work, license tests, illnesses without a certificate and other similar causes for absence are not acceptable School Approved absences.
Note: More information will be available in the Parent Information presentation as mentioned above.

I encourage everyone to actively participate in and support each other through the exciting times that present our Senior Students this year and beyond.

I look forward to getting to know our school community more and working collaboratively with our students, staff and families.

Emily Hay

Head of Senior School

Fire Preparation

Schools in Category 2 on the Bushfire At-Risk Register

School preparations for the bushfire season

Each year, to prepare for bushfires and grassfires, schools and early childhood services complete a range of activities.

The Department of Education runs an annual fire risk assessment of schools and early childhood services. They are allocated a category of risk (categories 0 to 4) and are published on the Bushfire At-Risk Register (BARR).

On elevated fire danger days schools in the highest levels of risk (categories 0, 1 and 2) take pre-emptive actions to minimise the risk of being caught in a fire in these conditions.

These actions are based on the Local Government Area they are in and their fire risk category.

In addition, all schools and services listed on the BARR and Category 4 list will close when a Catastrophic fire danger rating day is forecast in their fire weather district.   

When the Bureau of Meteorology provides public fire danger rating forecasts, they use fire weather district areas. In Victoria, there are 9 fire weather districts, which include numerous Local Government Areas. Our school is in the Central fire weather district.

As part of preparing our school for the fire season, we have updated and completed our Emergency Management Plan and we have also prioritised maintenance work required in our annual bushfire mitigation in preparing for the threat of fire and cleared our facility’s grounds and gutters.

What does this mean for our school?

Our school has been identified as being in one of the highest fire risk categories – BARR Category 2.

Our school will action its pre-emptive plan and close on a day forecasted as Extreme fire danger rating in our local government area (LGA), Cardinia.

Our school will also close on a day forecasted as Catastrophic fire danger rating in Central fire weather district.

What is the department’s policy?

The department’s Bushfire and Grassfire Preparedness Policy requires schools at high risk of bushfire to enact pre-emptive action plans based on LGA level fire danger forecasts. Conditions can vary significantly across the wider weather district, so using local forecasts helps us to respond appropriately to risks in our local area and maintain stability and educational continuity for our students and school community. This policy is consistent for all schools at high levels of risk and this approach is supported by emergency services. 

The policy also requires that all schools and early childhood services on the BARR and the Category 4 list close when a Catastrophic fire danger rating day is forecast in their fire weather district. All school bus routes which travel in or through a district with Catastrophic fire danger must also be cancelled.

When will our school enact our pre-emptive action plan?

Our school will action our pre-emptive plan to close on days when the fire danger forecast for our local government area, Cardinia is Extreme.  

Our school will use the LGA forecast confirmed by emergency services the day before an Extreme fire danger day in our LGA to trigger our plan. We will let you know when we are enacting our pre-emptive action plan. Please be aware that no one will be on site on days where the school has enacted this plan.

What do we do when our LGA has a different fire danger rating to the wider fire weather district?

As we respond to local conditions, there may be days during the fire season when our fire weather district, Central fire weather district is forecast as an Extreme fire danger rating, but our LGA is at a lower level of fire danger. On these days our school operations will continue as normal, however we will be taking action in line with fire services advice by:

• checking our Emergency Management Plan and taking any necessary preparedness actions
• actively monitor our local conditions and warnings
• having plans and procedures in place for if a fire starts to support us to take immediate action.

While our school will continue to operate, we encourage our school community to consider their own bushfire survival plan and reassess any travel through bushfire risk areas. We encourage you to follow your family bushfire survival plan and the advice of emergency services.

There may also be days where our LGA is forecast as Extreme fire danger, but Central Fire District Weather is not. On these days we will enact our pre-emptive action plan.

When will our school be closed due to Catastrophic fire danger?

Our school will also close on a day forecasted as Catastrophic fire danger rating in Central fire weather district.

Closure of the school due to a forecast Catastrophic day will be confirmed on the day prior and we will provide you with advice before the end of the school day. Any information regarding potential or confirmed Catastrophic fire danger days will be communicated to you by a Compass notification.  We would encourage you to download the Compass App to your phone to ensure that you are receiving alerts and notifications.  Please also check your Compass login details are current, to ensure you have access to all communications.  

