Page 3 - Lake Bolac College Yearbook 2017-High Quality Optimised

Principal’s Report
Our vision is to support and challenge individuals
to have a passion for learning, strive to do their
best and to be friendly and happy. Through the
commitment of staff, hard work of students and
the support of our community we have once
again made this vision a reality.
For a small rural school we continue to provide big opportunities
for students and maintain a focus on high academic achievement.
We have maintained a broad range of programs to meet the
diverse needs and interests of our students including running
both VCE and VCAL pathways through to year 12. We have further
developed a positive and friendly school environment though
the establishment of our cross aged mentor group program and
participation in the Respectful Relationships initiative.
To ensure that student’s outcomes continue to improve our
teaching staff have focused on two areas this year. The first
area is excellence in teaching learning through a concentration
on curriculum planning and assessment. We have extended our
Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum to include “I can” statements
for all subjects and have introduced a new program that will
allow better reporting of these assessments between staff and
to students and parents. The second area was creating a positive
climate for learning by empowering students and building school
pride. This has been achieved though student leadership, which
is at the core of many activities at the College including sports,
performances and community projects and through our
extensive wellbeing programs.
We see our core business as ensuring that our students make
high levels of academic growth in all areas, but specifically
in English and Mathematics. This year we have continued to
highly resource these areas through quality training for our staff,
additional time and support where needed and recognising and
celebrating each individual’s achievements. By tracking each
individual student’s progress and working with them at their
individual point of need we have seen our students performing
well academically. Where students have needed additional
support we have made sure that it was available. It was nice
to see the College recognised as one the top performing schools
in the area through the local newspaper.
“For a small rural school we continue
to provide big opportunities for
students and maintain a focus on
high academic achievement”
As well as performing academically we want our students to be
engaged in their learning. This year school has once again run a
vast array of camps and excursions at every year level to enrich
and broaden student’s experiences. From the Prep sleep over,
to the Cape Bridgewater camp, to University inductions days
we have tailored our camps to meet the interests and needs of
our students. We also offered a huge range of extracurricular
activities including instrumental music programs, sports programs,
performing arts shows and myriad of in school experiences for our
students. Barely a week has gone by without our students having
an enriching learning experience.
One of our major achievements this year has been the
implementation of our whole school approach to wellbeing. As
mentioned before, our cross age mentor groups have been highly
successful. Through the activities and curriculum covered in these
groups we have been able to create a whole school dialog about
social and emotional development and how to treat others and
yourself with respect. These groups have also broken down the
barriers between year levels with students of every age now
interacting and communicating a respectful and positive way.
I would like to thank all the students, staff, parents, carers and
volunteers for making 2017 another fantastic year for Lake Bolac
College. I continue to be so thankful and proud of everything
our students and our school achieves.
George Porter
03