Assistant Principal Report 

As we enter the second half of term two, I wanted to update our community about some of the ways that our students have and will receive feedback about their learning. 

ASSESSMENT & REPORTING

Last week students received feedback about their ORGANISATION, EFFORT, PERSISTENCE, EXPECTED BEHAVIOUR, RESPECT and ACADEMIC STANDARD through Progress Reports. These results can be accessed on COMPASS. Students then reflected on the feedback and set learning goals in their Learn 2 Learn classes. Well done to the majority of students who achieved excellence in their performance or growth in their learning. Students should now be engaging in conversations with their teachers about how to achieve further improvement in their learning.

Students in years 10 and 11 have upcoming exams during week 8. These exams will be conducted at Maffra Memorial Hall and will be supervised by VCAA examiners. Students in Years 7-10 should be finishing off Common Assessment Tasks (CATs) and receiving continuous feedback about what they are learning and what they need to do next to progress their learning. This feedback will be collated and reported along with standards from the Victorian Curriculum in the end of semester reports. Semester reports will be published and available for viewing on COMPASS in the last week of term. 

Congratulations to our Year 7 and 9 students for the positive approach they applied to this year’s NAPLAN testing. Students excelled in being respectful of their peers while giving the online tests their best efforts. They also gained valuable experience for future exams. The students approached the testing with a growth mindset and are now waiting patiently to receive their feedback in term 3.

ATTITUDES TO SCHOOL SURVEY

Feedback works both ways! Students were recently asked to provide feedback to staff about how well they ‘know their learners’ and ‘reflection’. Staff use this feedback to identify teaching goals that we then focus on to improve our teaching practices. 

Later this term, all students will be asked to provide feedback about the school through the Attitudes to School Survey (ATSS). There are three key sections to the state-wide ATSS:

• Excellence in Teaching & Learning
• Positive Climate for Learning
• Student Health & Wellbeing

Responses are anonymous and provide valuable feedback that will be used as part of our improvement cycle to continue our improvement as a school. ATSS responses will also help develop the new School Strategic Plan in term 4.   

SCHOOL PRIDE

Recently I had the pleasure of coaching the Senior Boys Football Team at the Senior Interschool Sports Day. Although we never won any of the four matches, I could not have been prouder of how the team displayed our College Values of RESPECT, RESILIENCE, COMMUNITY and LEARNING. Our young men modelled RESPECT for each other, the umpires and opposition players and coaches; they showed RESILIENCE to compete against stronger sides (16 v 18 players) and overcome fatigue and injury to complete four grueling matches; they looked after and supported each other (COMMNUNITY); they LEARNT how to adapt the game style to outscore opposition sides in the second half of matches. Our year 9 helpers (Bill and Billy) also showcased how good our students are at representing our school in the wider community. Well done to everyone involved in the day!

Nathan Wallace

Assistant Principal