Welcome to Issue 10 of the College Newsletter! This includes: - College Report - Science Week Fun - Year 4 Student Update - Year 10 Student Update - Supervision Policy - What’s on @ The Lakes
The Lakes South Morang College Newsletter
Term 3, Week 4
ISSUE 10 2025
College Report Science Week Fun
Year 4 Student Update Year 10 Student Update Supervision Policy
Image : 100 Days of Prep & Year 7
COLLEGE REPORT
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
GEORGE SARLOS TEACHING & LEARNING LEADER
01 College Report
03 Student Perspective
Celebrating Learning and Growth Across P– 12
04 Curriculum
As we passed the 100 - day mark of the 2025 school year, our P– 12 community came together to reflect, celebrate, and look forward with excitement.
06 Policy Spotlight
07 Social Scene
PREPS CELEBRATE 100 DAYS OF SCHOOL!
The Lakes South Morang College respectfully acknowledges that beneath the significant River Red Gums that feature across our school's landscape lay the traditional lands of the Wurundjeri - Willam people of the Kulin Nation. On Friday 1st August, our Prep students marked the milestone of their first 100 days of school with a day full of wonder, colour, and connection. From making fairy bread and decorating biscuits to sharing morning tea together, the day was a joyful celebration of learning and friendship. Students took part in a special 100 - themed activity with their Year 4 Big Buddies, strengthening both numeracy skills
08 What ’ s on @ The Lakes
12 Community Noticeboard
The Lakes South Morang College Newsletter COLLEGE REPORT
SCIENCE WEEK INSPIRES CURIOSITY
and cross - age relationships. A visit from our Year 7 students added an extra layer of excitement and connection across campuses.
During Week 3, Secondary students celebrated National Science Week with hands - on experiments, thanks to a $500 grant. Students were impressed by colourful Flame Tests, learning how light can reveal the makeup of stars, and explored wave - particle duality through Young ’ s Double Slit Experiment—key to understanding quantum physics. It was a week of discovery, wonder, and linking classroom learning to the cosmos! Pathways for the Future: Year 9 & 10 Excursion Year 9 and 10 students visited Peter Lalor Secondary College and the ONTECC campus to explore vocational learning pathways. Observing hands - on learning in trades such as mechanics, plumbing, and electrical, helped students better understand applied learning options as they begin shaping their future education and career goals.
Student highlights included:
“ I didn ’ t want to cut up my fairy bread—so I ate it whole! ” – Emmy “ I loved the cookies and the bubbles! ” – Nugah “ The teachers wore wigs—it was so funny! ” – Theodosia “ The Year 7s waved to me! ” – An
A huge thank you to our staff who made this day so memorable. Be sure to check our social media for photos!
LEARNING COACHES AND VCE FOCUS
Students across Secondary have been reflecting on Semester 1 achievements and areas for growth. In Learning Coach sessions, they are using new study strategies and goal - setting techniques introduced in Term 2 to improve their academic outcomes. VCE students are also making full use of the private, quiet study carrels to maximise productivity in what is a shorter but crucial second semester. We commend them for their dedication as they work towards successful completion of their final assessments.
YEAR 7 REFLECTIONS ON THEIR FIRST 100 DAYS
Year 7 students also paused to reflect on their own 100 - day milestone in secondary school. Monica shared heartfelt thanks to families, staff, and classmates, saying,
“ Let ’ s keep working hard and supporting each other for the rest of the year. Together, we can do great things! ”
And Hunter, a student who ’ s been with us since Prep, captured the spirit of community:
“ I ’ ve grown up here—it ’ s like family. And I ’ ve learned from the best. ”
George Sarlos
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE PRIMARY & SECONDARY CAMPUS PLEASE VIEW OUR CAMPUS HANDBOOKS
STUDENT PERSPECTIVE
YEAR 4 REFLECTION ELI & ELLA YEAR 4 SRC
This term in Year 4 has been full of exciting moments and fun experiences!
Another favourite part of our week is our new Learner Agency Hour on Wednesday afternoons. A lot of us have chosen to focus on our basketball skills with Miss Adams, join Science Club with Mrs Kelly, or get creative in Cooking Club with Miss Hayton. It ’ s so much fun being able to choose what we ’ re passionate about, and it ’ s something we all look forward to. We ’ ve also continued our special connection with our Prep Buddies. It was so sweet seeing them all dressed up for their 100 Days of Prep celebration, their costumes were so cute and it reminded us of how far they ’ ve come since the start of the year. Overall, Term 3 has been amazing so far, and we ’ re excited for what ’ s still to come! A quick reminder that our Footy Colours Day is on Thursday 18th September! Don ’ t forget to dress in your favourite sport colours and bring a gold coin donation!
