The college in 2024 has achieved extremely positive results in both our academic outcomes and the engagement of our students. This is showcased in our Year 9 NAPLAN where we achieved above network and on par with similar schools in all areas of NAPLAN as well as our students getting involved with the increasing number of activities on offer throughout the school year which provides unique experiences for our students including our production “Imagine That”, camps, concerts, excursions, interschool sports, house events and student leadership opportunities. The college continues to be the school of choice with our largest incoming Year 7 cohort of 190 students.

Our 2024 VCE result was commendable with 7.6% of our students achieving over 90 as their ATAR, 27% of our students achieving over 80 as their ATAR and a median Study Score of 29. I wish to congratulate our dux Selma Henrikson with a score of 98.50.

This period has been marked by examinations which involved every student across the college. For our Year 12 students, they have concluded their final VCE Examinations. On Wednesday 20 NOV 24 the college community came together at our Valedictory Dinner to celebrate the achievements of our 2024 Year 12 cohort and congratulate them on completing their secondary education journey. I wish to acknowledge the work of the Later Years Team in organising such a memorable evening.

Our Year 10 and 11 students also had their Semester 2 Exams, while our Year 7-9 students had a literacy and numeracy test conducted under exam conditions. These examinations provide an opportunity for our students to familiarise themselves with the exam environment and help develop their skills in time management and revision. The literacy and numeracy testing also provide teachers with data, so they can scaffold learning in their classes as well as ensure students have adequate support/extension at a classroom and college level.

Our Year 10 and 11 students have also completed their Commencement Program where they have started their 2023 studies. The Commencement Program maximises the time for our students to engage with the curriculum and supported in their VCE/VCE VM learning journey. This year we reintroduced a Year 11 Study Camp at Melbourne University which provided workshops, strategies to build our students’ resilience for the challenges in Year 12 and an opportunity for our students to bond as a group. The camp was extremely well attended and we have received very positive feedback in relation to the camp. I wish to acknowledge Ms McKenzie for organising this experience for our students.

Over this period our Year 9 students worked with Elephant Ed to raise awareness around: Consent, Respectful Relationships, Body Image, Pornographic online material, Inclusivity. Additionally, they also visited the Holocaust Museum to gain a deeper understanding of the Holocaust through individual lenses.

Our Year 9 embarked on their City Experience which provided our students to gain real-world experience in the following:

• Time management

• Use of public transport, timetables

• Personal safety

• Communication skills

• Problem solving

• Teamwork

• Understanding how a diverse society functions

Working with Melbourne City Mission & Frontyard Youth Services our students get a firsthand look at youth homelessness and a chance to break down some of the damaging stereotypes around homelessness.

We celebrated our students' achievements at the Clock Tower, Moonee Ponds at our Annual Awards Celebration, which showcased the fabulous talent from our students, led by our dedicated staff. Thank you to Paul, Louise and the staff who participated in this event.

Primary Transition:

We continue to work closely with our Primary Schools and it was fabulous to have hosted all the Grade 6 students at Essendon North Primary School over two days where they had workshops with our staff in Arts/Technologies and completed their classes in the North Portables.

The 2024 Year 6-7 Orientation is in full swing with a fabulous turnout at our Year 7 Information Evening which provided our families with awareness of the opportunities and supports for our students at Buckley Park College. It was wonderful for our staff and I to connect with students/families. Also, it provided the first opportunity for our 2025 Year 7 cohort to connect.

Our 2025 Year 7 students also came to the college over three nights to complete their PAT Literacy and Numeracy Tests so we are better informed our their capability and be able to target extension/support programs earlier.

On 10 Dec 2024, we hosted our Year 7 students where they discovered their 2025 Home Groups so they could build new friendships, be introduced to some of their teachers and have diverse transition activities. Our Year 10 Peer Support Leaders have been trained to assist our incoming Year 7 students to have a positive transition in 2025.

Attitude to School and Staff Opinion Survey Data

I’m happy to report that despite our students’ perception results were more positive compared to our Network in:

• Differentiated Learning Challenge

• Managing Bullying

• Respect for Diversity

• Student Voice and Agency

• Teacher Concern

• Community Connection

• Service Access

• Resilience

Principal Team Structure for 2025:

I am delighted to welcome James Stevens to the Principal Team in 2025 who will oversee our Learner and Staff Development portfolio, as well as oversee Years 11 and 12.

• Paul Faci: Assistant Principal - Inclusion and Student Wellbeing, Years 7 & 8
• Craig Dunstan: Assistant Principal - Teaching & Learning, Years 9 & 10
• James Stevens: Assistant Principal - Learner & Staff Development, Years 11 & 12

Please see our Staff Contact page for contact details of key staff.

