News from Frankston High School

From the Principal

Dear Parents, Staff, Students and Friends

Olá a todos

Hopefully that is me saying hello to everyone, in Portuguese.  I am writing this newsletter report from beautiful Brazil, where I am representing the Department of Education and Training (DET), in marketing Victorian schools to students in Brazil and Chile, to hopefully have some of these students choose to study abroad at our wonderful school.  Everyone is so impressed with our school and the broad engaging educational opportunities on offer in Victoria, compared to schools in Brazil and Chile.  I am pleased to say that our students make the most of such learning offerings and, as a result, we have had another term of students enjoying incredible learning experiences at Frankston High School.  I hope you enjoy this newsletter as a celebration of all that is great about our school.

Frankston High School Celebrates Outstanding NAPLAN Results

Last week the NAPLAN results were published and I am pleased to report that we have achieved outstanding data.  Highlights are as follows: 

  1. An amazing 81% of Year 9 students achieved high/medium growth in Writing.
  2. The Year 9 Reading Mean is the highest ever in the history of NAPLAN testing with a third of students in the top two bands.  We are indebted to all those parents who are setting time aside each day for their children to read for at least 20 minutes.  Reading is the foundation for all learning, and encouraging good reading habits by providing your children with books that cater for interests can significantly improve their learning outcomes in all subject areas.
  3. The Year 9 Grammar Mean score is also the best ever in the history of NAPLAN for our school.
  4. The Year 9 Numeracy Mean with an incredible 81% achieving High/Medium Growth and 40% in top two bands:  all best results in the history of NAPLAN testing at Frankston High School.  Again, thank you to those parents who play games with their children where they are practising their times tables, and performing quick mental arithmetic when using money.  Such activities beyond the classroom make a significant difference in helping our young people become numerate.  There is research that indicates a young person’s numeracy skills are related to their likelihood of successfully accessing tertiary learning pathways in the future.
  5. Year 7, te highest level of growth achieved in Numeracy over the last five years.
  6. The Year 7 students achieved the second highest level of Reading growth over the last eight years.
  7. The Year 7 students also achieved the  second highest level of writing growth over the last six years.

We are also pleased to report that Year 7 students of a language background other than English (LBOTE) continue to achieve excellent results at FHS with our highest LBOTE mean scores being achieved in Year 7 Reading since 2014 and highest ever at Year 9.

Thank you to parents who encourage their children to develop their literacy and numeracy skills, to our talented and dedicated English and Mathematics teachers and also our students.  Congratulations to everyone involved. 

Critical And Creative Thinking Is Paying Dividends

The most recent Curriculum Day had teachers further investigating how they can design and deliver challenging curriculum that develops high quality critical and creative thinking skills in our young people.  We know that in order to thrive in the 21st Century our students will need to develop such skills to an exceptional level.  More so than ever before, they will be required to constantly analyse problems they experience in life and their careers and then to create possible solutions.  Earlier this year a random group of our Year 10 students were assessed by DET in relation to critical and creative thinking and the data indicated that our students had a greater capacity than students in other schools to apply such skills to solve unfamiliar problems.  Such data is indicating that our teachers are on the right track in preparing our students to prosper in the future.  Consequently, The Age celebrated our achievements in a recent story.  If you missed the story please follow this link:

Variety Night And Senior Concert Band Celebrate Extraordinary Student/ Teacher Talents

I was most disappointed I couldn’t attend our Variety Night recently.  I became double booked because I was at Hawthorn Town Hall, at the Melbourne Bands Festival watching in admiration and awe as our Senior Concert Band performed flawlessly.

The judge who coached the band was flummoxed as to how to coach this band to help them to improve because of such a sublime performance.  They received the highest award, PLATINUM!  This band competed in the advanced section and we are indebted to the incredible talents of their conductor, Mr Peter Sharp.

Meanwhile back at the Mechanics Hall our students, parents and teachers were celebrating the many talents of our students at Variety Night.  Thanks to Ms Alarna Summers for all her extra hard work in staging this show for all our students to showcase their talents.  Thanks also to Ms Paige Jessulat for organising a raffle to raise funds for Headspace. 

Two Debating Teams Progress to Octo State Finals

Well done to Ms Georgie Long, Mr Jon Christie and Ms Emily Pratt who have coached two of our debating teams to reach the Octo Statefinals.  Also, congratulations to our students in these teams who have honed their skills to such an extraordinary level.  Such great challenging learning activities are developing our students' literacy, speaking and listening skills remarkably well.

Cabaret Night:

Booked Out To A Packed Audience Jiving To Jazz!

Many thanks to our fantastic team of Instrumental Music teachers and talented young musicians who, from all accounts, provided first rate jazz performances from our magnificent stage bands, and various ensembles at Cabaret Night.  I wish I could’ve been there; it is one of my most favourite events.  The variety of talented students we are so lucky to have at Frankston High School is a real tribute to our dedicated team of Instrumental Music teachers.  

Best Ever Results In Victorian Track Relay Championships

Frankston High School finished with a total of six medals in the bag including one State Title at the recent Track Relay Championships.  This is a huge improvement on 2017 where our teams won two medals.

It was great hearing about how Frankston High School was celebrated over the PA on so many occasions when competing amongst the top private schools in Victoria.  Thanks to our dedicated coaches who gave of their weekend time to support our athletes:  Ms Chloe Stevens, Ms Carly MacDonald and Mr Mal Burt.

We Appreciate Your Attendance At Parent Student Teacher Conferences

I am sorry I wasn’t at school to catch up with the many parents and students who participated in Parent Student Teacher Conferences earlier this week.  I am confident all parties benefited from very productive discussions in becoming aware of the future challenges that need to be addressed to support students in their quest for ongoing improvement.  It is quite clear that our students certainly value the learning opportunities provided by our school, and this is because their parents have instilled in them the importance of education.  I thank our parents for their wisdom in encouraging their children to value learning.  Such a positive partnership will ensure our students continue making great progress for the remainder of the year.  If you were unable to catch up with a teacher, you are welcome to email or ring them to receive feedback about student progress.

Bon Voyage To Many Travellers Bound To Have Life-Changing Learning Experiences

As you read this newsletter we have many Year 11 students and a team of intrepid teachers beginning a great adventure as they tour throughout Central Australia.  Also, we have groups of students and staff winging their way to France and Japan to see the sights of these countries, and to have the unique opportunity of living with students and their families from our sister schools.

 

Welcome back to our lifesavers who participated in an inaugural trip to Queensland where they inspired indigenous students to learn lifesaving skills.  Thank you to Mr Rowan Cameron, Mrs Georgia Tierney and Mrs Carolyn Florance (Business Manager) for attanding this trip.  In total we have 150+ students participating in these life-changing trips beyond the classroom during this Term and over the holidays.

As this Term draws to a close the pressure continues in a relentless fashion for our Year 12 students and Year 11 students studying Year 12 subjects.  I encourage those students to study hard and to balance their study with rest breaks in preparation for the holiday practice exams and the final exams in Term 4.  How much our students commit themselves to their studies over the following six to eight weeks can make a significant difference to their final score and future post school learning pathway.  Hang in there, Year 12 students: we really believe in you and please remember that your final score doesn’t define you, it is doing your best that counts.  Knowing how to do your best in life is the best predictor of success for the future, not your ATAR. 

 

Many thanks to Ms Helen Wilson for a superb job as Acting Principal in my absence. Wishing everyone a well-deserved relaxing holiday break.

 

Atenciosamente (Kind regards)

John Albiston

Principal