Principal's Blog
ANZAC Day
A small group of students, parents/carers and staff marched on ANZAC Day up High Street in Wodonga. While I was away and unable to attend, my family were part of the march and commented on the amazing opportunity it was to be part of the ANZAC Day March.
As a College community, we came together on Friday 28th April and acknowledged the sacrifices that our Defence men and women and their families have made and continue to make to support our country. I would like to acknowledge our Year 3 students and their teachers for their service to our College community in leading our ANZAC Day Service.
Indonesian Sister School Partnership
At the end of April, Mr Gavin Hickey and myself were fortunate to be part of a Study Tour to Indonesia to reconnect with our Sister School in Gunungsitoli on Nias Island. Now that international travel is open, we were able to visit SMA Swasta Kristen BNKP with their students and staff. It was a joy to be able to connect and strengthen our relationship to support the learning of our students in both school communities.
While we reconnected with the Senior School of SMA, we have also expanded our partnership to include the Junior High (Years 7-9) of SMP Swasta Kristen BNKP. A core focus between our schools will be supporting the development of conversational English for the students in Nias and Bahasa Indonesian for our students at Victory.
Later in the year, we are hoping to support a two-week exchange with students and staff from SMA SMP Swasta Kristen BNKP before our Year 10/11 students have the opportunity to visit in Term 3 2024. If your family is interested in hosting one of our exchange students from Indonesia this year, please email principal@vlc.vic.edu.au
We continue to pray for rich blessings on our Sister School Partnerships and the leaders and teachers of the SMA & SMP Schools in Gunungsitoli.
Buildings & Grounds – Gull Learning Hub
Year 1 students and staff moved into our newly renovated Gull Learning Hub at the start of Term 2. This is the final of the three Primary Hub projects for our triple streaming of the Primary School. There are still a few external projects to complete but will be done around our teaching & learning over the next few months.
As we settle into the new term, thank you for your ongoing support and as always, please feel free to reach out with questions and concerns.
Yours in Christ
Mr John Thompson
Principal
Open Day
On Wednesday last week, we held our annual College Open Day with morning and twilight sessions for new and current families to experience a taste of our Victory Lutheran College community.
One of the highlights of our Open Day is the amazing job that our students do as tour guides, sharing their knowledge and experience of Victory Lutheran College. These are students from Year 6 through to Year 12 who volunteer to be tour guides. I often receive feedback from our Open Day visitors about the awesome job that our student do!! Well done to our Tour Guides for being fantastic example of servant leaders and what it means to be a Victory student.
A new Victory Strategic Vision 2023-2027
Earlier this week, we have officially published our new Strategic Vision for the College for the next five years.
Our Strategic Vision and associated short video can now be found on our College website:
www.vlc.vic.edu.au/news/strate...
As a College, we have five Strategic Intentions and Goals that we are working towards:
EXCELLENCE IN LEARNING: to provide our students with the skills, capabilities and knowledge for today, tomorrow and the future.
PROMOTE WELLBEING: to cultivate a College culture that values and respects everyone as an individual and fosters positive and respectful relationships.
STRENGTHENING OUR LUTHERAN IDENTITY: to uphold our Lutheran identity and provide opportunities to grow and share our faith.
COMMUNITY BUILDING: to encourage positive partnerships that build a dynamic, connected community.
ASSURE OUR FUTURE: to safeguard a sustainable future to meet the needs of our College community as a leading school of choice.
Victory 2023 - 2027 Strategic Vision is the thoughts, visions and prayers of the Victory Lutheran College community. As a College Staff, we look forward to enacting the plan to continue building on the vision of our Founders who overcame many challenges and obstacles to establish Victory Lutheran College over 30 years ago. The support and prayers of our community will allow us to deliver. We are excited about the future of our Victory community and give thanks for the blessings that have been placed in front of us.
Contemporary Learning Tours with Lutheran Sister Schools
In the month of May, we are supporting two teams of Secondary Teaching Staff to attend the Lutheran Contemporary Learning Tours, one recently in Sydney and one coming up in Brisbane.
The Lutheran Learning Tours are designed to foster contemporary educational growth through professional and cohesive collaboration throughout our national LEA system, aiming to support Lutheran educators to challenge themselves and build strong learning partners locally and globally. Our staff visit a range of schools, from government and independent, primary to secondary and combined as well as other learning communities.
These opportunities support working towards our first new Strategic Goal: Excellence in Learning and our intention to provide our students with the skills, capabilities and knowledge for today, tomorrow and the future. I am excited about the future possibilities as we continue to prepare our students for their futures as tomorrow’s leaders.
Seasonal Illnesses and COVID
As we come closer to winter and the flu season, all of us have a role to play in protecting our community to keep us safe and well. We have had a number confirmed COVID and cold/flu cases effecting our community.
In a recent email to our College community, we reminded everyone of the recommended safe measures from the Victorian Department of Health. Here are some daily actions to prevent and protect our community from these illnesses:
- Wash your hands often with soap and water.
- Cover your nose and mouth when you cough or sneeze.
- Consider having a COVID Vaccination/Booster
- Consider an annual flu vaccine for everyone in the family over 6 months of age.
- If unwell stay home and limit, contact with others until you are symptom free.
Rapid antigen tests and masks are available from the Administration Office upon request. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out for assistance.
Thanks for your support as we work together in keeping our College community safe and well through the cooler months.
As we settle into the new term, thank you for your ongoing support and, as always, please feel free to reach out with questions and concerns.
Yours in Christ,