From the Head of Senior School

As we wind up Week 6 of the term, I would like to outline the last 4 weeks of this year as events are coming upon us quickly!

The biggest event this week has been the long awaited start to the VCE Written Examinations. We launched the exams on Tuesday with English, followed by Dance, History, Psychology and finishing the week with Biology and Further Mathematics. There are, of course, many more exams still to come and finish on Tuesday 1 December. The students should be very proud of how well they have managed their time and this exam experience, especially after such a challenging year. We wish them all the best in the exams to come.

The next set of written examination to begin will be the Unit 1 and 2 exams. These are Casey Grammar based exams and will run from Wednesday 18 (next week, Week 7) to the Wednesday of Week 8 which is the 25 November. The timetable and examination details have been sent out to all students and parents completing a Unit 1 and 2 this year via SEQTA Direct Message. During this exam period, the Year 11 students need to be on-campus in full school uniform for their exams only. They must arrive 30 minutes before their exam and will be directed to a study area where they will wait for their exam to begin. The Year 10 students doing a Unit 1 and 2 exams are required in their timetabled lessons either side of this exam and the Year 11 Pathways Program continues as timetabled throughout this period. On Thursday 26 November, following the exams, the Year 11 students who have completed their Unit 1 and 2 exams have a non-campus day, returning on Friday 27 November for exam feedback and reflection day.

Early Commencement for all Year 8 to 12 2021 students runs in week 9 of the term from Monday 30 November to Friday 4 December. The Year 11 2020 students finish at the end of this week and the Year 7 to 10 2020 students return for Monday and Tuesday of the following week, finishing on Tuesday 8 December. The reports are released at 4pm on Wednesday 9 December.

The traditional end of year celebrations continue to look different in 2020 with the Christmas Celebration on Thursday 3 December where we also invite this year’s Year 12 students to return to continue the celebration of their final year. The Celebration Night has also been moved online and will be shared on the last day of term, Tuesday 8 December.

All the best for the final weeks of our year.

Ms Cathy Marchmont

Acting Head of Senior School / VCE Coordinator

From the Head of Wellbeing

Return to Campus workshops – Years 8, 9 and 10

It was only a few short weeks ago that we welcomed the Years 8, 9 and 10 students back to campus and concluded the Remote Learning Program.

An important part of their return was a wellbeing workshop conducted in the first week back on campus. The ‘Return to Campus’ workshops were designed to both act as a welcome back and to provide closure of the Remote Learning Program. Mr Stuart McKenzie, part of our current Wellbeing Support staff and former Chaplain was instrumental in the workshops’ design which was delivered by Mr Gavin Brown and I. Thank you to both Mr Brown and Mr McKenzie for their commitment and energy. The workshop was built using elements of a ‘Rite of Passage’; acknowledging the students have experienced separation while remote, they’ve experienced challenges, they’ve grown and changed and they deserve to be honoured for how they have developed in the past months. With each Year level spilt into gender-based groups, the students worked through a series of thinking prompts that helped them reflect on their experience and how they, their families, and their peers had lived and learnt through Remote Learning. One particularly joyful activity was as the groups endeavoured to create lists of “50 ideas in 5 minutes”…but only one could be written at a time and they had to ‘run’ around their tables in between writing each idea…that the ideas had to be the challenges they faced while Remote made it especially rewarding as the students were laughing as they were acknowledging and letting go of the challenges they faced. At the conclusion of the workshop, the students honoured each other for all they had grown and changed through the challenges of Remote and they were all encouraged to take their learnings with them as they returned to campus and began the next phase of their COVID-normal education.

Student Leadership 2021

In the past few weeks, the 2021 Year 12s have been involved in a series of steps as we seek to put together the Year 12 Student Leadership group. Students, staff and the Year 11 cohort have all been asked their opinion as to whom they believed would make positive leaders. All Year 11s were given the opportunity to self-nominate to join the Leadership Group. Each who did nominate has prepared a ‘Statement of Service’ and a ‘Statement of Vision’ and has had a Leadership interview with Ms Cathy Marchmont and myself. Students also had the opportunity to nominate for the position of House Captains and were asked to prepare a two-minute video also of their ‘Service’ and ‘Vision’. The final make-up of the Student Leadership Group, including the House Captains, is not yet fully resolved. But while not all will be appointed to an official role, any of the nominees would make very worthy leaders and all are to be congratulated for the way they have presented themselves, for the visions they shared and for their bravery and willingness be involved in the process. Announcements of the 2021 Leaders will be made in the coming weeks and I am optimistic and excited about what the Leaders will offer our community next year and the legacy they’ll leave on the School for the years to come.

Mr Peter Shepard

Head of Wellbeing