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Issue 105 – 8 May 2015
Dear Parents and Guardians
Parents & Friends’ Dinner Dance
Last Friday’s inaugural P&F Dinner Dance was a resounding success. The feeling on the night, the
atmosphere and the sentiment in the room clearly indicated the parental strength and sense of community
that we have at the College.
Tuire Karaharju-Huisman from the P&F was a key driver behind the scenes and she was inspirational in
her determination to see this idea become a reality. I would also like to acknowledge the Hospitality staff
and students who assisted with the setup of Jackson Hall and prepared and served a wonderful meal. The
College’s Jazz Ensemble helped set the mood as welcome drinks and canapés were served in the foyer
of Braemar House. And later, our very own Shaun Evans, Director of Music and member of the Naturally
Cool Big Band, added to the lively atmosphere with some great music.
I am sure that word of the evening’s success has already spread and these will be the most hotly
contested tickets in town a year from now! My sincere thanks to all concerned.
Year 6 Students Visit Canberra
The Year 6 students recently returned from their Exeat Week program in Canberra. Whilst on the tour they
participated in a variety of educational programs focused on Australia’s history, culture, heritage and
democracy. These included visits to Parliament House, Old Parliament House and The Australian War
Memorial.
The Australian Government recognises the importance of all young Australians being able to visit their
National Capital as part of their civics and citizenship education. To assist the College in meeting the cost
of the excursion, the Australian Government is contributing $30 per student under the Parliament and
Civics Education Rebate program toward the travel expenses incurred. This contribution is paid directly to
the school upon completion of the program.
We would like to thank the Australian Government for their support of this program.
Having spoken to a number of students and accompanying members of staff, the week was a great
success. A particular highlight for our students was meeting the Governor General at Parliament House.
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I would like to acknowledge and thank the Year 6 students for representing Braemar College exceptionally
well. I would also like to thank Mandy Hennessy for her organisation of the week’s program, and the
teachers and parents who accompanied our students.
College Communications
I would like to take this opportunity to articulate the College’s approach to communications. With the
majority of our non-verbal communication to parents and students occurring via Daymap and/or email, our
relatively “paperless” approach takes some getting used to, especially for families who have joined us
from more traditional schools where newsletters are printed and hard copies of notices and surveys are
handed out (often to be buried and forgotten at the bottom of school bags!).
Braemar-in-Brief
Braemar-in-Brief is a fortnightly electronic newsletter from the Principal. Through this, I aim to provide
parents with an overview of College life including key events, staffing updates, policy changes and
curricular and co-curricular information. A hyperlink to this publication is emailed to parents, students and
staff on alternate Fridays during term time. The sender’s name will appear as
“[email protected]”.
Braemar Blog
The Braemar Blog is updated on a regular basis and provides information on forthcoming events,
students’ achievements, second hand uniform sales and a host of other items including community
announcements, etc. Photographs and interviews with students and staff are an added dimension. The
blog contains links to the College calendar and website, and to websites such as Trybooking.com.
If you haven’t already done so, I strongly encourage you to subscribe to the Braemar blog so that you
receive email notifications of new posts: https://braemarcollege.wordpress.com These emails include a
detailed subject line about the blog post, so can be easily deleted if they are not of interest.
Daymap Notes / Emails
Teachers are encouraged to keep parents updated on their son/daughter’s progress via Daymap notes.
This electronic medium allows teachers to email positive comments, behaviour, academic and uniform
notes to parents. The subject line of a Daymap note will appear in your email inbox as “Message from
Braemar College”. The sender’s name will be “[email protected]”.
Information about College events such as excursion notices, arrangements for House carnivals, etc are
also sent via Daymap. Again, the same subject line appears in your email inbox. Please ensure you read
these Daymap messages. It is important to note that you cannot “reply to” the Daymap email address; this
is not monitored. If you wish to respond to a Daymap message, please enter the email address details of
the sender. If in doubt, email addresses for all members of staff are included on the College website –
refer to the “Contact” page: http://www.braemar.vic.edu.au/contact-staff
Emails from communications@braemar (via Outlook)
Letters from members of staff, invitations and information flyers are often sent via Outlook and will include
a specific subject in the subject line. The “communications@braemar” email inbox is not monitored, so
please do not “reply to” this email address. These messages will always include a contact name and email
address should you need more information.
Incoming Emails and Response Times
With the increasing use of electronic methods of communication such as email, it is important to
remember that members of staff are not obligated to read or respond to emails after hours. Concerns have
been raised about the expectation some parents and students have in relation to response times. It is not
uncommon for teachers to teach a full day and to have meetings after school until 5pm. Recess and
lunchtimes are often spent supervising students or dealing with wellbeing or curriculum matters. Thus the
ability of teachers to respond promptly to emails can be curtailed.
My expectation of staff is that a response within two working days of receipt of an email is reasonable.
Whenever possible, staff are encouraged to respond as soon as practicable.
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If the matter is urgent, I would encourage you to ring College Reception and ask to speak to the person
concerned. If s/he is in class or unavailable, please seek assistance from the Receptionist on duty who will
redirect your call as appropriate. Staff have individual voicemail facilities, so feel free to leave a message.
