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TERM 1: FEBRUARY 2017

IMPORTANT DATES

Message from the College Board Assalamu alaikum, On behalf of the Minaret College Board, I welcome all staff, students and parents at the threshold of another exciting school year in 2017. This year brings major changes to Minaret College. Mr Mohamed Hassan OAM, the school’s Founder and Director has formally retired after 25 years of sincere and tireless service establishing and growing Minaret College. Mr Hassan appreciates all the prayers and support from colleagues and students, and looks forward to remaining part of the school community at College events. A new position of Executive Principal has been established, and I am pleased to announce that Mr Mohammed Taksim has been appointed to this role. Mr Taksim brings a wealth of expertise from years of experience in Sydney as a Principal and educator, after a long prior career in senior management in the corporate sector, and a long history of community service. I would also like to welcome Sr Inas Hassan to the College Board. Inas is an experienced Montessori educator with a clear vision for Islamic Education in the 21st Century. Finally, I take this opportunity to thank and acknowledge outgoing Business Manager, Mr Chelliah Harris, for his 20 years of dedicated service at Minaret College. On the first day back for teaching staff on 25th January, Minaret Board member Sr Inas Hassan addressed all staff to formally announce the retirement of Mr Mohamed Hassan OAM and to welcome Mr Mohammed Taksim in the role of Executive Principal. Her speech appears in this newsletter and conveys the mood of this very significant day in the history of Minaret College. I am confident this new era will bring fresh perspectives and energy to our already vibrant College community. Best wishes and Salam, Dr Ahmed Hassan Minaret Board Chair

Friday 17th

February Curriculum Day (School closed for students)

Monday 13th

March Labour Day Holiday (School closed)

Friday 31st

March Last Day of Term 1 (School finishes at 2:15pm)

Mr Mohamed Hassan OAM, welcomes

Br Mohammed Taksim to the College as the new

Executive Principal.

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NOTICES & INFORMATION

Calendar Events

Message From The Office

Parents who hold concession card, i.e., Health Care Card or Pensioner Card, are welcome to apply for school fee concession. School fee concession application must be lodged to our office once - every year. Those parents, who are entitled to apply and have not yet lodged the application for 2017 so far, are requested to kindly apply immediately to the school. Forms for this application are available in our office. In addition to this application, entitled parents are encouraged to apply to the government of Australia for the Camp, Sports and Excursions Fund. Parents who have not yet applied, please find a CSEF application form attached to this newsletter. We encourage parents to complete all details and return to the Office on or before 15

th March.

Parents who have children at Officer Campus can apply for Conveyance Allowance in 2017. The form for conveyance is available at Officer Campus Reception. Such applications must be submitted to us immediately along with your signed authorization form, but not later than 23

rd February. Late

applications will not be considered by the relevant government authority and payment to eligible parents cannot be made.

Message from the Principal

It has been an excellent start to 2017 at Officer Campus with all teachers and students settling in wonderfully well. Minaret College is committed to academic and social development of our students with a strong focus of Islamic ethos and values. At Officer Campus, we place a high priority on the student resilience and wellbeing in 2017 because they are essential components in achieving this. We provide a safe, supportive and respectful learning environment to all students. It is important to understand the parents’ involvement in their children’s education is vital for both their motivation and subsequent success. This team effort continues with our teachers who are passionately dedicated to developing the most effective ways for all students to learn and achieve their ambitions. Ms Jamilah Giousoh, our Secondary School Team Leader, and Ms Masouda Keshtiar our Primary School Team Leader will resume their roles in providing me both assistance and great leadership. I would also like to remind parents that our team is always available to advise parents and are happy to receive your calls or meet you in person. Our Secondary Curriculum Coordinator, Ms Verity Keely, and our Primary Curriculum Coordinator, Ms Khatol Anwari, are also available to speak to parents about all academic matters. Please call to arrange a suitable appointment time if you have any concerns about your child that you wish to discuss. On a final note, Minaret Officer is proud to be offering an incredibly rich VCE program this year. Our VCE students have just returned from a three day leadership camp at the Summit Adventure Park in Trafalgar East and are ready to embark on the final lap of their secondary education. Students and parents who have any questions regarding VCE administrative matters can contact Ms Amalthea McMartin our Senior School Coordinator. I once again invite and encourage all parents to increase your participation in school activities and to look forward to a positive year in the life of your child’s education. Ranjith Dediwalage Principal Officer Campus

