Leadership and Management

School Review

Last week Galilee participated in the School Review process. Catholic schools undergo a School Review every four years. An external reviewer is appointed to review the schools data, survey results, achievements and challenges from the previous four years and set goals for the next four years. The external reviewer who worked with Galilee was Christine Wakeling. 

 

Christine spent countless hours reviewing Galilee's data, survey results, policies, protocols and Self Reflection Report, that was prepared by the staff. She analysed the work that has been happening over the past four years in relation to the data and developed a narrative about the review period by interviewing students, parents, staff, the school leadership team and the Parish Priests. 

 

Christine worked with a representative panel group last Friday that included parents, staff, school leadership and the Principal Consultant from Catholic Education Melbourne. During the day the panel arrived at a shared understanding of the school's progress over the review period, celebrated achievement, identified the next stage of work and aligned the recent changes to recommendations for the next four years of work.

 

On Friday, Christine spoke to the panel about ensuring that we are keeping in mind the 'Zone of Proximal Development'.  The Zone of Proximal Development refers to the the work of Lev Vygotsky, a psychologist who developed a theory of cognitive development. 

 

The Zone of Proximal Development, commonly referred to as ZPD,  is defined as the range of tasks that a learner can perform with the help and guidance of others but cannot yet perform independently.

 

There are three levels of learning as outlined by Vygotsky. The first level there is the actual development level. Within this level one can perform tasks independently. The second level is the level of potential development. This is the upper limit of tasks that one can not yet perform independently. The third level is the Zone of Proximal Development. This is an as the area where instruction or guidance should occur. Through instruction, guidance, support and feedback the learner will develop higher level skills that they can perform independently. 

 

 

Christine refereed to the ZPD in relation to setting aspirational but achievable goals for the next four years.

 

Christine shared a powerful video with the panel on Friday. We were discussing the School Community Sphere and she was speaking to us about the importance of the partnership between families and the school and the possibility of thinking about different ways that we could engage in family school partnerships.

 

Christine will return to Galilee later this term with her report outlining the school's progress over the review period, our achievements and recommendations for the next four years of work. The report will be used to prepare our School Improvement Plan that will direct our priories for the next four years. 

Youth Chambers Conference

On Tuesday 17th October, 10 Year Six students attended the Youth Chambers Conference, and presented our Galilee 'Day of Action' to the City of Port Phillip Councillors. Below is a recount from Luke (6C) about the day:

 

 

On Tuesday the 17th of October, 10 students from Year Six went to the St Kilda Town Hall to present our successes from the Galilee Day of Action. The ten students were: Luke, Tadhg, Ethan, Maddie, Sam, Isabella, Ella, Lily, Charlotte and Chrisoula.

 

Once we entered the council chambers we saw the Mayor and lots of other councillors. The day was split up into two parts; in the morning all the Primary Schools would present and in the afternoon the Secondary Schools would present, along with a Q&A session with the Councillors. First, Port Melbourne Primary presented then came St Kilda Park Primary School, Albert Park Primary School, St Kilda Primary School and then it was Galilee’s turn.

 

We talked about our Day of Action, in which we raised over $1,000. Then it was time for a snack, the council had laid out lots of different fruits and snacks. We then went back into the council chambers to listen to the high schools present. Once the three high schools had presented (Albert Park College, Wesley College and MacRob) it was time for lunch.

 

Once we had come back in it was time for the question and answer session. Each school had one question to ask the council and chose a representative to come and use the fancy microphone. We chose Charlotte and our question was... ‘Next year we are going to Secondary School, do you have any tips for us?’ which all the councillors and the Mayor answered. All of them said things about always being ready and organised. Overall the day was a great success and it was a lot of fun.

 

The students did not have a lot of time to create their presentation, but did a fantastic job in representing Galilee and our community. The presentation was amazing to watch and they spoke to the councillors like mature young leaders.

 

I would like to thank Sam, Maddie, Ethan, Charlotte, Luke, Chrisoula, Lily, Tadhg, Ella and Isabella for their fantastic hard work over the last few weeks. You did an amazing job in the Councillor’s Chambers yesterday and you should be very proud of your efforts.

 

Mr Coaley