Once confirmed, the decision to close will not change, even if the weather forecast changes.  This is to avoid confusion and help your family plan alternative care arrangements for your child.  It is also important to be aware that:

• No one will be on site on days where the school is closed due to a forecast Catastrophic day.
• All bus routes that travel through the Catastrophic area will be cancelled.
• School camps will be cancelled if a Catastrophic fire danger rating day is forecast for fire weather district in which the camp is located, or if the travel involves passing through areas that have Catastrophic fire danger.

Families are encouraged to enact their Bushfire Survival Plan on Catastrophic fire danger rating days.  On such days, children should never be left at home alone or in the care of older children.

For those of us living in a bushfire prone area, the Country Fire Authority (CFA) advises that when Catastrophic days are forecast, the safest option is to leave the night before or early on the morning of the Catastrophic day.

What can families and the school community do to help us prepare?

• Ensure we have your current contact details, including your mobile phone numbers. 
• Keep in touch with us by reading our newsletters, checking our website www.emeraldsc.vic.edu.au , by talking to your child’s teacher or any other member of the teaching staff about our emergency management plan.
• Make sure your family’s bushfire survival plan is up-to-date and includes alternative care arrangements in the event that our school is closed due to fire danger. Further information can be found on the CFA’s website.
• Enact your family’s bushfire survival plan if your own triggers are met. Our school community may be spread out across many areas and some families may be at higher risk than others. Your family’s safety is critical, so please let us know if you are enacting your bushfire survival plan and if your children will be absent on these days.
• If your child is old enough, talk to them about bushfires and your family’s bushfire survival plan.

You can find more information on emergencies, and preparedness actions here:

• VicEmergency app – that can be downloaded on your android and iOS mobile devices
• VicEmergency Hotline (1800 226 226)
• Website https://emergency.vic.gov.au

• Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/vicemergency)
• Twitter (https://twitter.com/vicemergency)

• ABC local radio, Sky News and other emergency broadcasters

Tiana Clayworth

Assistant Principal 

Camps, Sports & Excursion Fund (CSEF) – for eligible health care card holders

CSEF is provided by the Victorian Government to assist eligible families to cover the costs of school trips, camps and sporting activities.

If you hold a valid means-tested concession card or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible for CSEF. A special consideration category also exists for asylum seeker and refugee families. The allowance is paid to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions or sporting activities for the benefit of your child.

The annual CSEF amount per student is:

• $154 for primary school students
• $256 for secondary school students

HOW TO APPLY

New applicants should contact the school office to obtain a CSEF application form or download from the website below.

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

You only need to complete an application form if any of the following changes have occurred:

new student enrolments: your child has started or changed schools this year.

changed family circumstances: such as a change of custody, change of name, concession card number, or new siblings commencing this year.

Important Change to the Program :

The Government has made an important change to the program for 2025. Families who have multiple children at the same school will be able to pool their allocated funding to use on one child or for one specific activity. This could help in situations where the costs for activities in a certain year level are higher than others.

Please check with the school office if you are unsure.

For more information about CSEF visit:
https://www.vic.gov.au/camps-sports-and-excursions-fund

School Saving Bonus (SSB) – how to use for school activities & events

Step 1 : logon to the SSB portal using your unique code and allocate all or a portion of the SSB to ‘Activities’

Step 2 :  Using SSB (School Saving Bonus) Credits to pay for an event

Unfortunately, Compass does not have the ability for parents/guardians to nominate payment for events with SSB funding.
Please EMAIL the school at [email protected] to use SSB credit to pay for events.  Once email is received, ESC will mark the event as paid and you will then be able to complete consent to attend this event.

Did you know :

• SSB does not expire and any unallocated bonus can be carried over into the following year.
• SSB can only be used for Uniform & Textbooks up to 30^th June 2025. From this date all remaining bonus will automatically be assigned to school activities.
• Families who have more than one child at the same school can combine their School Saving Bonus payments to use on one child, or for a specific activity.

Please check with the school office if you are unsure.

Year 7 Transition Program

The first three days of Term 1 were busy ones for our new Year 7s. With nerves and excitement, students started the year off with their Transition Program, focused on getting to know each other, their teachers and the school. 

Year 7s familiarised themselves with their locks and newly assigned lockers and raced each other to find everything on the school wide scavenger hunt. Mr Barut has never signed so many pieces of paper! A BBQ lunch for all Year 7s and 11s on Wednesday brought the two cohorts together before Year 7s continued on with their transition program. Thursday saw the return of Year 8s. 9s and 10s, while our Year 7s learned how to set up their laptops and access Compass. With Wellbeing and Library orientation sessions, students continued to learn more about what is available at school. By the end of Friday, Year 7s had a taste of each of their subjects and finished the week with their first ever assembly, learning about School Wide Positive Behaviour Support and what it means to be a supportive teammate throughout the year. 

