Melton Mail

Principal's Report

I would like to extend my sincerest congratulations to each of our 1408 students and a heartfelt thank you to every one of our parents and carers for a wonderful Term 1. 

As our community recovers from the impacts of COVID, strong starts are incredibly important for each of our young people to flourish in their learning. Thank you to each of you for your role in this. 

 

Three things that have been happening at MSC...

  1. Our first year of NAPLAN online was a success! I was so impressed by the energy and effort that all our Year 7 and 9 students put into the assessments. Individual assessments have been historically accessible to schools and families in August each year, however I am hopeful that in the transition from paper to digital testing that these will be available earlier. 
  2. Our very own Year 7 student, Emily, was featured in a Jetstar International Women's Day celebration of women in STEM industries. Emily has wanted to be a pilot for many years and represented herself and MSC brilliantly in this special visit to Jetstar which has been profiled on a YouTube commercial. Well done Emily in continuing to pursue your pilot dream!  Check out the awesome video here: Aspiring 12-year-old pilot Emily visits Jetstar flight simulator - YouTube 
  3. Melton Secondary College has been profiled by the Department of Education for our strong practices in teacher recruitment, particularly in our pursuit of teachers with experiences in other professions, who help our students connect to the real world of employment outside school. MSC is proud to support our students with educators who have been professionals in Science, Law, Politics, Economics, Community work and Business. Stay tuned for the mini-documentary profiling one of our Chemistry teachers, Nathaniel Pywell on his journey into teaching after a career in Science. 

How are we relentlessly focussed on learning leading into Term 2? 

I am committed to leading a relentless focus on learning with our staff, students and families. Next term this looks like a continuation of our focus on writing as well as supporting each student to reflect on the goals that they have set in their Individual Education Plan (IEP) which are now all pinned to Compass Chronicle. Please take the time to read the goals that your young person has set, to support them to reflect on this for Term 2. STARR Connect teachers can assist with IEP questions. 

 

How do I understand the scores associated with Progress Reports? 

A number of parents have asked me to share some tips and tricks in understanding Progress Reports, so I will give a quick run down here. 

 

Progress Reports are released once or twice a term and provide information about a student's learning behaviours. Learning behaviours are the skills that we know support strong performance at school. We want all our students to always be showing the learning behaviours. 

 

Teachers indicate how often students show each learning behaviour. "Always"  receives a score of 4, "Usually"  receives a score of 3, "Sometimes" receives a score of 2, and "Rarely" receives a score of 1. All scores count towards a "Grade Point Average" (GPA) of a score between 0-4. Scores of 3.8 and above are deemed exemplary. All students should strive for a score of 3.0 or above. Scores lower than 3.0 generally limit student opportunities, because these scores are lower than the threshold for entry into most senior programs. 

 

Have a delightful School Holidays! 

Kath Sobey