I S S U E 8 Principal’s Report ‘Diversity Our Strength’ Important Dates As I mentioned in our last newsletter, staff and students are working towards the completion of semester one‟s work in preparation for midyear reports. It is important that students don‟t leave JUNE: assignments or tasks to the last minute and consequently have to rush their work to get it completed. Could I ask parents to check with their student/s on their progress and if there are Yr 10 Exams - any concerns about the completion of work, to please contact the College and speak to the relevant year level Team Leader. 3rd and 4th June Yet another reminder that examinations for Unit Three VCE subjects start next week 8th June with Biology and Physics, followed by Psychology and Chemistry on the 9th June. The examinations 6th June - Dance Performance are Victorian Curriculum Assessment Authority set examinations. On Thursday 10th June, all From 6:30pm. students studying a Unit 3&4 subject this year will be required to sit the General Achievement Test (GAT). VCE Yr 11 Exams - Last week Beacon Foundation in conjunction with Echuca College, St Joseph‟s College and Moama Grammar conducted the „Futures Workshops‟ at the Fonterra Centre. Over 300 students from Monday 7-9th June our schools participated in the all day program that featured over 70 exhibits covering a wide variety of vocations. Local, regional and national businesses and companies were represented and they provided a wealth of information for our students. Sound vocational and pathways 8th June VCE Year 12 June information is crucial at this stage of our Year 10 students‟ development and with course selection Exams: for VCE only a matter of weeks away, the „Futures Workshops‟ initiative, assists students in the - Biology subject selection process. Early next semester all Year 10 students will be involved in VCE and -Physics course selection lessons before our Careers and Pathways Expo at the College. Mr Webb and Ms -Accounting Roberts have provided a detailed report in the Newsletter. 9th VCE Year 12 June Last week students from Echuca College had their first opportunity at journalism with the Exams publication of the May edition of the „Loop‟. Student Renee George (editor), Teasha McInnes, - Psychology Kassidy-Rae Sellings, Milly Denson and Jarrod Rosenow wrote a total of eight articles for this - Chemistry month‟s edition. The „Loop‟ is a project promoted by „Lead On‟ that provides students from across Echuca with an opportunity to experience the „real world‟ through practical experiences. 10th GAT VCE Exam We are very proud of the achievements of our future journalists in their first edition for the year. If you didn‟t get a chance to review their articles, please get a copy of the Riverine Herald from the 11th Report Writing Day 26th May and enjoy our student‟s work. (no students) Except all Yr12 English students This week is „Reconciliation Week‟ and the College has celebrated it by participating in the (English SAC 9am-11:30am) Campaspe Shire‟s ceremony last Monday. We have also been lucky enough to have three new flag poles donated to the College through Njernda and they are now located at the front of the 14th Queens Birthday College with the Australian, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags flying. On Tuesday, we conducted an information evening for members of our Koori community and families of students 23rd Yr 10 – “Keys Please” attending Echuca College. The evening was well attended and provided an opportunity for parents and elders to talk to the College staff about programs at Echuca College and strategies for the future. We look forward to our next meeting in semester two. Would you like to receive It has been a very busy week in the Performing Arts areas with Years 7 and 8 Pro Arts the newsletter via email? performances on Wednesday and Thursday evenings and this Friday our „Night of Dance‟. All the Simply go to performances are a combination of our students‟ work in these areas over the last semester. Our www.echucacollege.vic.edu. Pro Arts (drama, music, multi-media) students have been working in teams on various projects au/newsletter/ that are present as performances or via multi-media sources. It has been great to see strong and subscribe. parental support at these performances. This Friday evening at 6.30pm, our dance students from Years 7-12 will perform their dances as part of their assessment for semester one. These evenings are more realistic for our students if we have a good audience to support their performance. I would encourage parents, friends and staff to support this important event. A gold coin donation to cover minor sound costs would be appreciated. I would like to thank our teachers working in the Performing