A big, hearty congratulations to all Year 7s on their first week of high school. 

Year 7 Camp

Year 7 Camp is coming up quickly on Monday 24^th February to Wednesday 26^th February.

Please ensure parents/guardians have provided consent, paid, and checked all medical details are up to date via Compass. Parents/Guardians are also required to provide consent and dietary information through the Camp Portal (instructions on how to do this are in the “Year 7 Camp” event on Compass.

Keep an eye on emails from Compass for communication.

Sam McLean

Year 7 Learning Engagement Leader

Welcome back to another school year – This year is going to be very exciting – If you have any questions, want to ask about uniform support or counselling support – Please call and I can go through everything with you  –  Felicity wooden, Wellbeing coordinator

Staff

Student Wellbeing Coordinator – Felicity Wooden – Every day

Mental Health Practitioner – Jess Hennig – Monday – Thursday

Chaplain – Brendan Alter – Friday

What wellbeing offer

Counselling

Wellbeing provides individual counselling and support to all students as needed.  We help families with support and referrals to specialised external agencies and we provide case management for students with ongoing issues. 

• MHP
  • Our Mental Health Practitioner is Jess Hennig – She is at school Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays. To access counselling with Jess, parental permission is needed.
• Psychologist
  • We are very lucky to have a provisional psychologist from Emerald Psychology.
    • Corinna will be at Emerald Secondary on Thursday, Corinna is a provisional psychologist and as such cannot claim Medicare – To access Corinna, there will be an out of pocket fee of $50 (paid to Emerald Psychology) there is not waiting list for Corinna at the moment.

Programs

• Breakfast Club – FREE every Tuesday and Friday morning in the EPAC foyer. Thank you to the Rotary club for running and Supporting. (lunches available for student in need)
• Lunch time fun
• Red Engine Group – Small groups working with our Chaplain
• Small groups coming soon – some past groups have been on friendships and social skills, anger management, young women’s and young men’s groups.
• Whole school events (More information close to the date)
  • World’s greatest Shave in March (Looking for student and staff volunteers)
  • RU OK day
  • IDAHOBIT Day

Support with uniforms –

• For families in need, I can access ……
  • School shoes – Free
  • School shorts and trousers – Free
  • All other uniforms pieces I can get a voucher to help ease the cost

Felicity Wooden 

Wellbeing Co-ordinator

Year 12 Camp

As the school year kicked off, our Year 12 students embarked on camp, an experience designed to inspire, challenge, and connect them as they begin their final year of school.

A highlight of the camp was the sessions run by the Reach Foundation and Success Integrated. These workshops focused on personal development, motivation, and the importance of a growth mindset. Students were encouraged to reflect on their goals, overcome self-doubt, and embrace the challenges that lie ahead with confidence.

Between university visits, rock climbing, Queen Victoria Market, Amazing Race, Trivia and more, there was little time for students to sit still for long. Nonetheless it was more than just activities, the camp was an opportunity to strengthen friendships, forge new connections, and create a support network that will carry students through the year.

As Year 12 begins in earnest, this camp has set the stage for a year defined by connection and perseverance. Here’s to a fantastic Year 12!

Rebecca Holmes and Sean Reid

Year 12 Learning Engagement Leaders.

First Whole School Event – Swimming Sports

Friday the 21st of February, Doveton Pool

Basic Information

• Students can dress in their house colours, if they do not have their house colours they can dress in PE uniform.
• House colours can be found on the students home page on compass.
• House colours are Hobbs (Yellow), Geysen (Black), O’Neil (Green), Hawley (Pink), Jeffreys (Purple), Greetham (Blue).
• Please ensure they bring a hat and sunscreen as it may be warm (there will be sunscreen available on the day).
• Students must compete in the right age group this is the age they turn this year. For example: if you turn 14 this year you are in 14s

 On the day

• Arrive at school like normal
• Students go to the year level table out the front of A-block and get their name marked off by Learning Engagement Leader.
• Go to bus shelter and get on a bus
• Students must remember their bus number for the drive home

 At the pool

• Students can go in any event they like (they do not have to go in any)
• Marshalling will take place at the far end of the pool
• There is a free BBQ for all students and a canteen selling food

 At the end of the day

• Students will collect their belonging and board the same bus they came to the pool on, teachers will have a list if they forget.

