10/12/2025
The latest news from the Mirboo North Secondary College
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Dear members of the Mirboo North Community,
As we head towards the end of another very successful year at Mirboo North Secondary College, I thought it would be timely to let you know about some of the staffing updates & the process of how we determine the educational programs we offer our young people each year.
Firstly, after many, many years of outstanding service in the Department of Education, we will be farewelling the following long term members of our school community:
Our ‘official retirees for 2025: Wes Palmer – English, Literature and Humanities teacher & a favourite to many generations of Mirboo North families. Marina Bruzzese – Psychology, Humanities & English Teacher, School Council member, School leader, timetable expert and revered Senior School leader. Sue Hadley – long time DE Science & Maths teacher and now learning support staff. Danny Zizic – Wood & Technology teacher – also a favourite of many generations of MN students. Fergal Allen – Maths and Legal Studies teacher - an expert in his field. Norm DeSilva our much loved Chaplain is retiring, and a special community recognition will happen on the 11th December. And last but not least; Allen (Spider) Risley – sports coordinator, teacher of all things fun and friend to all, is hanging up his boots at MNSC 😊 We wish these wonderful people the best life has to offer beyond education.
We also wish Chris Anders all the very best in his new role at Kurnai University Campus. He has been a Learning Specialist, senior Maths & Science teacher, cricket mentor & karate sensei to many students over the years in our community.
Ian Dunstan is taking his wood, cooking and technology skills to Neerim District College in 2026, so we also wish him well in his next school.
Ethan Moore has been successful in obtaining a place in the Teach Today – Teach Tomorrow program as he transitions to becoming a Health & PE teacher. We wish him all the best with his studies and understand he is keen to return to MNSC when he’s fully trained.
We are excited to announce the following appointments for 2026: Julie Jones – Senior Maths & Science teacher with many years of experience. Dee (Dale) Franssen – English, Humanities teacher and a very keen & accomplished musician. Jack Vogan - will come to us as an experienced Education Support Assistant and join the Inclusion team, which we are excited about.
Jayne Scott will return next year to take Food Studies classes including our first Year 12 – VCE Food class in many years! And Geoff Williams is moving into the Careers & Pathways space in 2026 – working with Nicole Hobson as his mentor and completing further study so that he is well placed to guide all our students as they transition to the world of work.
Our acting Assistant Principal & Leading Teacher Nicole Ashton will be taking a year’s leave from MNSC to be closer to her family, but we will warmly welcome her back in 2027!
While we have not yet found a replacement for Wood & Technology, we are still recruiting and actively working on solutions ‘in-house’ to ensure our students have access to a full complement of technology subjects. Upskilling of current staff members began in 2025 and we’ll look to expand on this in 2026 to assist the school in offering a broad curriculum.
Our constant focus on a safe and welcoming environment where everyone can learn and excel extends to both academic & hands-on pathways for young people. Essentially, each year, our subject offerings - particularly in Senior School - are largely driven by student choice. In 2026 the school will be running the full complement of science subjects in addition to our General Maths and Mathematical methods offerings. Students’ enthusiasm for commerce will see us deliver VCE Legal Studies, History and Business Management and our comprehensive VCE-VM (Vocational Major) program will actively support those students to develop the requisite skills for those interested in joining the workforce immediately after finishing school. Students whose passion is for subjects not shared by their peers are able to study subjects not currently offered at MNSC via distance learning. We’ll also continue to offer our popular trade focused subjects through our ‘Skillswork’ program.
Operating a school of our size has a HUGE number of benefits in terms of student wellbeing, pastoral care & small class sizes for learning. After working closely with the Leadership team this term, I am very confident that we have created the best possible timetable and subject offerings we can for all our students: given our resources, staffing profile, student elective choices and overall student numbers.
And now, we are ready to welcome 60 new Year 7 students to the college in 2026 and have a wonderful transition program organised for them in Week 10, including practical classes, meeting new staff, School Wide Positive Behaviour education, working with our VM peer leaders and having fun at the Mirboo North swimming pool. Bring on the summer weather!
Please do not hesitate to call the college to discuss any of the points I have made or ask any further questions about enrolments or employment opportunities.
We look forward to seeing families & award recipients at our Presentation Night on the 16th December at the Shire Hall @ 5.45pm
Have a safe, enjoyable holiday and a very Merry Christmas!
Melissa Neill – Acting Principal, on behalf of our Principal Team:
Vaya Dauphin (returning Term 1), Nic Ryan & Nicole Ashton
