Assistant Principal's Report

Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting

Welcome to our new year 7 students and other students new to Maffra Secondary College.

Changes to Progress Reports Rubric

For clarity about our expectations for every student’s learning, we have updated the Progress Report rubric so that each student can understand where they are at with the learning, and importantly, what they need to do to improve in order to move  to the next level. The rubric is written in plain language so all students can understand how to be successful. Students will receive three regular cycles of feedback via their progress report throughout each semester. The first cycle will be available on COMPASS in week 5. The next cycle will be published on COMPASS at the end of term 1 so the feedback can be discussed at Student/ Parent/ Teacher conferences on Thursday 26th March and Friday 27th March.

Staff assess students in the key areas of Organisation, Effort, Persistence, Expected Behaviour and Respect. Key changes to these Progress Reports for 2020 include:

• The addition of a ‘Very Good’ rating, to provide more opportunity for students to show improvement from the ‘Good’ rating. ‘Good’ is still the expected level for all students.
• The addition of ‘Academic Standard’ for subjects in years 7-10. This is to provide feedback about how students are performing academically in their subjects.
• Rubric comments are written to be ‘Instructional’, meaning students can read the rating comment above their current level to understand ‘instructions’ and how to improve their performance and rating.

This feedback will allow students and parents to track progress, but also for students to use the feedback in Learn to Learn to set goals for their learning. As our Principal introduced at last year’s Careers Expo, this year’s Progress Reports will be used during course counselling and subject selections for 2020 Year 10 students.

Please read the Progress Report with your child so everyone is clear about how to be successful in their learning.

Reporting

Reporting in 2020 will continue to be a formal method of providing feedback for learners. Students should use this feedback to celebrate their achievements, identify their strengths and also to identify the next step- how they can continue improving. Reporting is done via a combination of:

• Continuous reporting, where feedback is provided after each Common Assessment Task (CAT) for Year 7-10 subjects and School Assessed Coursework (SAC) for Year 11-12 subjects. This feedback will be provided both verbally and also in written form via COMPASS.
• Semester Reports will be punblished on COMPASS at the end of each Semester and will include Victorian Curriculum levels of year 7-10 subjects. A semester report will be included for Learning to Learn classes this year.

I wish all students well for a successful year of learning, and look forward to celebrating their growth with them and their families throughout the year.

Welcome back to all of our students, families and community members.

I would particularly like to extend a warm welcome to our Year 7 students and to all other students new to our College.  Our Year 7 students have settled in well and are currently preparing to head off to Camp in Licola next Wednesday 26th February whilst our Year 8 students head off on their camp this week.    A date for a Year 7 information evening and family BBQ will be decided on once the students have returned from their camp next week.  The date which is yet to be confirmed and dependent on the weather will be sent out to all parents once confirmed.  

We have certainly hit the ground running with VCE / VCAL information evenings taking place over the last couple of weeks.  These evenings have allowed parents and students to connect with key staff and to hear some practical ideas to support their child in their learning.  parents once confirmed. 

We continue our work around Literacy in particular reading for meaning and understanding and writing to learn.  Part of this work will be based around every student within our school developing a learning portfolio which displays learning growth. These will be shared with parents later in the year. 

Our Positive Climate Behaviour Purpose Statement - ‘Our community provides a safe and respectful environment, which promotes individuals’ social, emotional and academic growth, ensures that all students at Maffra Secondary College are able to learn and achieve in a wide range of areas every day.  This year Positive Climate along with Student Voice and Agency will be an area of focus for our whole school but in particular our Year Level Teams.  Both of these areas encompass our School Wide Positive Support and Respectful Relationships values and expected behaviours. Students are encouraged to be active particpants in their learning, by being clear on where they are at and what they need to do in order to move forward remembering that with effort everyone can achieve success.

Here at Maffra Secondary College we have been reviewing our school values. We are seeking the input of all parts of our school community to ensure our values reflect those of our current school community. 

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MSC_SchoolValuesParentSurvey

Posi-Slips and Community postcards continue to be a fantastic way to acknowledge positive behaviours both within and outside the classroom. These are complemented with the use of our College Student Planners (Diary). If your child does not have a planner these can be purchased from the main office for $10.   These planners assist students to develop their organisational skills and are an excellent way to communicate with your child’s teachers.

Parents are encouraged to use COMPASS as a tool to check on their child’s learning tasks and outcomes.  These are a great starting point for conversations around what your child is learning and a way to celebrate the growth and achievement they have made.  Parents can access their child’s Progress Report via the ‘free’ COMPASS School Manager App on your phone and or via the internet.  If you do not have a login code or you are having difficulties accessing COMPASS please do not hesitate to contact the school on 51471790 for support in this matter.

Our school uniform is a requirement of being a student at Maffra Secondary College. This is endorsed by our school council.  Our school policy can be found on our College Website and is also outlined on Page 10 of our Student Planners.  All students in Years 7-12 are required to be in full school uniform on a daily basis…therefore items which are not part of our school uniform such as: hoodies, puffer jackets and incorrect shoes, etc, are not to be worn throughout the school day. Totally black shoes must be worn at all times unless your child is wearing their PE uniform. As well as this, plain black , white or grey socks are part of our school uniform, logos should not be seen.  As we are a sunsmart school,  school hats are encouraged to be worn during terms 1 and 4.  If you have any questions in regards to uniform and or if you need some assistance purchasing uniform please do not hesitate to contact your child’s Year Level Team Leader.   

Last Wednesday, 12th February, majority of our students participated in an extremely successful swimming carnival at the Maffra Pool.  A big thank you to all staff who assisted on the day, but in particular to Sue Clancy and Fiona Rathnow for their organization of the event. Congratulations to all students who attended and for the enthusiastic support they gave to all participants throughout the day.  ‘Congratulations’ to Avon (Blue) House who had a narrow win over Thomson (Gold) House…bring on the Athletic sports.