16th

February Primary School Information Evening

17th

February Curriculum Day (School closed for students)

2nd

March Photo Day (Officer Campus)

13th

March Labour Day Holiday (School closed)

13th-17

th March Canberra Camp

(Year 7 & 8)

21st March Harmony Day

31

st March Last Day of Term 1

18

th April First Day of Term 2

20th

April Parent Teacher Interviews

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Message from the Executive Principal

Dear parents, carers and friends of Minaret College As salaam Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatahu It indeed is an honour and an absolute pleasure to welcome you all to the 2017 academic year as the College’s newly appointed Executive Principal. My dedicated team and I are at the service of our community in the footsteps of the College’s founder. We thank Mr Mohamed Hassan OAM (retired Founder / Director) for his unparalleled and dedicated service to the College over the last 25 years and ask Allah (SWT) to shower his blessings on Mr Hassan for his vision, commitment, sacrifices and leadership in establishing and ensuring that the community enjoys a thriving institution that serves our children. His legacy, Insha Allah, will continue to shine in the years to come. At Minaret College, we are dedicated in shaping the development of the next generation of Muslim Australians who will become productive citizens and meet all the challenges of life in a God fearing, confident and honourable manner. Minaret College prides itself in providing holistic education to its students and is dedicated to serving the community. This focus will continue to be at the heart of everything we do. I would like to acknowledge the positive role every parent at Minaret College plays in their children’s education and invite each one of you to remain committed with us in achieving the best possible outcome for your child. To this end, both campuses of the College, at Springvale and Officer, have an exciting plan that will see learning taking place inside the classrooms complemented by a wide variety of excursions and incursions. The College continues to offer high quality education in all grades. This is evident in the success enjoyed by our students with exceptional VCE results, in particular with perfect scores, many students scoring high ATARs and a large percentage of our students receiving university offers in the first round of offers last year. All of this is a testament to the College’s focus on quality education and we will endeavour to continue and build upon the success enjoyed in the past years. I offer my congratulations to students, their families and teachers for the marvellous achievements. 2017 promises to be a jam packed year with plenty of learning taking place interspersed with fun activities.

We will continue to focus in developing our student’s Islamic character and values through our Islamic studies and values education program, their positive wellbeing through our support mechanisms, leadership skills through our rich extra-curricular program and academic success through a rich and challenging teaching & learning focus. The College will also celebrate its 25

th year of operations this

year and I welcome each one of you to participate in the exciting events planned by the College. We will provide details in the next few weeks about the planned events. Parents, my team and I are here to assist in any way possible and we look forward to being of service to our children and our community. Mr Mohammed Taksim Executive Principal.

Monash University – Parenting Resilient Kids

Monash University is inviting Minaret College parents and their primary-school aged children to take part in a new online parenting program designed to provide parents with strategies to parent with confidence and stay connected with their pre-teen child. For more information or to register to participate, please visit www.parentingresilientkids.com SFSS Department

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The Legacy Continues (Message presented by Sr Inas Hassan for the first day of 2017)

On behalf of our Founding Director, Mr Mohamed Hassan OAM, I would like to welcome staff, parents and students to Minaret College in 2017. It’s so wonderful to see everyone back ready for an exciting new year at Minaret. Most are familiar faces and have returned after the holidays to be reunited with the Minaret family. We also welcome newcomers who have joined our Minaret family for the first time this year and those who have rejoined after life took them down different paths for a while. This year is a very significant one as it marks the 25

