College Connect – Week 5, Term 1 2018

From the Principal

Welcome to our first edition of College Connect for 2018. I would like to start by recognising the fantastic contribution of our community to the wonderful start to the year. I have met many enthusiastic students and received much positive feedback from parents about the quality of the programs at the college and how much their children are enjoying their first few weeks. The Year 7 students particularly seemed to enjoy the Big Days In, a program jam packed with activities to ensure that our first Year 7 students had a great start to college life.

I have visited many classrooms over the first five weeks and been continually impressed by the quality of the teaching and high levels of engagement of the students at the college. The Specialist Contemporary Music students at their rehearsal day on Thursday were demonstrating real world learning at its best, wherein they provided feedback on performance pieces from Years  7 - 10. It was great to see the analysis of their compositions and, of course, listen to their performances. The Gifted and Talented class is currently in negotiations to possibly feature in an ABC TV series on sustainability. We wish them all the best in their application and hope they are successful with their endeavour.

There are many more stories in the newsletter from our Specialist programs. It is great to walk around the college and see so many talented students doing something that they thoroughly enjoy and are passionate about.

Years 8 and 9 students have completed sessions with Elevate, designed to support their academic progress and general attitude toward their studies. These sessions were very successful with fantastic feedback regarding presenters and the session content. Year 7 students also undertook an Elevate session during their Big Days In as an introduction to the changes to their studies in high school. Elevate sessions are coming up for upper school students and are indicated on our college calendar on the website, and will also be communicated to parents via email.

We held our official opening on Thursday 2 February with the Minister for Education, the Honourable Sue Ellery, and Department of Education Director General Sharyn O’Neill along with invited special guests. Whilst due to the timing we could not invite our whole community we would like you to join us for our Welcome Day on Thursday 15 March from 3.00pm – 5.00pm at the front of the college. Each Learning Area will be represented, providing a great opportunity to meet our staff and share in our celebration of the opening of Fremantle College. The Solar Stage will be setup with music and entertainment, as well as tours and presentations from our Learning Areas. I look forward to meeting you all on this day.

Next week we have a Public Holiday on Monday 5 March and a School Development Day on Friday 9 March. Friday night is also the date of the very first Fremantle College Ball and promises to be a wonderful occasion where we get to celebrate the mature young adults we teach in an alternative setting, in all their finery! The Years 11 and 12 students will be enjoying what promises to be a fantastic night. Students will be heading to the Perth Convention Centre under the backdrop of Elizabeth Quay and the Swan River. I thank everyone for the work that they have put in to make this event possible.

It has been a busy first term with the college getting all of the business systems up and running. I appreciate your patience whilst this has been occurring. You will have noticed that parent access to Connect has gone live and parents can now access class pages, attendance, timetables, due dates for assessments and many other important resources to provide you with the opportunity to assist your child with their education. Teachers are working to get their Connect pages running and communication is all important, therefore I encourage parents to maintain contact with teachers through Connect or by email. I would also encourage you to update your email address with us as soon as possible. You can also help by letting anyone who is not receiving correspondence from the college to update their details.

We are starting to implement our student leadership model at the college and I look forward to working more closely with the student body to move our college forward.

Whilst the vast majority of our students have transitioned and settled in well I understand that this has been a more difficult time for some of our students. If your child is experiencing difficulty please contact the college. The most effective point of initial contact is to email your child’s teachers, and for this reason  we have placed every teachers email on our website as an easy hyperlink for you to use. If you would like to discuss a matter not related to your child’s classroom,  please email one of our student services managers, Ms Sarah Hopley (Years 10-12) and Mr Steve Banzic (Years 7-9).

Mr Myles Draper