Staff receive these messages as an electronic recording.
ICCES Athletics
The interschool ICCES Athletics was held on Thursday at Lakeside in Melbourne. Our team of more than
90 students competed in track and field events and we achieved some excellent individual results. Overall,
Braemar College placed sixth out of eight schools.
I would like to thank the members of staff who helped train our athletes as part of our preparation for this
competition: Mr Matt Ellis, Ms Bronwyn Wearne, Mr Doug Colwell, Ms Chloe Edwards, Ms Bronwyn
Pemberton, Ms Leanne Little, and Mr Paul Warner. I also wish to acknowledge the commitment of our
students who attended several training sessions in Gisborne after hours.
Mr Adam Clissold and Mr Matt Rigby also attended on the day to provide electronic support, and I would
like to thank them for their expertise.
Finally, I wish to acknowledge the staff at Gisborne Little Athletics who provided specialist throwing advice
and equipment at the training sessions.
Team spirit was high in spite of the cold and rainy conditions, and our students showed good
sportsmanship and a great sense of camaraderie on the day. Congratulations to you all.
Parents & Principal Coffee Mornings
In the last issue of Braemar-in-Brief, I mentioned that we have commenced the process of developing the
next Strategic Plan for Braemar College. In determining our future direction, and on behalf of the Board of
Governors and Leadership Team, I am inviting input from staff, parents and students.
I am keen to chat to members of our parent community about your perceptions of and aspirations for
Braemar College moving forward. If you can spare an hour to attend a “Parents & Principal Coffee
Morning”, I would appreciate your insights. Dates are as follows:
Town
Date & Time
Venue Details
Woodend
Tuesday 19 May
Café Colenso
10:00am – 11:00am
42 Anslow Street, Woodend
Thursday 21 May
Soltan Pepper
11:00am – 12:00pm
118 Main Street, Romsey
Thursday 28 May
10:00am – 11:00am
Barringo Food & Wine Co.
283 Station Road, New Gisborne
Friday 29 May
The Nook
10:00am – 11:00am
111 Evans Street, Sunbury
Friday 5 June
Seasons Bistro
10:00am – 11:00am
4 Station St, Riddells Creek
Thursday 11 June
Quintessence
10:00am – 11:00am
35 High St, Kyneton
Romsey
Gisborne
Sunbury
Riddells Creek
Kyneton
Advance notice of numbers is required by the cafes and restaurants, so bookings are essential. Please
click on the following Trybooking link if you would like to attend: www.trybooking.com/HSUI
If you are unable to attend a coffee morning, I would still very much appreciate your feedback and ideas,
and I encourage you to chat to me at College functions.
Please contact Ms Donna Hobbs, Executive Assistant to the Principal, with any inquiries:
[email protected].
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2016 Term Dates
Braemar College Term Dates for 2016 are as follows:
Students – Term 1 commences
Friday 29 January 2016
Students – Term 1 concludes
24 March 2016
Students – Term 2 commences
Monday 11 April 2016
Students – Term 2 concludes
Friday 24 June 2016
Students – Term 3 commences
Tuesday 19 July 2016
Students – Term 3 concludes
Friday 16 September 2016
Students – Term 4 commences
Monday 3 October 2016
Students – variable conclusion dates
Wednesday 7 December at the latest
Upcoming Events
The College calendar is accessible via the website: www.braemar.vic.edu.au I encourage you to monitor
this on a regular basis. Please note the following key events:
Date
Event name
Overview
12 – 14 May
NAPLAN
Years 5, 7, 9
Info: Mr Lance Ryan [email protected]
Saturday 16 May
Equestrian Dressage
IDS Toorak VEIS Qual Round 4.
8am – 4:30pm
Info: Mr Nick Ott
[email protected]
Saturday 16 May
College Working Bee
9am – 2pm
Info: Mr Steve Huntly
[email protected]
Saturday 16 May
College Ball & Debutante
Presentation
Melrose, Melbourne. 7pm – 11:30pm
Information has been provided to Year 11
students.
Info: Ms Dianne Boustead
[email protected]
Tuesday 19 May
Parents & Principal Coffee
Morning – Woodend
Café Colenso, Anslow St, Woodend.
10am – 11am
Bookings essential via www.trybooking.com/HSUI
Tuesday 19 May
House Chess & Art
Competition
3:45pm – 6:30pm
Art – Heyward Hall
Chess – Jackson Hall
Information has been provided to students.
Wednesday 20 May
Jacksons@BRAEMAR
Restaurant Lunch
Jackson Hall, 1:20pm – 2:00pm
Bookings essential via www.trybooking.com
Thursday 21 May
Parents & Principal Coffee
Morning – Romsey
Soltan Pepper, Main St, Romsey. 11am – 12pm
Bookings essential via www.trybooking.com/HSUI
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Thursday 21 May
Jacksons@BRAEMAR
Restaurant Dinner
Jackson Hall, 6:00pm – 9:30pm
Bookings essential via www.trybooking.com
Regards
Russell Deer
Principal
Braemar College
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