th

anniversary of Minaret College. Around 25 years ago my father, Mohamed Hassan, OAM retired from his job as lecturer in Electronic Engineering and laid the foundations for what we have today. From humble beginnings in 1992 the school was founded in Noble Park with 20 students and 5 staff members, including Mr Hassan (you can refer to the book Standing Tall for a comprehensive history of the school). Today the school has two fully functioning campuses catering for Early Childhood right up to Year 12, here in Springvale and in Officer – where Year 12 will be offered for the first time this year. From 20 students, we now have a cohort of around 1826, with 1226 in Springvale and 600 in Officer, served by 220 staff members altogether. Founded upon the principles of “Faith, Knowledge and Practice”; the school’s vision has always been to help our students nurture a healthy Australian Muslim Identity to empower them to be upright citizens and work in the compassionate service of the community, humanity at large as well as the earth and all of its creatures. The work of Mr. Hassan and the dedicated team has provided a wonderful framework to fulfill this vision, the challenge for us as we move forward in these uncertain times is to agree on what our definition of a healthy Australian Islamic Identity is and work to ensure that all aspects of school policy and curriculum serve this vision. During the holidays I took the opportunity to sort through some of my old papers and, to my surprise, I found an article written by my father in which he articulates our efforts regarding the integration of Islamic knowledge and principles in our school’s curriculum. The article is entitled: “Conflict between Secular Education and Islamic Teaching” which appeared in the July 1978 edition of the Journal of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils called “Minaret” and actually argues that there is no real conflict. In the article he states:

“What is lacking on our part at present is a climate of research and love of knowledge which in the past created many institutions of learning in Muslim countries, and produced a large number of scientists and thinkers…..They never felt that their scientific activity was not part of their religion, or that it came into conflict with Islamic beliefs and practices. A beginning must be made by someone somewhere to produce, at least locally, such a climate and in due course of time it will be possible and eminently desirable to do away with the dualities of religion and the world, spirit and matter, private and public, and live a balanced and integrated life, free of intellectual, emotional and social conflicts.” (p. 16)

It seems prophetic that my father spoke about this integration of the sacred and the secular in education years before he founded the school which aims to do just that. So let us all continue to work together to make this institution one which nurtures a climate of research and love of knowledge as he so aptly put it nearly 40 years ago. For the last 25 years, my father has worked tirelessly to build Minaret to what it is today, in fact his whole life centered around Minaret College, its staff, students, achievements and challenges. One development which has been quite close to his heart recently is the building of the Community Hall which will hopefully be completed in time for Taraweeh prayers in the Holy month of Ramadan this year. Despite health concerns, my father’s dedication to community work compelled him to attend the Islamic Schools Association of Australia meeting in Sydney last August. As many of you are aware, during this meeting my father had an unfortunate fall which resulted in a fractured hip and lengthy period of hospitalization.

Photograph from the College Archives - 1992

Mr Mohamed Hassan is pictured here with the

first teacher of the College, Mrs Barbara

Steward (right)