Science Week was definitely one of the highlights. The Science Open Morning was so much fun, especially the giant bubbles! It was amazing to see how big we could make them, and everyone had such a great time exploring different science stations. We ’ re also really looking forward to our Year 4 camp on September 3rd! We ’ ve been talking about it a lot and can ’ t wait for all the activities. It ’ s going to be such a great adventure, and we ’ re excited to spend time with our friends and teachers in a whole new way. Sport has been awesome this term too. We ’ ve loved having an extra hour of sport each week, it gives us more time to be active, try new games, and work as a team.
YEAR 10 REFLECTION MIHAIL & LUCAS YEAR 10 SRC
The Year 10’ s had a busy end to Term 2, many of us sat our first lot of formal exams, some even completed our first VCE examinations. This experience was stressful but a great learning opportunity for us all. This term has started off with a bang, we all attended an excursion to the Chinese Museum in the City and had the chance to explore Chinatown. This was related to our text in English at the moment which is called “ Growing Up Asian in Australia ”. This excursion gave us some real world examples of migrant stories that we can now take back and use in our English classes. We have also been in the middle of our VCE subject selections, we are all talking about and reading up on all of the VCE subjects that we could choose from.
Last Term the Year 10’ s went out and played interschool Soccer and Netball, this was a great chance for us all to get out of school for the day and represent our school in the community. Both teams had mixed results on the day, but it was fun anyway. We are all looking forward to Work Experience at the end of the Term, lots of us have been busily preparing forms and getting in contact with potential employers. There are some amazing work places that people have managed to secure including legal firms, animal shelters, factories and even local community organisations.
The Lakes South Morang College Newsletter CURRICULUM
PRIMARY SCIENCE WEEK REPORT Celebrating Science week with our Year 6 Science Reporters,
Kathy N and Isaac H.
YEAR 6: The Year 6’ s made paper planes and did a paper plane race. They had fun researching and doing trial and error with the paper planes and learning origami. At the end they completed race and distance challenges
YEAR 5:
They had lots of fun making masterpieces at school. They were also using their imaginations and being creative. For Science week, the Year 5s were experimenting with ink and water. They coloured water with different materials and used it to make beautiful water colours onto paper. The students chose to create an image of their favourite animal, The Herring. YEAR 4: The year 4 students experimented with bubbles of different sizes by using a wet plate and blowing through a straw with vibrant coloured bubble liquid. One Year 4 reported they had fun. Another Year 4 remarked that blowing bubbles is extremely fun to see how big the bubbles can get.
YEAR 3: The Year 3’ s learnt about the water cycle in science week. They used a clear plastic cup of water with shaving cream on top to represent clouds. Then they dropped blue food dye rain drops into the cups and watched it go through the foam. Lastly the students watched a video to summarise what they learnt about evaporation. Some parents came in to watch their children learn. YEAR 2: The Year 2’ s made lava lamps with vegetable oil, fizzy tablets and coloured water. They summarised it all by writing what they did and how much fun they had. They were in awe with the bubbles of the experiment and oil and water and other ingredients popping. YEAR 1: Year 1’ s had fun making slime for science week. They used two different ways to make slime and compared the different recipes. Ingredients were, glue and activator. The other one was mixed glue until it formed a stretchy, gooey, satisfying slime. They enjoyed making slime and being actively creative. PREP: The Preps made marble runs out of popsicle sticks and unifix blocks. One Prep said that it was so much fun seeing the marbles go fast through the tracks. They learnt about friction and how gravity brings the marbles down. They watched videos about marbles and learnt how to roll marbles. Some Preps favourite part was playing with the marbles with their parents. Another Prep learnt that the popsicle sticks although smooth, had gaps and slowed the marbles down.
The Lakes South Morang College Newsletter POLICY SPOTLIGHT
YARD DUTY AND SUPERVISION
Policy—http://www.thelakes.edu.au/uploads/8/3/9/0/83901006/ yard_duty_and_supervision_policy_2024.pdf
Before and after school The Lakes South Morang College ’ s grounds are supervised by College staff from 8:45am until 3:30pm. Outside of these hours, College staff will not be available to supervise students.
The areas that are supervised before and after school include:
Primary Campus: Gordon ’ s Road and The Lakes Boulevard entrances.
Secondary Campus: Gordon ’ s Road and Jardier Terrace entrances.
Families will be encouraged to contact Camp Australia 1300 105 343, or via http://www.thelakes.edu.au/out - of - hours - care.html for more information about the before and after school care facilities available to our Primary Campus community.
