Raising the colours: 2022 school captains Skyler Norton, Beth Gray, Ella Rei Dunlop, Dante Sinclair-Dealy and Olivia Judd raise the Australian, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags. Photos: Gianni Francis
Staff and dignitaries gathered at Greater Shepparton Secondary College on Friday, January 28, to witness the Australian, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags raised above the new school for the first time as staff returned after the holidays.
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“We are effectively open for business, and for a school being open to business means raising the flags,” executive principal Barbara O’Brien said.
“I’m so proud and pleased to be joining our staff and students in our historic journey ahead in this amazing new and newest secondary college.”
GSSC’s 2022 school captains Skyler Norton, Beth Gray, Ella Rei Dunlop, Dante Sinclair-Dealy and Olivia Judd had the honour of raising the flags at the entrance of the school on Hawdon St, Shepparton.
“We can’t wait to see you and the rest of our students next week,” Ms O’Brien said.
School starts on Monday, January 31, and the Victorian Government anticipates education settings will be impacted by COVID-19.
But Ms O’Brien is confident COVID-safe practices will be more than sufficient to keep students and staff safe.
They’ve also got a pool of casual relief teachers to ensure the students’ education won’t be interrupted by staff isolating.
“We know how to implement those processes and be COVID-safe.
“So it’ll just be business as usual for us.”
Ready for year ahead: Executive principal Barbara O’Brien with GSSC 2022 school captains Skyler Norton, Ella Rei Dunlop, Beth Gray, Olivia Judd and Dante Sinclair-Dealy.
In response to parents’ worries regarding Shepparton’s past instances of cultural violence at various campuses, Ms O’Brien said they had reviewed their practices and had trained staff to deal with any issues that arose.
“We’ve looked at our behaviour management strategies and where we need to address those and the processes addressing some of the behaviours that we saw over the past two years,” she said.
“It’s around how students will use the stairways, how students will interact in the classrooms themselves and in the breakout spaces and how students will use our grounds and facilities.”
A large contingent of staff will be out on yard duty during breaks and bus zones will also be supervised.
“We know this is going to be a very different situation to the last few years where our students were separated and they were on different campuses, therefore coming together on the one campus means that we have to change the way we operate,” Ms O’Brien said.
“We know it’ll have its problems, but we’re prepared and we’re ready to address any of the issues that may arise, particularly early on.”
There has been concern among community members that consolidating Shepparton and Mooroopna’s four public high schools would leave some students without alternatives.
But Ms O’Brien said plenty of other options were available to families if they felt they needed to move to another school and that the school’s leadership would do everything in its power to avoid that happening.
“Our work is around making sure our students really fit into our college and that they are given opportunities,” she said.
“If they feel that this isn’t their college, we’ll work hard at working out why it isn’t and what we can do to address that.”
Ms O’Brien said Shepparton’s students had had to make do with “substandard facilities for some time now”, and they deserve something special.
“We can't believe we’ve got such magnificent buildings,“ she said.
“Boxes are unpacked, our classrooms are ready, our offices are ready ... we’re just thrilled.’’
Ms O’Brien said the opening of GSSC was an “amazing opportunity” for future generations.
“Shepparton’s never seen anything like this before,” she said.
“We’re going to put in place what we believe will lead or support our students into the future.”
Who’s who at GSSC: Community leaders attended GSSC’s flag raising ceremony.
Ms O’Brien thanked project manager Jason Williamson and members of his Hansen Yuncken construction team.
“Many of those workers have strong links to this site,” Ms O’Brien said.
“Some attended Shepparton High School, some have children who are at GSSC or will attend GSSC.
“We know great care went into this build and we know we are about to inherit the very best in modern school design and facilities.
Brand new: The courtyard at GSSC is bigger than Federation Square.
“We will soon have an official opening for our new college and that will involve a much larger group and a more formal occasion than this with our education department leaders and state leaders.”
