The Lakes South Morang College Newsletter PRINCIPAL REPORT
This is a remarkable achievement and reflects the significant transformation of the College, particularly the positive cultural shift that has strengthened student choice, voice, and agency. A detailed presentation of the final survey results will be delivered to School Council by our Student Captains next term. We are now investing in a revised leadership structure that drives positive change and promotes high levels of school pride and expectation through the implementation of key priorities within our Annual Implementation Plan: learning, wellbeing, communication, and events. Student leadership is now more authentic, visible, and collaborative across the College. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to review and reflect, make recommendations, and lead events and programs. The introduction of a comprehensive leadership structure has resulted in 76 new student leaders. The establishment of Community Student-Led Action Teams has created authentic opportunities for students to identify challenges, develop solutions, and lead improvement initiatives aligned with key school priorities. These efforts have contributed to measurable improvements in student voice and agency, with Survey results showing student connection increasing from 43% to more than 50% in Years 7–9 and from 38% to more than 60% in Years 10–12 by 2026. Collectively, these initiatives are strengthening student engagement, enhancing teaching practice, improving wellbeing supports, and embedding authentic student agency within school improvement processes. The College is building a strong foundation for continued growth through collaborative, evidence-informed approaches that place student learning, wellbeing, and voice at the centre of decision-making. We have challenged our families to become more actively involved as partners in their children’s learning, and their increased engagement has been invaluable in supporting student success. We remain committed to encouraging parents and carers to work alongside us in strengthening learning outcomes and building a thriving community hub for education. This partnership is a hallmark of high-performing schools and will continue to foster positive community relationships, address learning gaps, encourage participation in Learner Review Meetings, and strengthen the connections that unite us.
We also extend our congratulations to all Learners of the Term Award recipients. This achievement reflects our commitment to academic rigour, high expectations, and school pride. Your success continues to set this benchmark and further inspires our teachers’ passion for teaching and their belief in every student’s potential to be realised. A special mention to our Year 5 cohort who completed a week o f transition on the Secondary Campus. This was their first opportunity to take studies for an extended time on the campus with secondary teachers. The students really enjoyed the change and embraced the program, particularly the canteen offerings. A new learning environment re-energised many students as they confidently challenged themselves in new routines, changing classrooms every session and a myriad of learning tasks testing a range of skills and passions. Our cohort seamlessly stepped up to the plate and made themselves right at home which reinforced the importance of the transition program. Our new transition programs have no doubt played a significant role in managing the change from primary to secondary education. Our preliminary data indicates that only a handful of students will be leaving us at the conclusion of 2026. At this stage, we will have approximately 85 Year 7 students next year which is up on this year’s number of 65. Only six students exited at the end of 2025 for private schools predominantly. At the other end of transition, we have 24 students already enrolled in Prep for next year. Please contact the General Office if you are intending to and not yet have completed an enrolment form for 2027. Advanced notice seriously helps our ability to effectively staff our school and associated programs. Our Primary NAPLAN results are among the highest in our network, with many cohorts performing well above the state average, particularly in Literacy. In the Secondary years, our Year 7 and Year 9 Literacy results are already exceeding those of neighbouring colleges. While our Numeracy data continues to improve steadily, we have a clear and targeted plan that includes additional intervention and support. As a result, we are confident in our planning for significant growth. We are also encouraged by our consistently strong VCE Mathematics results and are working to replicate this success across Prep–Year 10 Numeracy, one of our key improvement priorities for 2026. Preliminary results from the Attitudes to School Survey-Students are extremely positive. Our results have improved compared with 2025 and are above both similar schools and the state average. Most significantly, the College has now exceeded every student survey target established in our Strategic Plan four years ago.
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