Assistant Principal's Report
Year 11 & 12
I can’t believe it’s already Week 7!
On Friday 6th March we had our Athletics carnival and being the Year 12s final Athletics carnival, they certainly impressed with their costumes and their final parade down the track in front of all of the other year levels.
As we approach the end of the term, I urge all parents to attend the Parent Teacher Conferences on Wednesday 25th of March. At this early stage of the year for VCE and VCAL students, this is an important opportunity to speak to your child’s teacher about their progress so far, areas of strength and areas for improvement. By this time all students will have completed their first SACs and teachers will have a range of detail about how you can support your child at home to achieve success in their senior certificate.
The Student Representative Council (SRC) had its first meeting last week lead by Ms Moore our SRC Leader. Baseline Whittlesea Youth Services were also in attendance and it is exciting for us to begin another partnership with this important community support. I look forward to bringing you many exciting updates as our work begins. Our first adventure will be an SRC excursion on the 12th of March where we will be networking with other SRC student leaders from local schools.
Julie Ryan
Assistant Principal
Year 9 & 10
Progress Reports and Parent Teacher Conferences.
Teachers are currently completing Progress Reports for all students at the college. Students are monitored in all of their subjects. As parents, it would also be an opportune time to talk to your child about their progress and monitor their homework a little more closely at home. On the Compass portal, you have access to the feedback comments made by class teachers, for Common Assessment Tasks (CATS) that your child has completed this term. The first of our Parent Teacher Conferences for 2020 will be on Wednesday 25 th March. Further details will be sent out regarding making appointments to speak with your child’s teachers. In the meantime, put this date down in your diaries! This is a necessary aspect of the school/ home relationship and underpins successful schooling for your child. Looking forward to meeting many of you then.
Curriculum Day
This coming Friday, all teachers will be undertaking a rigorous day of Professional Learning on strategies to boost reading development in students in all subject areas. Reading remains a top priority for us as a school, and we have invested heavily in the provision of trained staff, and resources to support reading growth for our students. In order for students to be able to fully understand the specific content taught in their classes they need to have proficiency in reading and comprehending written material. During this day, we will be looking at research to best develop these reading skills in secondary school aged students. Teachers will also plan and implement a range of reading strategies for use in their classes. Whilst our teachers are kept up to date with the best ways to support this development for each student, we need your support to encourage your children to read widely at home. Research has demonstrated that the more we read the better our skills in comprehending written content and developing our own writing skills. As an estimate, students should be undertaking at least a half hour of personal reading each night.
Classroom Captians year 10’s
Progress Reports and Parent Teacher Conferences.
Teachers are currently completing Progress Reports for all students at the college. Students are monitored in all of their subjects. As parents, it would also be an opportune time to talk to your child about their progress and monitor their homework a little more closely at home. On the Compass portal, you have access to the feedback comments made by class teachers, for Common Assessment Tasks (CATS) that your child has completed this term. The first of our Parent Teacher Conferences for 2020 will be on Wednesday 25 th March. Further details will be sent out regarding making appointments to speak with your child’s teachers. In the meantime, put this date down in your diaries! This is a necessary aspect of the school/ home relationship and underpins successful schooling for your child. Looking forward to meeting many of you then.
Curriculum Day
This coming Friday, all teachers will be undertaking a rigorous day of Professional Learning on strategies to boost reading development in students in all subject areas. Reading remains a top priority for us as a school, and we have invested heavily in the provision of trained staff, and resources to support reading growth for our students. In order for students to be able to fully understand the specific content taught in their classes they need to have proficiency in reading and comprehending written material. During this day, we will be looking at research to best develop these reading skills in secondary school aged students. Teachers will also plan and implement a range of reading strategies for use in their classes. Whilst our teachers are kept up to date with the best ways to support this development for each student, we need your support to encourage your children to read widely at home. Research has demonstrated that the more we read the better our skills in comprehending written content and developing our own writing skills. As an estimate, students should be undertaking at least a half hour of personal reading each night.
Classroom Captians year 10’s
Laura Forster
Assistant Prinicipal
Year 7 & 8
Year 7 students have recently attended camp and returned with stories of great experiences, and great times spent with friends. Staff have commented on the terrific opportunity to get to know students in a different environment. Congratulations to all staff and students for a successful camp period. Students who remained at school also run to an alternative timetable that made links with themes presented at camp. I would like to thank all staff who attended camp, and particularly Josh Simpson and the student managers who worked tirelessly to ensure that the experience was a safe and enjoyable one for all.
I was a very pleasurable day at the athletics sports on Friday. Students from the Junior school participated actively in all events, and it was excellent to see our new year 7s participating in their first secondary college carnival. The atmosphere was one of participation and excitement. Special congratulations to all those who got in and had a go, and I hope many others are inspired to enter events next year.
It was unfortunate that we needed to postpone our Meet the Teacher / Innovation Centre Opening event last week as a result of the poor weather. Rest assured plans are underway to reschedule this important event, and we will let our community know the new date as soon as possible.
Our new format Discovery Expo is around the corner on 17th March. This evening event commences at 5pm and Runs until 8pm. If families are aware of others who may wish to enrol at the college in coming years, please encourage them to come along. All are welcome, and even your family already attends the college, the evening presents an opportunity to explore the many opportunities that are presented to students at the college.
Tim Cottrell
Assistant Principal