The Lakes South Morang College Newsletter SCHOOL COUNCIL
Hi Parents/Carers,
Happy mid - Term 4! Very hard to believe we are in the final weeks of the school year! Whilst our Year 12s have finished and exams are still happening for our senior students on Secondary, there are still a lot of activities to fit into the few weeks we have left, such as the Year 3 & 4 Camp; the Colour Run; Year 6 Transition; Year 12 and 6 Graduations; Night Under the Stars; and School Awards Night. Congratulations in advance to our graduating Year 12 and 6 cohorts; to our Year 12 and 6 Valedictorians; and all of the award winners at our School Awards Night on December 18. At our last meeting for 2024 this week, School Council reps were asked to each submit a personal reflection of our achievements for the year. Collectively, and remarkably, our responses were all very similar, which shows how cohesive we are as a group. Four key highlights have stood out to us, being:
As 2024 draws to a close, I would like to acknowledge the hours and hours our parent/carer reps have put in voluntarily to make positive changes to our school and thank them for their dedication and commitment. Without Anna - Lisa Tewma, Grant Voss, Helen Skendaris, Jenny Archibald, Josie Benfari, Kathryn Lieschke and Veronica Marsh, we wouldn ’ t have been able to have our Welcome BBQ, Mother ’ s Day & Father ’ s Day stalls, Easter Raffle, and Mother ’ s Day & Father ’ s Day breakfasts. I would also like to shout - out to Katrina Hartley, Briohny Voss and Karen Gilchrist who have also played an important part with these activities. The sense of teamwork is amazing. I would also like to thank our Executive Leadership team of Mr Panas, Ms Lee and Mr Abney - Hastings and our Business Manager, Ms Saliba, for their wonderful support of suggestions/ideas/initiatives that Council reps have brought to the table, together with the admin support Mrs Thompson and Mrs Potocnik have provided when we have needed it, and Ms Wilson ’ s assistance with promoting our activities. Thank you to our Primary & Secondary captains and the reports they provide at our meetings and to Mrs Mac and Ms Sutton, our staff reps. Looking ahead to 2025, parent/carer engagement and strengthening our community will continue to be a focus. Parents/carers are an important part of our community, and the school needs your support in initiatives and events. Whilst we have one more meeting in our Council term in February, it is timely to remind parents/carers now that the call for nominations for representatives for the new School Council term will go out early in the new school year. Being on Council is a great way to have your input on our buildings/grounds/maintenance program; our fundraising and social activities; and general governance of the school from a strategic viewpoint. If you would like to self - nominate or have any questions about what it involves, please reach out to me at amanda.farrelly@education.vic.gov.au. Lastly, I would like to wish everyone a happy and safe holiday break – hope you get a chance to relax and rejuvenate and School Council looks forward to seeing everyone again at our Welcome BBQ in February 2025!
The completion of the basketball courts on Primary; The completion of building and grounds upgrades and works for both Campuses;
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The continuation of the Fundraising team; and
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The continuation of the Welcome BBQ and Mother ’ s & Father ’ s Day Breakfast events to bring our community together.
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Our program of building and facility upgrades is just about complete, with the final things on the “ to - do ” list being washing the exterior of buildings on both campuses and painting the gym wall at Secondary. Having begun our facility upgrades in 2022, after three years we have practically come to the end of the “ urgent ” or “ most needed ” lists, and as such, the program for 2025 will be considerably smaller.
At this meeting we also:
Endorsed the Indicative School Budget for 2025. Any final amendments to the budget will happen in late February once our final enrolment numbers are confirmed. Were presented with the College ’ s Learning and Wellbeing data for 2024. We are pleased that we are one of the most improved schools in these areas, when compared to similar schools in the State; and Heard about the Department of Education ’ s Active Schools Extracurricular boost we will receive for Secondary and what it could be used for.
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Cheers,
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Amanda Farrelly School Council President
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