The Lakes South Morang College Newsletter SCHOOL COUNCIL
SCHOOL COUNCIL REPORT
AMANDA FARRELLY SCHOOL COUNCIL PRESIDENT
Hello all,
To begin, thank you to our incredible parent/carer community for your support of our school throughout this term. It ’ s been a particularly full and fast - paced few weeks, with numerous events packed into a short timeframe. The time, energy, and enthusiasm that families have contributed have not gone unnoticed and are appreciated. A huge congratulations to the talented cast and crew behind our Performing Arts production of Freaky Friday, held at PRACC on 18 & 19 August. The performances were a fantastic showcase of creativity, teamwork, and talent — and it was wonderful to see our students shine on stage! It was a very well - done production, and everyone involved should be incredibly proud of themselves. Thank you to families who attended the Year 5 & 6 laptop information session on 20 August. The next info session will be held in person in the staff room on the afternoon of September 17 (Learner Review Meeting Day). JB Hi - Fi and Edunet reps will be attending to answer queries. Mr Brooke, Mr McLean, and Mr Marsh have been working hard to ensure the transition from iPads to laptops is as smooth as possible for families. Lastly, facility upgrades are continuing throughout the school. Upgrades to the first aid room; new computer lab; and exam centre on Secondary are all underway; and the installation of smart device screens in the Year 4 – 6 classrooms on Primary is also imminent. The introduction of these devices this year for Prep – Year 3 have been extremely successful and valuable, and it will be great to now have the whole campus fitted out with them. Planning for the kindergarten build on Primary is also progressing, with an anticipated completion date still to be next year. The Scouts Hall will relocate to Secondary in the coming weeks in preparation for this.
School Council Meeting – 26 August 2025
At School Council ’ s most recent meeting on 26 August, we:
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Heard from our Primary School Captains, who shared updates on all the happenings across the Primary Campus. Council was pleased to endorse their request for a donation to subsidise the cost of the Year 6 Graduation, ensuring participating is cheaper for students to take part in this special milestone. They also presented a creative proposal from the SRC for a Halloween - themed fundraising event, planned for late October — a fun initiative we ’ re looking forward to supporting! Were presented with the school ’ s impressive 2025 NAPLAN results by Mr McLean. The results across both campuses and all year levels continually improve each year, but the results coming from Year 3 and Year 5 are simply outstanding and it will be exciting to watch how these cohorts track into Secondary in the future. Heard from our Council student rep, Taylor V, on the results of Secondary ’ s recent Discovery Interviews. In response to low Secondary students ’ Attitudes to School Survey results, at our last meeting in June, Council requested some more feedback and qualitative data to understand what was driving lower - than - expected results. Secondary Captains and SRC reps asked a series of detailed, targeted questions to their peers to identify any areas of improvement. The results will be shared with Leadership to create a plan to address these areas going forward.
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Endorsed a small increase in fees for elective subjects from Year 9 – VCE due to ongoing external costs.
Parent Opinion Survey
A huge thank you to parents/carers who have completed the Department of Education ’ s Parent Opinion Survey. If you haven ’ t already, our Leadership team would be incredibly grateful if you could complete it please. Last year we had a fantastic response, where traditionally the response has always been very low. A low response doesn ’ t really provide meaningful data and an accurate snapshot, so it is important to get as many as we can. The link to the survey can be found in your notifications in Compass.
Connect with School Council
We are always keen to hear from our families and value your input in shaping school decisions. Whether you have a question, an idea, a concern, or a topic you'd like raised at our next Council meeting — or any other support — please don ’ t hesitate to reach out. You can contact me directly at amanda.farrelly@education.vic.gov.au or connect with any of our parent reps: Jenny Archibald (Primary); Josie Benfari (Secondary); Kathryn Lieschke (Primary); Veronica Marsh (Primary & Secondary); Helen Skendaris (Secondary); Anna - Lisa Tewma (Secondary); and Grant Voss (Primary). Council meets twice per term on a Tuesday at 5:30pm and visitors and observers are always welcome!
Fundraising
The Fundraising Subcommittee have been busy putting together next Monday ’ s Father ’ s Day & Special Persons Breakfast. Families and carers from both campuses are very welcome! One of our pillar events, it is a great opportunity to bring our school community together and connect. After the Breakfast, the team will then focus its attention on getting organised for the 2026 Welcome BBQ. If anyone has any suggestions for the BBQ, we would love to hear. A huge shoutout too to families and staff who purchased pies in the recent Pie Drive – the feedback we have received on the quality of the products and the ease of the process has all been extremely positive.
Enjoy the rest of Term 3.
Amanda Farrelly School Council President
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