From Brad Downie

Welcome back to Term 2. I hope that all families enjoyed a restful and happy holiday and Easter period.

It has been a busy start for students and staff and Term 2 will continue with many important and exciting happenings in the classrooms, the community and across the school.

For staff, the term began with three days of engaging and stimulating professional learning under the guidance of internationally respected neuroscientist, Dr Jared Cooney Horvath, the founder of ‘Learning Made Easy Global’. The sessions were wide-ranging, covering topics including the Foundations of Human Thinking; Technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Learning; The Transfer Dilemma and the Learning Trajectory; and Memory and Learning. A primary message from Jared’s teaching revolved around the principles of reducing cognitive load to enhance the quality of instruction, learning and retention. These principles are a fundamental element of the teaching philosophy and practices that are a part of the Magnify programs.

This week we opened the doors to welcome local families to the experience of St Augustine’s Open Day. The day was very successful with many families taking the opportunity to observe life in the F-4 and 5-8 Communities with school tours and well-attended information sessions as they look to make the important decisions around 2026 Foundation and Year 7 school enrolments.

Last week, Year 10 students took part in their Careers and Urban Experience camp. The camp was very successful, with students having the opportunity to explore a range of tertiary institutions: university, TAFE and dual sector campuses, including RMIT, William Angliss Institute of TAFE, the University of Melbourne, Australian Catholic University, Victoria University, Whitehouse Institute of Design, La Trobe University (Bendigo) and both the City and Charleston Rd campuses of Bendigo TAFE. 

Visiting these institutions is an important step in the exploration of career options and pathways. The month of May has a ‘careers’ focus for all students in the 9-12 Community, with Year 12 students attending VCE and Careers Expo on 2nd May and Year 9 students attending Careers Day Out on 8th May.  Year 11 students will attend the VCE Careers Expo on 16th May and Year 10 students will attend the Tomorrow Bound Careers Expo on 22nd May.

These careers focussed activities will be of great benefit when the students attend the Senior Pathways Information and Subject Selection presentation on 4th June. In considering their subject selections for 2026, Year 8 students will have the opportunity to choose from the 9/10 elective subjects; Year 9 students will have the opportunity to select from 9/10 electives and/or VCE Fast Track and VET options for 2026. Year 10 students will have the opportunity to select either VCE or VCE VM pathways, each with the opportunity to select VET studies. I encourage all students to be proactive in discussing their subject choices and pathways with their families and teachers over the coming weeks.

A great chance to have discussions around subject choices and pathways will be during the Semester 1 Subject Teacher Conversations, which will take place on Tuesday 20th May, with online bookings now open until 16th May. I encourage all families to take the opportunity to meet with their child/ren’s teachers to discuss students’ progress.

Brad Downie

Deputy Principal 

Student Learning and Professional Practice