DEPUTY PRINCIPAL - TEACHING & LEARNING REPORT 

Vision for Teaching and Learning at St Mary MacKillop College - a statement that drives the development of a high performance learning culture at SMMC

At St Mary MacKillop College we have high expectations of our students as we equip them with the knowledge, skills and dispositions for lifelong learning. We pursue excellence through a teaching and learning environment that is inclusive, engaging and encourages growth. We value collaboration, innovation and building strong relationships.

We are so happy to have our students back at school, re-establishing their routines and reconnecting with their friends and teachers face to face. There was great joy and energy as our students returned to school and it was pleasing to see how quickly they refocused on their learning. Many thanks to students and families in our community for your great support and resilience when we move back to online learning during periods of lockdown. Many thanks also to our teachers for their great commitment in ensuring the online learning environment is always engaging.

Our approach to online learning has always placed an emphasis on the wellbeing of all members of our community: students, staff and families. ‘Wellbeing is no longer a fad…It’s now clear that without their teachers’ care and support it’s hard for many young people to stay well and focused…wellbeing is an essential precondition for achievement, especially among our most vulnerable children’ (Hargreaves, 2020, n.p.). We know it is very important for our young learners to build positive working relationships with their teachers. Our teachers know the importance of developing positive relationships in order for their students to achieve the best learning outcomes. From our experiences of online learning to date, we know how challenging the online learning space can be for the wellbeing of our students, and we sincerely appreciate the support of all members of our community to ensure continuity of learning and care for our students.

Unit 3/4 Update

The General Achievement Test (GAT) for students studying a Unit 3/4 subject has been postponed to Thursday 12 August. The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) has also confirmed that the Consideration of Educational Disadvantage (CED) process will again be used to finalise VCE results at the end of the year. The following has been taken from the VCAA website:

The CED process accounts for the disruption to student learning caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. It applies to every student completing one or more VCE or scored VCE VET Unit 3–4 sequences in 2021, including Year 10 and 11 students.

It restores a student's results to where they would have been without the disruptions that have occurred throughout the year and makes sure that final VCE results are valid and fair for all students.

We continue to support all our students through the challenges they face this year and wish them all the best as they continue their studies in Term 3.

Lifelong Learning

The Word Economic Forum has come up with the ‘Top 10 Skills of 2025’. Active learning and learning strategies appear in this list, and has been highlighted as one of the most important skills in a world of rapid change. I love being a teacher and I love being a lifelong learner. As teachers we often tell our students we never stop learning, and we encourage our learners in their pursuit of knowledge. 

It may surprise some of our students to learn that as teachers we also set goals to improve our teaching practice. We spend time during some of our meetings to discuss the progress we are making towards achieving our goals. One of my goals for this half of the year is to shadow different classes, to take part in lessons, to step out of my comfort zone and to experience what it is like to be a student again. Students will often see me walking around the school and into classes, and taking photos of learning for the newsletter, and I want to take this one-step further and participate in different classes.

Recently I attended Ms Salvo’s Year 8 Food Tech class. I learnt how to make chocolate chip pancakes. How did I feel being a secondary school student again? It was great being able to ask questions to the students to check if I was making the mixture correctly, or what I needed to do next. I confess I am not the world’s greatest chef, and Ms Salvo and Mr Daly had to help me a few times, but that is all part of the learning process. We aren’t always going to understand things the first time around, and from time to time we will need a little support from our teachers. Surprisingly my pancakes were edible and they were a welcome treat for me when I sat back at my desk and continued working. Many thanks to Ms Salvo for allowing me to participate in her class. It was a great experience and I look forward to the next class I will join. 

Fans of Harry Potter will know this quote from Professor Dumbledore, ‘it is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities’. I encourage all our students to make positive choices each day, especially when it comes to their learning and attaining their true potential. When something is a little challenging, don’t give up, but persevere. Use the networks you have for support, in particular your teachers, peers and parents. We are here to support you throughout your learning journey.

Commitment to Literacy

In previous editions of the College newsletter I have talked about our commitment to literacy. In the student bulletin each day we include the 'Word of the Day'. We hope by doing this the vocabulary knowledge of our students will increase. We also include a 'Weekly Literacy Tip' to help with writing. For the first 15 minutes of Lesson 4, our Year 7 and 8 students engage in silent reading. To support this we have implemented a 'Book Bingo' initiative to encourage reading a wide variety of books across the semester. We hope these initiatives support the literacy development of our students.