Students across Years 7-12 have worked to the best of their ability in the remote learning space throughout the year and we congratulate them for their achievements in such difficult circumstances. As we move towards the end of this school year, despite all the disruptions, it is still very important that we continue preparations for one of the key events on the Mordialloc College calendar, the annual Awards Night.  Every year we come together as a College community to celebrate student successes in a variety of areas such as Academic Excellence and Endeavour, the Arts, Sport and Community Involvement. Over the last few weeks, with the latest announcement of all restrictions being lifted from around November 24, we did give serious thought to going ahead with our live event at the City of Kingston Town Hall. However, after much consideration, given the high cases numbers that still exist in Victoria, we understand some staff, parents and students may not feel comfortable attending an event with 1000 guests at this current time. Students over 16 also need to be double vaccinated to be allowed to enter the Town Hall.  Therefore, we have decided to proceed with a pre-recorded event again following COVID safe guidelines for our Awards Night. We will be filming on the 17 and 24 November and will have the video link ready for all families to be able to watch this event at home by the first week in December. We look forward to returning to a live event next year.

There are many prizes awarded on the night, thanks to the generous sponsorship of numerous organisations in the school community. Students are nominated for these awards by their teachers, home group teachers and year level coordinators and these nominations are based on specific criteria for each award. I encourage all students to strive to achieve your best for the many awards celebrated at this important occasion. These include:

1. Academic Excellence: The ‘Academic Excellence’ award is bestowed upon students who have demonstrated outstanding academic results within a subject. They have consistently worked above the expected level and/or have achieved a B or an A (in relation to Victorian Curriculum Achievement levels) on their reports where possible. At VCE level students need to be consistently attaining high or very high on all assessments. Students also need to have demonstrated very good to excellent learning habits in the learning area.
2. Achievement- Endeavour: The ‘Achievement-Endeavour’ award is awarded to students in recognition of consistent efforts made to strive for their personal best. They have demonstrated academic progress within a subject and have made significant improvements to reach their learning goals
3. Community Service: The ‘Community Service’ award is awarded to students from across each year level who have served the College in a particular way. For example, by participating in a variety of school activities as determined on an annual basis such as: SRC, House Athletics, House Swimming, School Production, subject competitions, contribution to the College Magazine, participation in Open Night, primary school visits etc.
4. Sport Champion: Awarded to one female and one male student from Year 7, Year 8, Intermediate level, and Senior level in recognition of outstanding sporting achievements made throughout the year.
5. Special Awards: These awards are contributed by organisations to recognise achievements made by students in particular categories. For Example, City of Kingston, Rotary, Victoria Police, Australian Defence Force etc.
6. Year 12 Subject Awards: The ‘Subject Award’ is bestowed upon the student who has consistently attained the highest academic results in all assessment tasks within the subject (for each Year 12 subject).
7. Year 12 VCAL Awards: The ‘Year 12 VCAL Award’ is awarded to students who have demonstrated significant achievements and progress within the VCAL program.  A total of four awards will be given to four students in the subject areas of Numeracy, Literacy, Personal Development and Work Related Skills.
8. Year 11 VCAL Award: The ‘Year 11 VCAL Award’ is awarded to a student who has demonstrated significant achievement and progress within the Year 11 VCAL program.
9. Year 10 VCAL Award: The ‘Year 10 VCAL Award’ is awarded to a student who has demonstrated significant achievement and progress within the Year 10 VCAL program. 
10. Art Award: Awarded to students across all year levels in recognition of outstanding art achievements and progress made throughout the year.
11. Quality Learner Award: Awarded to a Year 7 and a Year 8 student who has shown high quality commitment to individual learning excellence, achieved through teamwork, a process of continual improvement and taking responsibility for their learning.

We also award the dux of each year level based on the number of Academic Excellence awards they have received and close examination of achievement data. Thanks to Marina Walsh, Sonja Hill and Catherine Boulton, who have started work on the planning for this important school event.

Michelle Roberts

Principal