Assistant Principal's Report
Term Four = Report Writing!
Term four is always a busy term – on top of regular day-to-day school life, there are also celebrations to plan, special events fill our calendars, we start preparing for the year ahead, and teachers begin to write semester two reports.
Teachers use a variety of assessment tools and multiple forms of data throughout the year, to determine where a student is ‘at’ on the curriculum continuum. Each week, teachers meet to plan differentiated lessons in all areas of the curriculum to ensure students are being stretched and supported in their learning. This involves a continual cycle of evaluating, setting goals, planning and implementation.
Evaluate and Diagnose – Teaches use multiple forms of data to determine where students are in their learning journey, and what the next step would be, referring to the Victorian Curriculum.
Prioritise and Set Goals – Teachers then look at the next steps in learning, group students with similar areas of need and set specific learning goals.
Develop and Plan – Teachers plan learning tasks for each group of students, that will help students develop the skills they need to achieve their goals, ensuring they are scaffolded and sequential. Teachers also refer to students’ Individual Education Plans and plan appropriate learning tasks which address the goals set in the plans.
Implement and Monitor – Teachers follow the planners developed, and throughout the week meet with small groups and individual students. Teachers follow an Instructional Model when teaching, which includes teaching explicit skills and making learning intentions and success criteria clear to students.
And then we begin to Evaluate and Diagnose again!
Semester two reports give a great snapshot of what students have achieved over the past six months, as well as provide an idea of the next steps in their learning journey. Semester two reports will be ready for viewing on Compass on Monday 19 December.
Students at Work
Below are some photos of students hard at work, during the past few weeks.
Luna the Therapy Dog
Luna has been very busy too. Her presence has had a positive influence on many students (and staff!) and we have been trying to get around to as many classrooms as possible as she settles into the school environment. Her favourite thing to do at recess and lunch is to dig in the sandpit – she is a big help with making tunnels… but not so much with sandcastles!
Luna loves working on her new tricks, currently students are helping her learn how to shake. At our last training session, she was working on laying calmly next to another person, which will lead to her being able to rest her head on someone’s lap or chest on command, when they need support.
Having Luna around has helped create a calm and relaxed environment when I’ve supported students working through restorative conversations, and I look forward to learning more about how Luna can support students across the school.
~ Assistant Principal, Sarah Abbott