Principal’s Update | September
What a wonderful Term 3 it has been - full of learning, laughter and connection.
Term 3 is known as the toughest term of the year. Things start to become very serious for the senior students as they work their way through their many formal assessments towards exams in Term 4, winter has set in and the cold, COVID and influenza season is in full swing. We have experienced all of these things, along with the building program, but it is fair to say when the going gets tough, the tough get going, and that’s definitely what has happened at Mac.Rob.
Minister for Education and Women Visit
On Tuesday 23 August 2022 the new Minister for Education, Natalie Hutchins MP (who is also the Minister for Women) and Nina Tayor MP, Member for Southern Metropolitan, visited Mac.Rob to meet with students and staff, and to check out the progress of the building program. A big thank you to the students and staff who supported the visit, whether it be on tour or in classes, and thank you to Ruth Murphy and Ivor Frischknecht, our School Council President and Vice President for attending and speaking with the Minister.
During the visit we were able to thank the Minister for the investment in the building program, and make a point that it can only be the first step in a continuing building program to modernise the school. The Ministers were very taken with our SRC pinboard and the active school leadership of our students.
Building Update
The building program is progressing well. We are on track to hand back the theatre before the VCE Exams and the ground floor of Lakeside at the end of the year, in readiness for the new year. There may still need to be some landscaping completed next year.
2023 School Captain, Vice Captain and SRC Co-Presidents
Over the course of several weeks, the current student leaders, Ananya Bose, Aditi Talwar, Jessica Xiu Hui Oon and Gaatri Mandalapu have been working with our Leading Teacher, Hannah Williams and I to select our student leaders for 2023.
The process was incredibly rigorous and all of the applicants acquitted themselves incredibly well.
The successful candidates are:
Pin Qi Wong - School Captain
Gauri Apte - Vice Captain
Fiona Amjad and Amanda Chung - SRC Co-Presidents
Thank you to all applicants for their wonderful efforts and insights, and congratulations to the four successful candidates.
We look forward to appointing student leaders for all of the other portfolios next term.
Book Week
This term we had a wonderful celebration of Book Week with multiple events throughout including visiting authors, speakers, workshops, competitions and our book character and multicultural dress up day. Our thanks to Maddie Witter, the LRC staff and the student House Leaders for organising the event, and to staff and students for participating in the fabulous celebration. We also celebrated the Premier’s Reading Challenge participants.
The Principal and Business Manager team dressed up in a Cat in the Hat theme.
Magnificent Mac.Rob Week
Last week we celebrated all that is special about Mac.Rob with our first face to face Mac.Rob week since 2019. It was a magnificent spectacle. Each year we celebrate our school to coincide with the birthday of our namesake and benefactor MacPherson Robertson.
The week was jam packed with activities. Student leader speeches at assembly, graduate guest speaker, Sarah Davidson, RUOK? Day and a Talent Show. There were plenty of Freddo Frogs and Cherry Ripes (from the Mac.Robertson Chocolate fame) handed out throughout the week. There was a carnival-like atmosphere on RUOK? Day, with a BBQ, petting zoo, photo booth, chocolate stall, music and singing and games and activities in the gym.
I also announced the winners of the Form Board competition. Each year the Connect groups adopt an identity and create a form board that represents it. The efforts are truly magnificent.
Congratulations to 9B, 10L, 11K and 12I who were the form winners, and to 10G who were the overall winners. It is a really unifying representation of our value of community.
Welcoming 2023 Year 9s
First and second round offers for Year 9 2023 were released over the last week. We are busily working to welcome these students and families to our community, and we are delighted that we can do so at this stage of the year rather than in the last weeks of school like in 2021 and 2022. We welcome our new families and hope that they are looking forward to getting started with us.
Holiday Period | Time for rest and fun
After such a busy term, and with the demands of Term 4 just around the corner, it is vital that our school community stops and takes a moment to catch their breath - rest, relax and have some fun. This is vitally important for everyone - students and staff alike. It is even important for students who are about to embark on their Unit 3 & 4 exams.
We recommend that students who are studying Unit 3 & 4 subjects give themselves a good break. That might mean one week of rest and fun and one week of study, or it may mean studying for half a days, followed by half days of rest and fun. It is important that families support a message of rest and study and that our young people have the opportunity to work out what will work best for them.
Thank you one and all for such a wonderful term of hard work, learning and community activities.
We wish everyone a happy and restful holiday and look forward to returning in Term 4.
Best wishes,
Sue Harrap, Principal
Read more from Term 3:
Mac.Rob plays a vital and inclusive role as one of Victoria’s selective entry schools by ensuring a sense of connection, belonging, and challenge for like-minded, high-ability students. Our school inspires active engagement, and we trust the capacity of our young people to make meaningful contributions to the school - through collaboration with staff in learning, decision making, and through expansive leadership, co-curricular, and social service opportunities at Mac.Rob.
With your generous support to our Building and Library Funds, we can improve our classrooms, facilities, and school grounds, and ensure Mac.Rob continues to develop curious, motivated, and critical thinkers who show compassion for others, pursue personal growth, demonstrate respect for their community, and explore disciplines and opportunities they are truly passionate about.