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In hindsight, this was a sign for him to have more rest and to entrust the running of the school to the very capable team which has developed over the years. Therefore he officially retired from executive work at the end of last year. Nevertheless, he remains the Founding Director of the school and will continue to attend school’s events and to enjoy the fruits of his labour as well as overseeing developments in the building of the Community Hall here in Springvale and also Officer insha Allah. In preparing for his retirement, Mr. Hassan wisely commissioned the educational consultant, Mr Ian McKenzie, to propose an organizational structure which would serve the College’s future growth. The proposed structure included having dedicated Principal’s for each campus as well as an Executive Principal who is to be responsible for the College as a whole and ensure the shared vision and optimum sharing of resources across multiple campuses. Mr. Hassan began implementation of the recommendations last year by appointing Br Sead Omerovic as Principal of Springvale Campus and Br Ranjith Dediwalage as Principal of Officer Campus. During my father’s hospitalization the need to fill the position of Executive Principal became more urgent and Dr Ahmed Hassan as Chairman of Minaret Board took necessary steps to search for the appropriate candidate. A subcommittee was formed consisting of Dr Hassan, Dr Jamal Yusuf (Member of the Board), Br Subhan Ali and myself to undertake the recruitment process and report back to the Board. Of the candidates available to us, the one who stood out as being the most capable of continuing my father’s mission and who would have the confidence of all Minaret stakeholders, including the Board, staff, students and parents was Br Mohammed Taksim. Around ten years ago, Br Taksim left a promising career in the corporate world in order to concentrate on serving the community; and what better way to serve the community than to be involved in the education of our children? Many in the Minaret College community remember Br Taksim when he worked here in Senior Admin in the years 2009 and 2010. Although it was a relatively short period of time, it is obvious that he left a positive impression on many of the staff and parents who have provided us with glowing reports regarding his management ability and team building skills. After leaving Minaret, Br Taksim went on to work as Deputy Principal and then Head of School in Sydney, where it was planned that he would take the role of CEO in the near future. However when the opportunity to return to Minaret College arose, he happily accepted due to the fond memories and positive experience he had at the College and living in Melbourne – the world’s most livable city . As he recently expressed to Mr Hassan, he believes that Minaret College enjoys facilities and resources – including a wonderful team – unparalleled among the Islamic schools in Australia with wonderful potential for further growth and development. This is a testament to my father’s hard work and dedication as well as that of all staff members, past and present, who have worked hard to achieve this. I feel that my father now enjoys a quiet satisfaction - that all is moving in the right direction as he recently expressed how impressed he was by the sincerity and dedication of Minaret College staff members as well as expressing confidence in the new Senior Management Team. Alhamdulillah, he is now at ease entrusting the affairs of the school, so dear to his heart, to such a sincere and qualified group of people.

As Muslims we believe that work founded on sincere intention is blessed. I truly believe that due to my father’s sincere intention to serve the Australian Muslim community, Minaret College has been blessed with such a dedicated and capable cohort of staff and are now blessed with a very capable and enthusiastic Executive. Sincerely, Sr Inas Hassan Executive, Educational Research and Development

Mr Hassan, receiving a presentation

gift - at the gathering of staff for the

commencement of 2017.

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Message from Secondary School

Assalamu Alaikum It is with great pleasure that I welcome all of our new families as we look forward to forging strong and lasting relationships with you and together we support your children on their life-journey at Officer Campus. To our existing families, we look forward to welcoming you back to a new chapter in the lives of your children – one in which we trust that they will continue to grow in Faith, Knowledge and Practice. I would like to specially welcome our Year 7 students and their families. Starting Secondary School can be a daunting and difficult time but in the Secondary School our Year 7 Form Teachers have been carefully selected to ensure that their students are provided with the best pastoral care to make the transition from Primary to Secondary - one that is enjoyable and enriching. As we look into the year ahead, the Secondary School at Officer Campus aims to provide an excellent academic programme and with the commitment of our teachers and of course with the commitment of each individual student, success will be achieved. Our dedicated teachers have been working hard to provide the best learning opportunities for our students incorporating 21

st Century learning

techniques with a strong emphasis on Creativity, Collaboration, Communication and Critical thinking. This year, our theme for the Middle School is ‘Care and Concern’. Students will be encouraged to be mindful of treating their peers and teachers with the spirit of brotherhood and sisterhood. Students will be attending various sporting events including interschool sports and will be encouraged to sign up for interschool debating. The creativity and critical thinking skills of our students will be enhanced with specially designed curriculum programs like ‘Connections’ and the ‘Boys Education Program’. The theme for our Senior School is ‘Power Your Purpose’ and our Senior School students will embark on a challenging but memorable journey as they reach the end of their schooling. Many wonderful and life lasting friendships will be made through the Leadership Camp held at ‘The Summit’. It is expected that our Senior Students will set goals and try their best to achieve the best they can achieve in their VCE.