Please ensure parents and guardians have given consent and made payments through Compass for the whole school events

Yvonne Mauger

Sport Coordinator 

Immunisations

The Cardinia Shire Council immunisation service delivers a school-based immunisation program to children living or being educated within the municipality. The Secondary School Immunisation Program (SSIP) offers free vaccines to all eligible Year 7 and Year 10 students.
The Cardinia Shire Council use an online platform provided by the Victorian Department of Health, called the Central Immunisation Records Victoria (CIRV) to manage those receiving an immunisation. Your school will provide you with an immunisation session visit date, along with a CIRV portal link to complete an online consent form for your child. Parents/guardians are required to complete this online form, even if they choose not to consent for their child to be vaccinated at school. If Council do not receive a yes or no consent, further follow up and correspondence will be sent.

Cardinia Shire Council will be sending the CIRV booking code closer to the scheduled date.
The following vaccines are offered through the Secondary School Immunisation Program:

Year 7 students    29^th July 9:30am

•  Diphtheria-tetanus-whooping cough
• Human papillomavirus (HPV)

Year 10 students   10^th June 9:30am

•  Meningococcal ACWY

For further information on the Secondary School Vaccine Program, please visit www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/immunisation-in-secondary-schools

Dental Van

The Australian Dental Van will be visiting out school on the 14^th of July 2025. More information will be sent out closer to the date.

Selina Rose- First Aid Officer

2025 Kokoda Trip

In July of this year we will be sending a group of year 11 and 12 students to Papua New Guinea to hike the Kokoda track. This is partly sponsored by the Duke Of Edinburgh award scheme and is greatly discounted compared to going on your own outside of school.

We are seeking two students to join our team of 10. If you are interested please attend a meeting next week on Tuesday the 11th of February,  Lunchtime in A6 for more information.

Alternatively please contact Mrs Donders at Emerald Secondary College for more information. Applications will open next Wednesday.

Marion Donders

Library Lover’s Day

February in the Library is devoted to Library Lover’s Day – an opportunity to celebrate our love for books, reading and libraries. Our heart is filling up with declarations of adoration, and you’re invited to send us a love letter to add to the attraction. (Details on how to post your dedication are below.)

The Midwatch

There’s lots of change coming to the Library this year, so make sure that you pop in to visit regularly and see what’s happening. We’ll post lots of photos and updates to keep everyone in the loop, including some reading recommendations.

The Library is currently reading “The Midwatch”, by Judith Rossell, which is a wonderful YA story about a young girl banished to the Midwatch Institute for Orphans, Runaways and Unwanted Girls. It’s just been shortlisted for the 2025 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Children’s Literature.

Pre-loved board games

We are currently looking for donations of pre-loved board games, card games and puzzles to build our collection. If you have any games or puzzles that might be appropriate, there is a tub located in Admin that they can be dropped into. Please add a note to say who is donating – we’d love to be able to personally thank our donors!! 

We appreciate your contribution! (Please make sure that all the pieces are included, the box is in good condition and that the game is aimed at 10-16 year old players.)

Instructions for sending a love letter:

All members of the Emerald Secondary College community are invited to express their adoration for books and reading by sending a ‘love letter’ to the Library! Letters can be long or short – one sentence is enough to explore your enchantment and rapture of books and reading!

If handwriting your letter – please seal in an envelope, addressed to “the Library” and send along with your child to deliver to the Library.

If emailing your letter – please send your love letter/email to [email protected] with ‘love letter’ in the subject line.

Prue Bon

Teacher Librarian

Let’s Get Baking

Middle Years Let’s Get Baking class kicked off their first session in the kitchen this week by making soft pretzels.  They have started with a review of kitchen and food safety, then began learning about the history of baking, bread and pastries and next week will experiment with different leaving agents.  Today’s pretzels required a good amount  of kneading, rising, twisting, boiling, and finally baking. Most results were excellent!

Ashley Forster

7 SEAL Science Class

The year 7 SEAL class was very keen to do a practical in their first week of school. The students were introduced to the concept of chromatography. It is a separation technique used to separate mixtures of soluble substances. The students were fascinated to see which different black pens separated the most and the colours that were formed. They were also able to identify whether certain coloured inks were pure substances or mixtures. 

Carlos Saliba