Term 2 wrap up from the Principal

Kaya – Hello everyone

As we approach the end of term two, it is time to celebrate all of our achievements. This newsletter highlights how busy our students have been which means our staff have been doing everything they can to make sure each student succeeds.

We have worked through rather difficult circumstances with COVID although we have been lucky enough to be able to continue to have a teacher in front of every classroom. So far, we have had 157 students with COVID plus 135 who were deemed close contacts which also meant time away from school. In all, we have lost over 1,400 days of student attendance. Our staff have also been impacted with 33 COVID cases, about half of the staff. We have lost 151 days of teacher time. So, as we leave term two behind, we hope that we leave behind the peak of COVID.

I want to thank all families for your patience with our COVID rules. We have felt supported by you and you have helped us manage a very difficult period of time for the College. I hope that we will return to normal as soon as possible next term. I also wish you and your family good health in moving forward from COVID.

During term we celebrated Reconciliation Week and NAIDOC week celebrations. Of particular note was the theme of Be Brave Make Change for Reconciliation week. It is an excellent reminder that we can all do something to make a difference in our local communities to support Reconciliation with our First Australians. At Sevenoaks we are proud to have three very important programs which support our Aboriginal students: Follow the Dream, Clontarf Football Academy and Deadly Sistas. All of these programs highlight our Aboriginal students and their successes with their schooling. We are proud of these programs and hope that they continue to support future students to achieve their goals.

We also celebrated Wellbeing week. Students engaged with much enthusiasm ensuring all of the activities were a success. Our student services team worked hard to provide this great opportunity for our students to engage in healthy activities.

Our sports teams have been out and about. The boys soccer team are having some terrific wins and the year 11 girls volleyball team won their division at a recent carnival. The Clontarf boys are not only playing football but also playing basketball against local schools. Our netball girls and basketball boys had a great day at each of their carnivals, participating with great sportsmanship and representing our College with pride. Well done to all of our teams and their coaches.

Many of our students have also had the opportunity to visit Universities, training organisations and businesses. This awareness raising has been a great benefit to students in supporting them to find their future. Several students have taken the opportunities presented to them and have secured training places in their future pathway. These are great outcomes for our students.

We look forward to welcoming you back for Term 3 on Monday 18 July.

Dr Karen Read

Principal