Staff Farewell:

I wish to thank the services of the following staff who will be retiring or concluding at the college at the end of the year:

• Em Le

• Kim Tran

• Olga Polovic-Lazovic

• Jamie Veneman

• Zoe Vathianakis

• Adelina Palombi

Also we thank the following staff who have supported the college this year on short term contracts:

• Basil Bryne

• Nathania Wibowo

• Bettina Lierz

I wish them all well for their future endeavours.

Thanks:

I wish to thank every staff member on their work throughout 2024 in order that our students have been supported so they reach their personal excellence. I want to highlight the work of the Leadership Team who have continued to progress our work outlined in the 2024 AIP and met the majority of our targets.

On a personal note, I wish to thank especially Craig and Paul for their support, feedback, and leadership. I want to thank School Council, staff, families and students for your support of my work in the strategic direction of the college.

As we move into the summer break, I wish every member of the Buckley Park College community an enjoyable and safe holiday. 2025 will be a year of refining/embedding the work we commenced in 2024 so we can evaluate the effectiveness of our initiatives. The college will also see the fruits of our labour as we commence the implementation phase of our STEAM Academy welcoming the first cohort in 2026.

Congratulations to the VCE Class of 2024!

I’m delighted to share some highlights of our 2024 Year 12 VCE results. I’m so proud of our students and what they’ve achieved. This is a time for celebration for our students, their families and friends, and our school community. I encourage you to take a moment to reflect, smile and feel so proud of our Year 12 students and our school.

As a school, we are committed to continuous improvement. There are so many genuinely outstanding stories in this year’s results. I couldn’t be more pleased.

Here are some of the genuinely wonderful highlights from the 2024 Year 12 students’ results:
ATAR

• Top ATAR = 98.5
• 7.6% of students with ATARs over 90
• 27% of students with ATARs over 80

STUDY SCORES

• 1 perfect study scores of 50
• 35 study scores over 40
• 5.6% of study scores over 40

There have been so many nervous young people these past few weeks as they’ve anxiously waited on these results, and now that the moment has arrived, they should all be so proud.

Every staff member has contributed to our students’ success, and I particularly thank the Year 12 teachers at our school. This year, they’ve contributed so much to these students. Their commitment to our Year 12s is of support, and the students couldn’t have achieved what they have without them.

What a great day for our school! Congratulations to the VCE Class of 2024 and you and their families. This is a special celebration indeed.

2024 has been a successful year for the school on a range of levels for Interschool Sport, with team and individual achievements at District, Zone and State level.
We had 59 different teams represent the school, including close to 400 different students. This was an increase of 14 teams from 2023.
We had 14 teams crowned Moonee Valley Division Champions, the two most significant team performances were:

• Senior (11/12) Boys Cricket – Western Metro Zone Runners-Up
• Senior (11/12) Boys Soccer – Western Metro Zone Runners-Up\

School Sport Victoria's Western Metro Zone encompasses the area from our division (Moonee Valley) all the way out to Sunbury and down to Geelong with everything in between, to give you an idea of the level of performance required to reach the final of those competitions.

The following teams also were crowned Moonee Valley Division Champions and qualified for the Western Metro Zone Finals.

At an individual level we had a number of students represent the school at Western Metro Championships. 11 students qualified for Swimming, 37 for Athletics and 11 for Cross-Country.

Some standout individual performances were:

• Rosa Barbanti & Finn McAvoy – 16 & 17 Year Cross-Country State Finalists
• Alexander Cave – 14 Year Boys Javelin State Finalist

I would like to thank the 25 staff that volunteered to coach a team. It is a task giving up your free time and takes a lot of effort, but to see students making connections outside of the classroom environment is invaluable. Thank you in no particular order to:

Kevin Brittain, Wayne Tobin, Katie Villani, Vandana Rana, Ethan Broom, Denise Truscott, Joanne McRae, Carlee Wood, Joel Smith, Lachlan Grant, Kelly Todisco, David Boras, Lainie Inverno, Emily Norris, Brent Taylor, Samantha Salvadori, Peter Mossemenear, Sally Packham, Simon Polidori, Steve McGlade, Jack Carey, Lisa Vargas, James Stevens and Craig Dunstan.

I also would like to thank Rhowena & Nurbanu in the DO office for their help throughout the year, putting through close to 75 events involves a lot of moving parts and your ability to pivot when there was a hiccup saved a lot of headaches.

The 59 teams mentioned above all wear uniforms that require washing, so I would like to thank Lisa Adam for her help with this, often turning whole sets of footy jumpers around ready for next-day wear.

Finally, I would like to thank all of the office staff as organising consent and payment for all of these events is a complicated task and their ability to process those quickly and smoothly (often on the morning of the event) was vital. Particular thanks to Helen M, Komal and Helen S with their help with the finances, from charges to student accounts, payment of invoices and keeping me in the loop with budget issues.