Policies are available to all families via our website http://www.thelakes.edu.au/policies -- reports.html
SOCIAL SCENE
The Lakes South Morang College Newsletter WHAT ’ S ON @ THE LAKES
Breakfast Club on Primary Campus Every Wednesday 8.15am - 8.45am
AUGUST:
WEEK 4
Primary Assembly 9.15am in Gym
Monday 11th
Year 8 Media Excursion
Tuesday 12th - Thursday 14th
Production Rehearsals
Tuesday 12th
Year 1 - 3 Swimming
Wednesday 13th
Primary District Athletics
Book Week Dress Up Day Primary & Secondary
Thursday 14th
Friday 15th
Year 5/6 Interschool Sport
WEEK 5
Monday 18th & Tuesday 19th
Freaky Friday Production 6pm at PRACC (tickets required)
Tuesday 19th
Year 1 - 3 Swimming
Thursday 21st
Year 5 NGV Excursion
Friday 22nd
Year 5/6 Interschool Sport
Year 9/10 Basketball
WEEK 6
Primary Assembly 9.15am in Gym
Monday 25th
Tuesday 26th
Year 1 - 3 Swimming
Secondary Learner Review 10.30am - 6.30pm (booking required)
Wednesday 27th
Whole school Curriculum Day
Friday 29th
Book Now for Primary or Secondary Tours on
9404 9000
The Lakes South Morang College Newsletter COMMUNITY NOTICEBOARD
OFFICE HOURS AT THE LAKES
BELONGINGS, AMBULANCE & INSURANCE
Parents/carers are welcome in our office areas when they are making payments, bringing a child in late or picking up a sick child from sick bay.
Private property brought to school by students, staff or visitors is not insured and the Department of Education does not accept any responsibility for any loss or damage. Parents and carers are reminded that the Department of Education does not provide personal accident insurance or ambulance cover for students. Parents and carers of students who do not have student accident insurance/ ambulance cover are responsible for paying the cost of medical treatment for injured students, including the cost of ambulance attendance/transport and any other transport costs.
Students are not to use these areas before school or after school.
The Lakes South Morang College ’ s grounds are supervised by College staff from 8:45am until 3:15 (Secondary Campus), or 3:30pm (Primary Campus). Outside of these hours, College staff will not be available to supervise students. If a student is not collected before supervision finishes at the end of the day, the Principal or nominee staff member will consider whether it is appropriate to:
CSEF (CAMPS, SPORTS & EXCURSIONS FUND)
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attempt to contact the parents/carers
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attempt to contact the emergency contacts
The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund helps eligible families to cover the costs of school trips, camps, and sporting activities. If you have a valid means - tested concession card, such as a Veterans Affairs Gold Card, Centrelink Health Care Card, or Pensioner Concession Card, or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible. There is also a special consideration category for asylum seeker and refugee families. Payment amounts this year are $150.00 for eligible primary school students and $250.00 for eligible secondary school students. Payments are made direct to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions, and sporting activities for the benefit of your child. Prep and Year 7 government school students who are CSEF recipients are also eligible for a uniform voucher. Schools are required to make applications on behalf of parents, so please register your interest at the school. It is important that funding made available in 2025 supports students to participate in school trips, camps, and sporting activities this year rather than being held for future years. This funding can also be used in conjunction with any funding accrued from previous years. If you applied for CSEF through our school last year, you do not need to complete an application form this year, unless there has been a change in your family circumstances. If you would like to apply for the first time, please contact the College on 9404 9000 and ask for an application form. You can also download the form, and find out more about the program and eligibility, on the Department of Education and Training ’ s Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund web page. Check with the school office if you are unsure, and please return completed forms to the school office as soon as possible.
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place the student in an out of school hours care program (Primary Campus only)
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contact Victoria Police and/or Child Protection to arrange for the supervision, care and protection of the student.
Please also be aware that both the Primary and Secondary Campus offices will close at 4:00 pm each day.
Please support us in making sure all students are safe.
ATTENDANCE - EVERY DAY COUNTS If you are aware that your child will not be attending school due to illness or other circumstances, please contact either office to ensure our attendance records are accurate.
Ways of communicating absences include:
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Placing a future Absence Request through the Compass Education Portal;
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Calling the office;
As required by the Department of Education, all schools must notify parents/carers informing that their child is absent. Please inform the office of absences before 10am each morning.
Please call 9404 9000 if you have a service or upcoming event you would like to promote through our Newsletter.
PHOTOGRAPHING, RECORDING AND FILMING CONSENT
thelakes.edu.au/uploads/8/3/9/0/83901006/photographing_filming___recording_of_students_policy_2024.pdf
The Photographing, Filming and Recording Students Consent Form is provided by The Lakes South Morang College at enrolment. Recent Departmental changes to this policy mean that this now only has to be completed once during your child ’ s educational journey at The Lakes. As a component of our transition to Compass, all families across the College will be sent a message on Compass or contacted by a member of staff in regards to Permission to Publish for your child provided at enrolment. If at any time parents/carers wish to give or withdraw their consent, they can by contacting the College or completing the form below.
To update or make changes to your Photographing, Filming and Recording consent, please download and complete this form before returning to the front office.
