Learning and Teaching

Assessment Day

Just a reminder that June 14 is our Assessment Day and this is a student free day. It is an opportunity for our teachers to work on creating and marking assessments, and to provide quality feedback to students on their learning through Compass learning tasks, the OneNote, developmental rubrics and Maestro (at year 7 and 8). 

Supporting Literacy and Numeracy

The state government announced last week $87.2 million to continue the Middle Years Literacy and Numeracy Support initiative, which supports students who do not meet the minimum standards in literacy and numeracy. 

Many of our students in year 8, 9 and 10 participate in the MYLNS program each week with quality tutoring from teachers specialised in literacy and numeracy instruction. We are very excited to be able to continue to offer this support to our students next year.

There is currently no news about whether the government is going to fund the tutor learning initiative which allows us to support students to improve their learning outcomes in VCE Maths and English.

Thanks to the MYLNS and TLI teaching team for their dedication to these important programs. 

Supporting Students to Study and Learn

As a parent you play a very important role in shaping and influencing your child's education. Research evidence from Australia and overseas shows that regardless of a families background of income, students are more likely to have higher grades, better attendance and improved behaviours and social skills, when parents are involved in their child education.  Some effective ways for parents to do this include:

• Create a home learning environment that supports study - e.g. Quite, comfortable and well lit.
• Communicate high, yet reasonable expectations for study and achievement
• Encourage students to prioritise their studies over other commitments
• Show an interest in what is being studied at school
• Keep updated about school news, events and learning tasks (on Compass)
• Email teachers if you have any questions about student learning
• If your child is willing, read with them or help them to revise for assessment by asking questions 

 If you would like some ideas on how to become more involved in your child's learning please contact me.

Compass Learning Tasks

We endeavour to provide a rich, consistent and challenging learning and teaching program for our students at the College. This includes the provision of regular Compass assessment items and learning checkpoints, common to all students in the subject. The aim of these assessments is to check the learning progress of our students within a unit of learning.

These are challenging times and as with all schools during the pandemic, we have experienced staffing challenges this semester. As a result some learning tasks may not contain grades or feedback where a staff member has had extended absence and where there has been changes in teachers within the semester.

We apologise for any inconvenience or concern that this may have caused and encourage you to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Natalie Manser 

Assistant Principal

mar@wantirnacollege.vic.gov.au