Minaret College believes in the importance of establishing positive partnerships with our parents, students and staff and I highly encourage parents to participate in our information nights and parent teacher interviews. May Allah SWT bless us with another fruitful and blessed year ahead InshaAllah. Jamilah Giousoh Officer Campus Secondary School Team Leader

Message from Kindergarten

On behalf of Minaret Preschool and Minaret Early Learning Centre, I would like to extend a very warm welcome to all our students and families. In particular, the new students and families, who have joined Preschool at Springvale Campus and ELC at Officer Campus in 2017. At Minaret we provide a warm, caring and friendly learning environment. We believe that all children have the right to develop as individuals and to be treated equally. We provide a program that caters for a diverse range of families and reflects Islamic values and the uniqueness of their child. To make this possible we expect an effective partnership with families. We believe that involving parents in their children’s education improves the children’s achievements and the overall level of success in our school. Please feel free to discuss any queries or concerns you may have with your child’s teacher or myself. If you have any feedback or comments, kindly write these down and post them in the suggestion box, located next to the signing-in stand. We wish our students and parents a great year ahead. Thank you for your cooperation at all times. Looking forward to working with you. Saida Nayem Team Leader Kindergarten Services

TERM DATES 2017

TERM 1: 30th

January – 31st

March

TERM 2: 18th

April – 23rd

June

TERM 3: 17th

July – 22nd

September

TERM 4: 9th

October – 8th

December

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Message from Primary School

2017 – Another Exciting Year!

Welcome back to school everyone. We hope you have all had an enjoyable and relaxing holiday and are ready for the new school year. A very warm welcome to our Foundation and other new students and their families to our school. I hope you get a chance to attend the special programs that we have organised for this year and to see displays of our students’ work around the Primary School. We would appreciate that parents follow the points below when attending school during/after school hours:

Parents picking up their children early or dropping them off late will need to go via the admin office to collect or take their child from/to the classroom.

Students are not permitted to cross the road to be picked up. Parents are requested to pick up their children from the school grounds.

In the mornings, we ask that parents drop their children by 8.15am and avoid being late on a regular basis. It is important for each student to begin their learning for the day on time.

A teacher is on yard duty from 8.15am in the mornings and until 4.00pm in the afternoons. Please be informed that after 4.00pm there will be no supervision for students.

Emails: Parents are very welcome to email their child’s teacher directly regarding any concerns or positive feedback you may have regarding your children. Teachers will respond as soon as they are able. Please do not expect a response out of school hours or immediately after you have sent the email. During the school day teachers have a duty of care to their students and will only be able to read their emails before and after school, during breaks and in planning times. It is also important that if you have any major concerns that you make an appointment with the teacher to speak to them. We would appreciate it if parents have a concern that you go directly to the classroom teacher in the first instance rather than through the office.

Foundation to Year 2 parents can communicate via ‘Seesaw App’ (information already sent to parents) and Year 3 to Year 6 parents via student diaries.

Notices: Notices requiring parent signatures, e.g. excursion permission notes, will go home via the students.

I wish students, staff and our school community a productive year InshaAllah and would like to thank our parents in advance for their ongoing support and cooperation as we believe that ‘Together we can make it work’. Masouda Keshtiar Primary School Team Leader Officer Campus

Position Vacant

Arabic Language Teacher

Minaret College is seeking a qualified and experienced Arabic Language Teacher to join our team at Officer Campus. The successful applicant will be responsible for:

In-class teacher/learner liaison and support for students across Foundation to Year 9.

Liaise with the LOTE Coordinator as required for professional support

Collaborative program writing and resource group teaching

Parent Teacher interviews

1:1 diagnostic testing for planning of remedial programs for literacy enhancement

Small group testing

Curriculum differentiation

Completing Individual Educational Plans (IEPs) for individual students involving the student, staff and parents

Meeting with Head of Schools, Year Level Coordinators, Counsellors, to address individual student needs

Education & Qualifications

Appropriate university degree and teacher qualifications (VIT registered)

Knowledge of the Arabic Language

Knowledge of teaching and learning styles and study skills

Knowledge of the K-6 curriculum

Respect and appreciation of young people and their learning needs

The ability to work collaboratively with staff and parents

Proven ability to incorporate technology into the curriculum

Successful applicants will be expected to support the Islamic Ethos of the College and may be required to work at either Springvale or Officer Campus. Don’t miss this opportunity to work with one of South-Eastern Melbourne’s reputable colleges. Please forward your resume and cover letter to hr@minaret.vic.edu.au

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