SCHOOL SAVINGS BONUS (SSB)
Department of Education will email you twice:
In Term 4, 2024 families with a child enrolled in Government schools from Prep to Year 12 in 2025 will have receive the one - off $400 School Saving Bonus. The $400 School Saving Bonus provides families with support for education - related costs, such as school activities and/or school uniforms and textbooks. The School Saving Bonus is not available for full fee international students, home schooled students, TAFE students and students attending kindergarten in 2025.
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October to verify you email address
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November, providing details on how you can access the $400 bonus.
Please check your junk email regularly to make sure you do not miss an important email. To learn more about the SSB please see attached sheet for government school parents and carers or visit https://www.vic.gov.au/school - saving - bonus
Actions for parents and carers
Parents and carers of children who meet the School Saving Bonus eligibility above are required to do the following by Friday 18 October 2024:
Click here for more information.
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Complete enrolment If your child, or children are changing government school for Term 1 2025, or starting Prep or Year 7 in 2025, please complete enrolment. For more information, read about Enrolling in School. Check your contact information Ensure your contact information is up to date with your school. You can check this information by contacting your school directly.
Your feedback is valued. Please use the following link to provide our College Council and Leadership Team with feedback to help make The Lakes a positive learning community for all.
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THE LAKES COMMUNITY FEEDBACK
The Lakes South Morang College Newsletter COMMUNITY NOTICEBOARD
CANTEEN ORDERS This year the school canteen is offering lunch orders through the Flexischools app.
Scan the code to setup an account and select The Lakes South Morang College. Orders need to be in by 9am on the day.
Follow the steps below to setup an account and select The Lakes South Morang College.
CAMP AUSTRALIA
COLLEGE CONTRIBUTIONS
SUPPORT OUR SCHOOL – EVERY CONTRIBUTION COUNTS! If you haven ’ t yet paid this year ’ s voluntary or elective levies, we kindly ask you to reconsider.
WHY IT MATTERS
High performing schools are built on one key strength - the parent/carer - school partnership. Our College proudly offers some of the lowest levies in the state—heavily subsidised to make education accessible for all. But to maintain and improve the quality of your child ’ s experience, your contribution makes a real difference and underpins our pillar to enhance school pride at every opportunity.
WHAT YOUR SUPPORT HAS HELPED FUND
Primary Campus
Secondary Campus
Across Both Campuses
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A brand new synthetic oval
Gym and classroom painting
Upgraded air conditioning in classrooms
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Refurbished student toilets
New bin lifters and goal posts
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Enhanced security systems
• Smart TVs with faster connectivity in classrooms
• New exam centre and computer lab
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New accessibility ramps
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A vibrant new art room
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Internal painting and lighting upgrades
• Significant technology upgrades
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Communication system improvements, including a move to Compass
THE BIGGER PICTURE
PAYING YOUR LEVIES
Smaller Class Sizes: We continue to prioritise smaller class sizes to ensure more personalised learning and better outcomes. Enrichment & Leadership Opportunities: From camps to student leadership programs, we ’ ve maintained a wide range of offerings that many other schools have had to scale back.
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Visit your Compass Portal
2.
Click on Payments Centre
30%
Click on 2025 Curriculum Contributions
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LOOKING AHEAD
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Opening of an onsite Kindergarten in 2026
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Planned refurbishment of the Technology Centre on the Secondary campus
Your support helps us deliver on our commitment to high standards and school pride. If you ’ re in a position to contribute, please support our College community as we head into the second half of the year.
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Ongoing transition to energy - efficient LED lighting
The Lakes South Morang College Newsletter COMMUNITY NOTICEBOARD
Do not forget to sign your Glasses for Kids Consent forms!
Glasses for Kids staff and optometrists will visit our school and offer students who provide consent with initial vision screening and if required, further testing and glasses for FREE ! You must return your Consent Form and Optometrist Questionnaire to school to participate in the program. To find out more about the Glasses for Kids program, visit https://stateschoolsrelief.org.au/programs/glasses - for - kids - program/
Questions? Speak to your teacher or school contact today.
The Lakes South Morang College Newsletter COMMUNITY NOTICEBOARD
To thrive, children need a safe and supportive environment at school, at home and in the broader community; no exceptions. At The Lakes South Morang College, we believe meeting the physical and emotional needs of our students is paramount in laying the foundations for a fulfilling future. We pledge to provide an environment that has zero tolerance to child abuse and will strive to work in partnership with our parents/carers and community members to keep our students safe every day, in every way.
The Lakes South Morang College Child Safety Statement
PRIMARY CAMPUS: Telephone: 9404 9000 275 Gordons Road South Morang 3752 SECONDARY CAMPUS: Telephone: 9404 9000 80 Jardier Terrace South Morang 3752 ABN 52 938 171 499 PO Box 207 South Morang 3752 lakes.south.morang.co@education.vic.gov.au
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