Assistant Principal (Years 7-9) Report 

Report from Assistant Principal Alice Paget

Term 4 is well and truly underway and we are almost to the end of the 2023 school year. I would like to congratulate the Year 12s on their journey through Secondary College and wish them all the very best with their exam period. I have very fond memories of teaching some of these students in their Year 7 and 8 Maths classes and it has been wonderful to watch their growth at the College. 

Well done to our Year 7s on their first year at Westall Secondary College thus far. With a year under your belt you will be able to help support and care for out new Years of 2024. I look forward to meeting and supporting our Year 7s of 2024 and their families, in our upcoming Welcome Night in November and Orientation Day in December.

Upcoming events for Term 4:

Transition:

• Grade 6 ’Welcome Night’: on the 21st November at 6pm, our new Year 7 students of 2024, including their parents and guardians, will have the opportunity to meet the teachers and begin their transition into Westall Secondary College. We will go over all the important details on how you can best support their transition, including the logistics of booklists, uniform and Compass (our online school platform). 
• Grade 6 Orientation Day will take place on the 12th December. I would like to extend a warm welcome to the new students and parents of the college and we look forward to making the transition for your son, daughter or young person a positive and supportive experience. 

Headstart: 

• Headstart will begin in Week 9 (November 27), with our last day of 2023 classes taking place on 23rd November. Student will have 2 weeks of their 2024 classes, followed by 3 days of Personal Development Worskshops (Dec 11-13) for our current Year 7-9 students. We will close the year with ‘end of year activities’ for 4 days for our Year 7-9 students, Dec 14-19. 

World Teachers Day:

October 27th was World Teachers’ Day. I would like to acknowledge the daily work our teaching staff put into to educate, inspire and support our students here at the College. Our students are very fortunate to have a highly skilled and dedicated group of teachers. I would like to personally thank you all of you for the investment you put into your work. Hats off to you all!

Student wellbeing:

The High Impact Wellbeing Strategies (HIWS) have recently been released from the Department of Education, in partnership with Monash University. They are 7 evidence-informed strategies that are known to have a significant effect on student wellbeing. 

The HIWS empower school staff with the knowledge and skills to build student wellbeing. These HIWS have helped to develop a common language we share with staff when planning, monitoring and reflecting on classroom based-wellbeing practices. 

There is a lot of work happening in the Wellbeing space at Westall. We have shared these with staff and continue to collaborate on how we can best support our student in line with the strategies below. 

The High Impact Wellbeing Strategies:

• Building positive teacher – student relationships
• Facilitating peer relationships
• Maintaining clear classroom expectations
• Supporting inclusion and belonging
• Fostering student self-efficacy (positive beliefs about their capabilities)
• Engaging students
• Promoting coping strategies and facilitating referrals

Heading into 2024, all student in Year 7 and 8 will have 1 period dedicated to wellbeing each week. The HIWS will be used to inform this planning and we will be rolling out a Curriculum that brings together ‘The Resilience Project’, ‘Resilience, Right and Respectful relationships’ and ‘Social Stencil’. Stay tuned next newsletter to hear more about 2024!

Alice Paget

Assistant Principal (Years 7-9)