Principal's Message 

Term 3 is flying along, with students engaging deeply in both their learning and their co-curricular activities. We look forward to reflecting on their progress with you at the upcoming Parent Student Teacher Conferences, and have had plenty to celebrate already this term.

Our priorities for Semester 2

Our School Strategic Plan, is a four-year plan for continuous school improvement, with key goals in relation to both student learning and student wellbeing. As we grow as a school, a crucial feature of this improvement plan is on ensuring consistency and clarity in our structures and processes. This Semester, our priorities are:

• Continuing to develop our Positive Behaviours framework. This term we are delivering ‘mini-lessons’ on the identified focus behaviours, building staff capacity in utilising shared routines, and developing a new school-wide behaviour response continuum
• Finalising our whole-school pedagogical (teaching and learning) model, which will be informed by the new Victorian Teaching and Learning Model which has just been released 
• Planning for the next stage of our Pathways reforms, with professional development and curriculum-writing for a revised Year 9 program for 2025, as well as for Year 7,8 and Connect curriculum adjustments. In 2025, we will move from 50-minute to 60-minute sessions during the school day. This means that each day, students will have 5 sessions rather than 6, reducing the amount of cognitive switching and physical movement from room to room required, and allowing some extra time for extended application and practice. All subjects will therefore make adjustments to their curriculum to recognise this.

Premier's VCE Awards

We were thrilled to have had three students from the 2023 cohort receive Premier’s VCE Awards this year. Chris Tran continued his outstanding record of achievement with a Top All-Rounder Award, plus a Study Award in Specialist Mathematics. Mason Johns also received a Top All-Rounder Award, and Jibreel Qazi a study award for Chemistry. These awards were the result of consistent and careful work across the course of their VCE, a credit to their perseverance and attention to detail.

Of the 23 students who received Top All-Rounder Awards this year, seven were from public schools. This included two students from UHS, and two from another public, general-entry school. A very significant achievement for our school: we are achieving at the highest levels within the system.

NAPLAN results 2024

The release of NAPLAN results for 2024 has enabled our teachers to gain additional insights into our Year 7 and 9 students' strengths and areas for development, with the adaptive tests providing ample data for teachers in pinpointing students' literacy and numeracy skills. Our Year 7 and 9 English and Maths teacher teams have been working together to unpack this data and triangulate it with the skills and knowledge students are demonstrating in their classes.

UHS again performed well above State averages in the 2024 NAPLAN, with a high percentage of our students in the Exceeding and Strong proficiency levels. We are also equal to or above 'Similiar Schools' in each measure. 

Year 7: Percentage of Students at each Proficiency level

Year 9: Percentage of Students at each Proficiency level

Students identified as needing additional support will be provided with that support through their classroom teachers, our Reading and Numeracy support programs and through the Tutor Learning Initiative.

Planning for 2025

It was wonderful to see so many parents and carers join their children for their course counselling interviews earlier this term. Students' preferences for their 2025 subjects are now being processed so that we can determine the best possible timetable arrangements for the following year. Trying to satisfy the needs and preferences of over 1500 Year 10-12 students and 200 teachers within the fixed resources (physical and financial) of a school is a complex and challenging process which requires considerable time and multiple iterations. We will be able to confirm students' subject allocations in the second half of Term 4. 

As part of our review of student pathways and curriculum delivery, we are planning changes to our Year 9 program from 2025. These changes will harness the best of the existing Galileo program, whilst also ensuring continuity in learning for students in core subjects such as English, Maths, Science and Languages. We are excited about the rich and rigorous program we are planning and will be running information sessions at the start of Term 4 to share further details.

School Production 2024

Hot off the presses, our School Production of The Addams Family has just concluded to unanimous acclaim. It was an incredibly polished performance with great musical and comedic moments throughout, striking sets and wonderful costumes. As well as being an enjoyable show to watch, it was a valuable learning experience for our students: an opportunity to develop skills, initiative, teamwork and leadership. 

Congraulations to the ten exceptional leads: Arden Macauley, Jiayu Kok, James Rawlings, Grace Clayton-Dowling, Dante Di Mucchio, Riley Dexter, Cami Luu, Piyush Pemmaraju, Elijah Lindsay and Charlotte Seigers.  They were ably supported by an ensemble of 29 students, a band of 11 (plus one guest alumni!), and a backstage, costume and hair and makeup crew of 24.  A fine effort from every one of these students!

Our dedicated staff team Kate O’Callaghan, Lachlan Ridge, Melissa Goodger, Cameron McCormick, Lena-Jean Lamshed, Tom Attard and Samarah Fletcher deserve many thanks and congratulations for once again leading an exceptional show.

Parent Student Teacher Conferences

Please see Compass Newsfeed for instructions on booking these conferences, which will be held online via Webex on Thursday 29 August from 1.30pm - 7.00pm; and Friday 30 August from 9.30am - 3.00pm. Classes will run for Sessions 1-3 only on Thursday, with no classes on Friday. This enables staff and students to be available for the Conferences.

It is an expectation that students attend the conferences with their parent/carer, as it is an important time for them to reflect on their progress and work with their teacher to set goals for their learning.

Annual public meeting

Our Annual Public Meeting will be held on Wednesday 28 August from 6pm-6.45pm via Webex. I warmly welcome all parents, carers, students and staff to attend this meeting where we will present our Annual Report 2023 and outline our current and future Strategic Plan goals and our progress towards them. 

Please join us in reviewing and celebrating our progress together as a school. To help us plan, please RSVP via this form by Monday 26 August. The Webex link will be sent to registered attendees.

Ciar Foster

Principal