Beginning of the Year
It is hard to believe that that the students have only been back three weeks. In this time, we have had a range of activities including our School photographs, Academic Assembly, 2022 Year 7 Information session, School Advisory Council Executive and Finance meetings and commenced demolition of the L-block and Student Services building on the Senior campus! At our first College Assembly we acknowledged our VCE high achievers from the Class of 2021 and presented College pins to our new Year 7 students.

PTSPM Dates
At this stage, the intention is for the first of the PTSPM meetings to be TEAMS and the second via Face to Face. This gives parents the option of either meeting face to face or online, however parents cannot have a TEAMS Meeting on either 10 March or 16 March nor a face-to-face meeting on 7 April.

Term 1 PTSPM Dates

• Thursday, 10 March – Broadmeadows PTSPM (TEAMS)
• Wednesday, 16 March – Glenroy PTSPM (TEAMS)
• Thursday, April 7 – Both campuses (Face to Face)

At Penola we appreciate that we are not the primary educators of the students who are part of the learning programs at our school. Everything we do to teach and support students is built upon the fabric of love, values, beliefs and habits each family instils throughout their child’s life. For this reason, we always aim to work in partnership with our families, to ensure that our Penola students experience community life and learning in a way that has a coherence between home and school. To achieve this, we work hard to get to know the students and their families.

As part of this approach, we recognise that during the period a young student is participating in their secondary education, they grow and experience many significant changes in their life. As such, we strive to have conversations with families about each stage of the adolescent journey. We share approaches the College has developed that promote positive conversations and effectively influence young people. Because this is a period where the students strive to be independent, there are some times when communications between sons and daughters and parents can be challenging, and for this reason Penola works hard to foster dialogue in the family.

The purpose of the Meet and Greet Session is for parents to meet the teachers of their child or children, to convey important information about your child or children to the teacher and to discuss their goals for the year. What we are seeking from these sessions is to find out as much information as we can about your child to assist us with planning and maximizing the growth of each student in our care.

Although we believe we are the educational experts in relation to each student’s learning, we readily recognise that parents are the experts in their children. Therefore, for us a parent’s insights and understanding helps the College tailor its approach to each young student’s learning and growth. We achieve this by aiming to ensure that all conversations and planning about each student’s development are undertaken in a collaborative and supportive way. This approach is used by everyone, teachers, school counsellors and leaders.

Rapid Antigen Testing
Thanks to the many students and families who are completing their rapid antigen tests on Monday and Wednesday mornings. A reminder that it is okay to complete on another day if you forget. As you will notice from the COVID notification letters released each day there are still a number of cases being reported each day and the vast majority are being picked up by Rapid Antigen Tests. This surveillance testing using RATs is helping our community to remain safer, so I encourage all to continue with the testing.

Student Vaccinations
COVID-19 third-dose vaccinations are now available to 16–17-year-olds who had their second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine three or more months ago.

Supporting as many eligible students as we can to be vaccinated will help make our school as safe as possible.

Getting vaccinated is one of the most important steps we can all take to get direct protection against COVID-19.

How to book an appointment
There are many convenient options to access vaccinations. These include statewide vaccination clinics, and your local GP or pharmacy.

You can book your appointment in a few different ways, including:

• online: www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/vaccine
• by phone: 1800 675 398 (Coronavirus Hotline)
• via the COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic Finder: www.health.gov.au/resources/apps-and-tools/covid-19-vaccine-clinic-finder
• in person: talk to your local pharmacy or GP, or attend one of the state vaccination centres: www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/vaccination-centres.

Year 7 and Year 9 Camps
Best wishes to our year 7 staff and students whose camps occur in the week of Monday, 7 March to Friday, 11 March. They will attend Camp Manyung, Mt Eliza. Our Year 9 Camps occur in the last week of March at Lady Northcote Camp near Bacchus Marsh from Monday, 28 March to Wednesday, 30 March for half of the Year 9 classes and Wednesday, 30 March to Friday, 1 April for the other half. Students attending the second camp will complete PBL preparation all day Monday, 28 March and periods 1-4 Tuesday, 29 March. Students attending the first camp will complete their PBL preparation in periods 3-6 Thursday, 31 March and all-day Friday, 1 April. We wish them well for successful and enjoyable camps.

Co-curricular program
The co-curricular program for 2022 has commenced. A number of sporting activities have taken place and the Year 10 Premier League has commenced. I encourage all students to participate in one or more of the extensive array of activities that are on offer. Our Swimming and Cross Country Carnival will be held on Friday, 18 February at the new Oak Park Aquatic Centre. This is a compulsory event for all Years 7 & 8 students and Years 9-12 students must sign up to participate in the event. Best wishes to our students and staff for a successful carnival.

School Advisory Council Vacancy
College School Advisory Council Information Session
An invitation is extended to parents sign up for an information session being held on the evening of Tuesday, 22 February for parents who are interested in the work of the College School Advisory Council. The information session will provide an opportunity for parents who may be willing to offer their services as School Advisory Council members in this year or subsequent years, to gain an understanding of the governance of the College. We will have 1 vacancy for a parent for the College School Advisory Council in 2022.

The information session will commence at 7.00pm and will be conducted via Microsoft Teams with a link sent to your preferred email address.

I am calling for nominations for one representative from the Parent body to join our School Advisory Council for 2022-2023. If there is more than one nomination, then an election will be held to determine the representative. If you are interested in finding out more about what it entails, your responsibility as a School Advisory Council member and the time commitment required then please contact me via email principal@penola.vic.edu.au so that you can be sent the link.

The College School Advisory Council meets eight times this year, generally on the fourth Tuesday of the month during term time. If you have any other questions don’t hesitate in contacting me. I have attached a copy of the nomination form for the College School Advisory Council vacancy and any interested parents are requested to email a completed nomination form to principal@penola.vic.edu.au

Monday, 21 February – International Mother Language Day
This prayer invites us to come to a deeper awareness of the linguistic and cultural traditions that are part of the fabric of our community and city. We will be invited to pray for the grace to be people who aspire to solidarity through respect, understanding, tolerance and dialogue of and about cultural diversity. Given the wonderful diversity within our own Penola community with 43% of our families speaking a language other than English at home, I thought this prayer was most appropriate.

Loving God,

To foster sustainable development, learners must have access to education in their mother tongue and in other languages. It is through the mastery of the first language or mother tongue that the basic skills of reading, writing and numeracy are acquired. Local languages, especially minority and indigenous, transmit cultures, values and traditional knowledge, thus playing an important role in promoting sustainable futures.

Help us all acknowledge the importance of learning through the mother tongue.

We ask this through Christ our Lord, Amen.