Learning and Teaching

It's been a short and very busy term for teachers and students in Learning and Teaching.

Exams

Students in Year 9-11 have just completed their Semester 1 exams, benefitting from the opportunity to prepare and experience summative assessment task under formal assessment conditions. I commend our teaching teams for writing, delivering, marking and giving feedback to students on their exams. Teachers noticed that the majority of students approached this opportunity with great maturity, recognising the benefits of being academically prepared  for these tasks. Exam results are posted as learning tasks in Compass.

Semester 1 Awards

We are in the process of collecting teacher nominations for our Academic Excellence Awards. These awards  recognise and celebrate the significant academic achievements of our students. Teachers are asked to nominate a number of students in their classes who are performing well above the expected level. It is fantastic that so many of our students get the opportunity for recognition of their achievement and endeavour.

We look forward to celebrating with students and their families during our awards ceremony on the afternoon of Tue 26 July.  More information about this will be forthcoming early in Term 3.  

End of Semester Reports

The publication date of the end of semester report is on the final day of term, Fri 24 June at 3 pm, and a message will be posted to parents on Compass inviting you to view your child's reports. It is an opportunity for you to discuss and celebrate with your child their achievements, learning growth and areas for improvement.

Reports in Year 7-10 contain information on students current Victorian Curriculum (VC) achievement level and indicate your child's progress since the last report. These levels are measured against age-expected level. We are also making accommodations this year on reports for students with disabilities on Individual Learning Plans. 

Our reports also contain a teacher and student self-assessment of your child's learning habits, which help to understand how your child is approaching their learning at school and home. Additional information about learning progress is found in Maestro for year 7 and 8 students and in the compass learning tasks. 

For students in VCE and VCAL the reports provide feedback on satisfactory completion of outcomes or competencies, and a unit overall result for each subject. 

I encourage you to read the report cover page which contains valuable information about the content of the report to help navigate the information.

Curriculum Day 

Mon 11 July is a Student Free Day (first day term 3) as teachers participate in a Curriculum Day focused on assessment best practice and quality assessment feedback.

Over the past couple of years the college has embarked on an exciting assessment improvement journey. We have introduced developmental rubrics to support, curriculum development, accurate and ongoing assessment and to chart learning growth. We now use the digital learning and assessment platform Maestro, containing interactive developmental rubrics (currently, Year 7 and 8) for teachers, students and eventually all parents, to access and understand what's going on for our learners. It is important work and teacher professional learning and planning continues on the curriculum day. 

I would like to thanks staff, students and parents for their generous support in my first term at the College. Have a well earned holiday break everyone.

Natalie Manser 

Assistant Principal

mar@wantirnacollege.vic.gov.au