Looking forward to another great year in 2025.

After an extensive Uniform Tender process, the College has entered into a partnership with Uniform Group as it's official uniform provider.

We have listened to what students and families want in a unform which students want to wear with pride:

• High quality
• Good value
• Comfortable to wear
• Modern appearance

Uniform Group has a convenient location on Keilor Road, Niddrie with Saturday operating hours - making it easier for families to purchase uniform items at a time that is convenient for them. We are still working with Uniform Group to determine how our on-site uniform shop will function - watch this space!

Uniform Group will start providing uniform items from Term 2, 2025. Our contract with the current provider, Dobsons, will remain in place until the end of Term 1 school holidays. We will provide further updates with this.

We will be phasing in new items of uniform which take on the feedback from students and families. However, there is no expectation that families purchase new items immediately. We will gradually phase in and phase out uniform items so as not to put unnecessary financial burden on families.

The first items of uniform to be updated/modernised include:

• Summer Dress - darker and adjustable to suit different body shapes
• White polo - higher quality fabric / modernised look
• Red PE Shirt - higher quality fabric to prevent odor trapping

We will continue to work wtih School Council sub-committee, parents and students to re-design other items of uniform.

We never know when we will be required to provide life-saving first aid treatment as a first-responder after a car accident, or even playing with our mates down at the local skate park. We are proud of our Year 7 Students who engaged in a hands-on and engaging First Aid & CPR training session with external facilitators: First Aid - Management & Training Center. Students received a certificate after demonstrating their competence in applying basic first aid and CPR skills.

Wellbeing programs like this are made possible by the Parentt fees and contributions which we receive at the start of each year. We thank all of our families who continue to support programs like this so that we can continue to provide a diverse and holistic program to prepare our young people for life's ups and downs.

We are very excited to have two students represented in the Fireworks exhibition opening this Friday 6th Dec 6-8pm at the Incinerator Gallery. Jiawen Lin and Zavier La Fontaine.

The 2024 Fireworks Exhibition, opening night: 6pm on Friday 6th December ( Exhibition dates: 7 December 2024 - 19 January 2025) at the Incinerator Gallery, Main Gallery, 180 Holmes Road, Aberfeldie.

This is a compelling exhibition spotlighting the achievements of Years 11 and 12 art and design students from Moonee Valley. In its twelfth year, Fireworks is more than an exhibition, it is a dynamic reflection of our students' perspectives on the multifaceted tapestry of life. Go along to support the BPC students represented.

To help provide grade 6 students with a taste of what secondary school life is like, students from ENPS have engaged in a variety of secondary school style lessons including: Art, Digital Technology, PE, and collaborative workshops which focus on the School Values of Aspiration, Kindness, Resilience and Community. We are proud of our Community Engagement and Student Voice Leaders who designed workshops and supported our staff in welcoming the grade 6 students.

Unlike a primary setting, students were required to place all their belongings in a locker and only take what they need to each lesson. While this may seem minor, this is one of the biggest challenges for students when transitioning to secondary school. Being organised with the correct learning equipment, navigating around a large school to different classroom locations, working with various teachers, and making new friends are all major factors for a successful primary-secondary transition.

We are thankful to Kate Barletta, Principal of ENPS and her staff for their continued support of our College and look forward to furture opportunities to work together for the benefit of students and their families.

Students (and Staff), have various opportunities to earn House Points throughout the academic year which contribute to the Seymour Cup Award. Importantly, points earned are calculated in the following way:

• Points won in House Team competitions, eg. Swimming, Athletics, House Theatre, Music (30%)
• Points awarded for levels of participation in events (30%)
• Points awarded for demonstrating our College Values and Student Learning (40%)

The breakdown above outlines how all students and contribute to their House, having an opportunity to build a sense of connection and team spirit.

Each Semester, sub-totals are calculated. The winning House for each semester is awarded with a House BBQ Lunch.

Semester 1 was won by Buckley

Semester 2 was won by Graves

Seymour Cup 2024 Points Tally:

1st - Buckley: 1910 points

2nd - Croft: 1733 points

3rd - Graves: 1716 points

4th - Hoffman: 1713 points

Reception Hours:

Thursday 23rd and Friday 24th January, 2025 from 9:00am to 3:00pm.

Student Free Day Tuesday 28th January. First day back for students is Wednesday 29th January (which is a half day - dismissal at 1.06pm)

Summer Holiday Maintenance:

• Cyclical carpeting of various locations
• Cyclical painting of various locations
• Front Reception refresh
• Gym floor repolishing
• Artificial Turf installed in various locations
• Gardening rejuvination
• Deep clean of entire school

We thank the college parents and carers for their voluntary contributions through the booklist which enable us to provide adequate facilitaties for all students to benefit from.