ASSISTANT PRINCIPALS’ REPORT

Mrs Julie Andrews, Mr Paul Dawson &

Mr Bradley Headlam

Assistant Principals

Compass Pay

This term we are reviewing our payment system in order to enable payments to be made via a Module in Compass called Compass Pay. We are hoping to activate this as soon as possible and this will enable parents to pay and approve excursions, camps and incursions on a device via Compass. Therefore parents will have the luxury of making payments from home without having to come in to school. More information about the process will be provided when we enable access to Compass Pay but here are a few Frequently Asked Questions.

Camps Review

A process of reviewing our school camps is in place for this semester. There are so many fantastic opportunities offered at the college that we want to have it collated and planned in a progressive manner that caters for student needs at every level. Currently the discussion is with the Student Managers and will progress to Leadership and all other Key areas of school operation in the next few weeks. If you have any advice or suggestions for us to enhance our programs please contact Mr Headlam or any of the Assistant Principals.

Year 9 Morrisby Survey

This week ALL Year 9 students participated in the Morrisby Survey. This is a Victorian Education initiative that targets every Year 9 student in Victoria. Our students completed the 2 hour survey and conducted themselves excellently. The questions answered will provide the students with some insight into their potential future pathways, for subject selections and beyond. The final part of this process will be a 30 minute interview to discuss the outcomes of their individual survey results.

Course Counselling

All Year 10 students participated in a fantastic careers program last week. The activities provided were relevant, informative, inspiring and started to connect students to their potential pathways. After visits to a variety of post-secondary education locations the students completed some team building, leadership and self reflection activities culminating in a number of guest speakers before selecting their subjects for 2020. Approximately 95% of families booked into see a course counsellor and subsequently the subjects chosen will start to help shape our college’s timetable for 2020. Confirmation of subjects will be later this term. In the event a student is unsuccessful at getting their chosen subjects they will be re-counselled in a discussion around their reserve preferences.

Timetable Process

Often we are asked by staff, parents and students about the process for structuring the timetable from year to year. Put simply, it is about catering to student interests, pathway needs and student capacity. Meaning, we attempt to provide for the students! This is actually not the easiest way to construct a timetable, it is much easier to provide blocks of subjects and have students take their best pick from each. This, however, does not enable students to study their preferred subjects, it also limits students in completing studies in line with University prerequisites. 

International Visitors

It has been a very busy two weeks for our International Student program.  Last week we had 39 Chinese students visiting the school and they were hosted by families from the community. The students joined our Year 8, 9 and 10 classes and also experienced a trip down the Great Ocean Road.  They were extremely well mannered and feedback from the group was that they really enjoyed the experience.

On Sunday, 4 August, we had a group of 15 Japanese students arrive at the school.  They will be with us for two and a half weeks. They are a slightly older group and have been placed in Years 9, 10 and 11.

The students at the school are to be complimented on the support they have provided these students, helping pointing them in the right direction and generally making them feel extremely welcome. It is great to see one of our key values of diversity being exhibited by our staff and students in such a positive way. 

Parent Teacher Student Conferences

The recorded data from the day indicated that 1708 bookings were made online using Compass. There would have been more conferences than this because some families came to school hoping that the relevant teachers would be available. This represents approximately 32% of the school’s households who attended the conferences. 

If you were not able to make the conferences please contact your child’s teacher for feedback about the Semester 1 report or the current Progress Report. 

Organisation

As this is only Week 4 of the term, it is timely to check on the materials and equipment that your child needs and uses each week for classes.

Stationery items need replacing or topping up throughout the year; some are lost, some are broken and some are used/empty. It is important for the independent learning of your child that they are not being hindered by having to wait to borrow stationery, or worse, not able to work on a task due to not having materials. 

Consider checking on exercise books, blue and red pens, HB pencils, erasers, rulers, highlighters - as a minimum. Some subjects require a specific type of project book, display book or visual art diary. The booklist, which is available at school, lists the required stationery per subject. 

All subjects require your child to have access to their iPad or a senior device (chromebook or macbook). Many online apps and services need to be accessed in and out of class time - Compass, Google classroom and Learning Field/online textbooks. The student planner includes the list of responsibilities that you and your child have agreed to in order to use the device at school. If you have any concerns about providing a device or the correct materials for your child please contact the relevant Year Level Coordinator. 

In class, students will be learning how to organise themselves to be better learners. The materials and books are the first part of organisation but how and when to use them is what will make a difference to your child’s learning. Teachers will use a variety of learning strategies that require students to use or develop skills about being organised. Here is a link that describes 30 organisational habits/tips that improve learning. Note, the author identifies that 30 simple tips is a lot and that you should start with one or two and build up. 

https://www.daniel-wong.com/2017/04/10/students-get-organised-for-school/