School Council President Reflection
AMANDA FARRELLY
After a whirlwind year for Council for 2023, our very active and action - led body of staff and parents/carers continued with the similar momentum in 2024, underpinned by the College’s journey to meet the goals of our four - year strategic plan. The College’s student literacy and numeracy data continues to grow, as demonstrated by our data collection in general and our 2024 NAPLAN results. The increasing number of students achieving ‘exceeding’ results in these areas across the whole - school is impressive and it is exciting to see how that growth/forward trajectory will continue in the future years, particularly the Year 5 and 3 cohorts whose results were outstanding this year. In February, The Lakes was recognised by our regional Department of Education for our significantly improved School Improvement Data and Mr. Panas, Ms. Lee and Mr. Abney - Hastings were invited to present to their fellow principals from the North - East Metropolitan Area on how this has been achieved by showcasing our parent/carer/community strategies. We believe this is the first time ever The Lakes has been selected to showcase its strategic activities to other schools, which we can all be very proud of. Then, in June, Mr. Panas and Ms. Lee undertook a study tour of schools in New Zealand, which has led to thinking about a wide range of initiatives that will be introduced to The Lakes to celebrate, preserve and connect with our local Indigenous history.
However, perhaps the biggest highlight of the year was the announcement by the Department of Education that the College was selected to have a kindergarten built on the Primary Campus, to open at the start of the 2026 school year. This project will bring numerous benefits to our school but also our wider South Morang community. In other College highlights, the introduction of the Learner Agency Hour and Learner Coach sessions have been very successful; we have seen success with students at Regional Athletics; and the transition to the Compass and CompassTix platform has been very seamless for families. We held two wonderful Rhythm Revival nights in June and October - the creation of this new event in our College’s calendar not only showcases our students' talents, but also brings both Campuses together as a united school and boosts school pride, all of which align with the core areas of our Strategic Plan. To finish off the year, the College won the Health & Wellbeing Story State Award at Wakakirri and was nominated for a National Award for their performance ‘The Fabric of You’. In determining facilities expenditure for 2024, at the end of 2023 School Council took a 360 - degree feedback approach and workshopped over 70 ideas and suggestions from students, our parent/carer representatives and staff to determine facilities expenditure, resulting in the second toilet block upgrade on Primary, classroom air - conditioning, partition walls, new pathways, CCTV camera installation, locker replacements and new classroom tables. We have also been very excited to finally see the completion of the synthetic basketball courts on the Primary Campus! Perhaps the biggest achievement specifically for School Council this year was bringing to life the vision of a Welcome BBQ in February to: celebrate
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