From the Principal
From the Principal
Bonjour à tous, and Wanju
Holidays are around the corner. I hope that you have some plans to escape and relax. Please make sure that part of your planning for holidays has COVID risk management worked into it. We have all had enough of wearing a mask and washing our hands but it still is the best way to minimise our risk of catching the virus.I hope that this term has not been too difficult. I would really like to thank the Executive team members who have tried to shield the PCs, teaching and support staff from the administrative burden of working in this COVID environment. We have taken a pragmatic approach balancing risk with as normal a life as we could for our staff and students. It certainly has been very different in other schools.
From my perspective it appears that we have continued to push forward with our improvement agenda. There have been great achievements and improvements. One such one is, the energy and revitalisation that is occurring in the Year 10 transition. This includes upgrades to the operational plan, integration of promotions and marketing and the refining and expansion of the scholarships and support for students in our Senior School pathways. Congratulations to all involved as it is a large group of people all feeding into this improvement.
On the business link front, there are a core group of people beavering away at building our vision of a school working in conjunction with business, industry and higher education to build real, relevant experiences for our students. A number of PCs have been working with ECU to create opportunities that will strengthen links and create pathways for our students. Also the Bunbury Geographe Chamber of Commerce and Industry have stepped forward to support the students in the Individual Research Project course. It is an exciting leap forward amidst the management of COVID. Well done everyone – go put your feet up and take a well-earned rest.
En Avant
COVID news
During the holidays be aware of managing your own close contacts. WA Health have stopped list exposure sites for anything but major events.
There is a lot of talk about Country Week at the moment. Country Week has been given the green light by the Chief Health Officer albeit in week 7 of Term 3. This is not ideal but the leadership team have already been thinking about how best to work our way through this. I have consulted with the South West Secondary Principals Network to ensure that we have a common approach. We will consult with our school community early next term and provide more detail of our plan.
Nuts and Bolts
If you are due a booster before you return to work please make that a first priority. The department still has stand down orders in place for people who are not triple vaccinated and could be.
As our numbers settle there is an opportunity to be more financially efficient and redirect spending. The reduction in numbers enrolled in Human Biology has allowed me to reduce two classes to one. There will be other instances as this term and next draw to a close where this will happen in other classes.
Due to the reduction in Human Biology I have asked Cathy Watson to lead a revitalisation of the Instructional Leadership Committee until the end of the year. Cathy has a long history with instructional leadership, having been trained by Barrie Bennet in Cooperative Learning Strategies. She is Cat 2 trained in CMS and has qualified to deliver the CMS training. The SSTUWA chose her to deliver Australian Curriculum PL to staff across the state and she has volunteered to work with our Coffee Club for the last 12 months. At the end of the year we will review the position.