Arts area for their great work with our students. Staff and students at Echuca College would like to wish Brock Norwood all the best as he competes in the Australian School Sport Swim & Diving Championship next week in Brisbane. Brock is in the Victorian team and flies out this Saturday for a 5 day Australian competition. All the best for Brock. Nurse’s Report - Cyber Safety P A G E 2 Young people don‟t always separate the online world from the real world…It‟s important to keep them safe no matter where they are. www.thinkuknow.org.au is a website which aims to help parents, carers and teachers keep young people safe in the digital envi- ronment. HOW KIDS HAVE FUN ONLINE? Young people use technology to chat with their friends, share files, create their own space and watch movies. It‟s important to know how kids are having fun so that you can help them to stay in control online. HOW KIDS CAN STAY IN CONTROL ON THE NET? You need to empower young people to keep themselves safer online. They need to know how to protect themselves from some risks they might come across. This might be by keeping their personal information private or blocking cyber-bullies. Check out the ThinkUKnow site for more advice. HOW TO REPORT IF YOU ARE WORRIED? The ThinkUKnow website has an area where you can report problems to law enforcement and receive advice about how to address online safety and security issues. Share this site with your kids so that they know how to report when someone makes them feel uncomfortable online. HOW TO HELP PROTECT YOUR KIDS ONLINE? Know what your children are doing online and on their mobiles. Ask them to show you how to use the applications they use online. Keeping the computer in a family room means that you can share your child‟s online experience Help your children to understand that they should NEVER GIVE OUT PERSONAL DETAILS TO “FRIENDS” THEY ONLY KNOW ONLINE. – This includes their messenger ID, passwords, email address, mobile number and any pictures of themselves, their family and friends. Anything you put online can be seen, changed or shared by anyone. Help you child to understand that some people lie online. They should never meet up with someone they have met online without a responsible adult. Teach your children how to block someone online and tell a trusted adult if they make them feel uncomfortable. For more informa- tion on how to stay in control of online risks and report abuse visit: www.thinkuknow.org.au CSSA Cross Country Report The CSSSA Cross Country was once again held here in Echuca at Victoria Park. With a large team of representatives, Echuca College had several runners in every age group event, which was fantastic to see! Of the 10 individual events, Echuca College managed to have 6 age group champions. Congratulations to the following students: U13 Boys Champion: Campbell Ennis U14 Boys Champion: Shaun Atkins U15 Boys Champion: Riley Fitzpatrick U16 Girls Champion: Ellie Ralph U21 Girls Champion: Libby Pelligrino U21 Boys Champion: Brock Norwood In addition to these excellent individual efforts, we also managed to win several age group sections which resulted in Echuca College once again retaining the highly sought-after CSSSA Cross Country Shield. Rochester came second, followed by Nathalia and Kyabram in 3rd and 4th place. It was once again great to see so many Echuca College students keen and eager to represent our school. It must also be noted on how dashing you all looked in your full Echuca College sports uniform. This is something we really need to keep going at all future sporting events. A big thank you must go out to Miss Foy for organising the event, along with Miss McGurk, Mr Pearson, and Adam (our PE trainee) for assisting on the day. The Northern Zone Cross Country is being held at St Arnaud on Thursday the 17th of June. Congratulations to all students who will be running, we wish you the best of luck! Mother’s Day Raffle - Tour of Turkey Fundraiser The student‟s participating in the Tour of Turkey wish to congratulate the winners of the Mother‟s Day raffle: The Burrill Family Fiona Brown Wilma Hills We are certain they will enjoy their prizes. We would also like to extend our thanks to the local businesses that supported us and generously donated the prizes: AMCAL Chemist, Beauty Empire, Glenda‟s Candle Scents, King Pin Bowling, Lace & Satin Lingerie Occasion Studios, Purity Design Hair College, Savoury Bite Sharps Magic Movie House & Penny Arcade, St Anne's Winery, Taco Bill‟s Mexican Restaurant, Tangled Garden Bookshop, Under the Gable, Westside Milk Bar. P A G E 3 Careers/Pathways News Beacon Real Futures Workshop – Monday 24th May All Year 10 students attended the Beacon Real Futures Workshop at the Fonterra Centre, Monday 24th May.