Josie Millard
Congratulations and Thank You to Daryl Bennett
It is with some sadness that we bid farewell to Daryl Bennett as he leaves Kew High School to take up the position of Principal at Swinburne Senior Secondary College. Daryl commenced as Assistant Principal in January 2015 and has become as well recognised and respected figure across the school since then. Daryl has made many significant contributions to Kew High School but he is most proud of his work in building the capacity of teachers to analyse data to celebrate success in learning or to identify programs to support student learning. Another major achievement was his work on the VCE Outcomes policy which led to a change in the culture of continuous learning in the senior years at Kew High School.
Daryl leaves us to begin at Swinburne on the first day of Term 3, 2021. Swinburne is a vitally important public school in our network. It allows young people to reach their potential and for some, it provides them an opportunity to continue to remain connected to their education.
I thank Daryl on a very personal level for his support of me as I commenced in the role of Principal at Kew High School. Daryl’s fundamental belief that the school, and the students were vastly more important considerations than personal ones, enabled me to get to know Kew High School. I know that I could not have done it without him. It is most fitting that Daryl leaves us to lead his own school. My congratulations are heartfelt.
On behalf of Kew High School, I thank Daryl for his contribution to teaching and learning in our magnificent school. We wish him the very best in his new role.
School Strategic Plan
The 2020-2024 School Strategic Plan has been finalised by the leadership Team and endorsed by the Kew High School Council. The plan will direct our work over the coming three years and I am excited to commence this next stage in our continuous school improvement. Members of the school community are invited to read through the plan on the school website.
Sweeney Todd
The VCE Theatre Studies students performed the musical, Sweeney Todd this week. The performance was simply magnificent. I do not know of another school who could perform a musical as part of the curricular program – and I cannot believe that anyone else could do so to the standard that we reached at Kew High School.
I was perhaps most impressed though by the resilience of these students. The performance was originally scheduled in the first week of the lockdown and, after many re schedules, has been performed to smaller audiences, but with an increased number of performances.
If being a student at Kew High School, means teamwork, belonging, challenge, excellence and friendship – then these students certainly showed all these qualities and more.
I must also, and especially, thank their teachers, Michael Brandt and Seraya Brain. Their work and support of the students was exceptional.
STEM Centre update
The work on the new building has continued despite the inclement weather over the past few weeks. Much work has been done on the interior of the old part of the west wing and we hope to have some of our refurbished classrooms returned to us early next term. I expect that we will begin to see the building rise quickly during next term.
Our plans for the interior of the new building are extremely exciting and I have been privileged to be a part of some rigorous conversations regarding the impact our new environment will have on the teaching and learning at Kew High School in the future.
