Assistant Principal News

As our term draws to a close I wish to thank both Staff and Students for their dedicated and determined approach to learning this year. Under difficult circumstances, it has been pleasing to note that our community remains strong and together in our goal of improving learning and becoming better humans.

I encourage all staff and students to keep these values at the forefront of our minds as we move into Term 3.

In this edition of the newsletter you will find our Semester 1 Academic, Marian and Merit Awards published for our Year 11 and Year 12 Students. While we have been unable to have an official Award Ceremony due to social distancing restrictions, we still believe it is vital to acknowledge the diligence and excellence of these students. Congratulations and I encourage you all to continue to work towards your goals in Semester 2.

Junior Semester Reports will also be available on Compass at the end of next week. Parents please note that your child’s report will detail the following:

A grade based on academic achievement
Criteria to identify the student’s Commitment to Learning
3 Commendations and 3 Recommendations

I ask parents and students to take particular note of teacher comments in each subject area and to have a discussion about their child’s progress but also their wellbeing.

Below are some questions that you can use to have a discussion with your child about their schooling that will elicit more than a one word response.

Try one of these conversation-starters:

Tell me about the best part of your day.
What was the hardest thing you had to do today?
Did any of your teachers or tell any jokes or classmates do anything funny?
Tell me about what you read in class.
Who did you play with today? What did you play?
Who did you talk to today that you don’t normally talk to? How was it?
What was one thing that you learnt today? Why did it stay with you?
What was the biggest difference between today and yesterday? Why?
What do you have to do tomorrow? For the rest of the week? Who can help you?
Can you show me something you learned (or did) today?

Finally, I am pleased to report that over the last month our staff has had the chance to recommence their Professional Learning Program to improve their practice.

During Week 7, staff rengaged with their own Professional Learning Goals. Just like we ask our students to engage with, reflect and develop Growth Goals, our staff too this year have developed Learning Goals to improve their own practice and will meet with a Facilitator to have a Professional Discussion. This best practice for Staff Professional Learning will not only assist staff in developing a clear focus for their development, but also provide a quality model for students as to how to set goals and move forward.

On Wednesday, staff also engaged in a rotation of sessions on Numeracy and Intervention, two of our focus areas for 2020. Staff were split into three separate groups to learn about our new data wall in a fun and engaging way, to engage with some of our Minimum Standard and PAT Data and to share ideas on cross KLA teaching of Numeracy strategies.

Next Wednesday, staff will engage in a Wellbeing workshop after school, where they will choose from a range of health and wellbeing sessions to enhance their work life balance, something we feel is important for staff as they model this also for our students.

We wish to thank parents and students for their support during this term and look forward to Term 3.

Yours in Learning,

Lora Segrave and Damien Herb

Co Assistant Principals