Principal's Report

Exams and Semester reports

As this semester draws to a close, we once again see two major milestones for our students; Exams and Reports.

Last week, our year 10-12 students started their mid-year exam campaign with a 2-hour English exam, followed up this week by exams in most subjects. COVID has meant that many of our students have had limited exposure to exams, but staff continue to work hard in class to unpack not only the content of the subject but also exam technique and preparation.

There have been challenges along the way with COVID disruptions, however, the team overseeing this has been wonderful and built a valuable experience for our students. 

We are also seeing the conclusion of the semester learning cycle in all subjects, with the publishing of end-of-semester reports happening the first week back after the holidays. There have been some interesting discussions with our leadership team around our reporting structure and whether it is meeting the needs of our students and families, so please keep your eyes out for a survey of parents towards the end of the year to inform our ongoing work in this space. 

VET Expo

Wednesday 15th June was a wonderful chance to see our VCAL students in action at their VET (Vocational Education and Training) showcase for 2022. These sessions were designed for Year 9 students who might be interested in choosing a VET subject for 2023 and had students who are currently studying Automotive, Hair, Beauty, Business, Plumbing, and more sharing their experiences of their course and where it might take them in the future. There are few things better than seeing students speak about something they are passionate about, and I am sure this was a really thought-provoking session for students considering their future options.

Curriculum Day

Friday 10th June was our term 2 curriculum day, where we undertook intensive work on Differentiated Learning. The bulk of the session was led by members of the college leadership and featured activities that helped staff build upon their current understanding of how we can meet the varied learning needs of students in our school. Our term 3 curriculum day and weekly Professional Learning schedule will extend on this work. 

We finished the day with a staff wellbeing activity, where our Food Tech teacher Deanna Audino led a pasta-making workshop, which was a great success. Not only was the pasta lovely, but the chance to build connections within our staff team was invaluable!

Bunnings Fundraisers

Macleod Music Academy students and Jim Griffiths (Director of Music) held a sausage sizzle at Fairfield Bunnings on Sunday 12th June. Spending an afternoon in such company smelling barbequed sausages and onions was magnificent, and although they had all the jobs covered, my altruistic contribution was instead to purchase a great many sausages for my lunch.

There is a second BBQ this coming Sunday 19 June run by our Parents & Friends Association, so if you are in the area please drop in and support the school.

International Student Program Update

Our international student program is once again starting to pick up some momentum, with additional enrolments steadily coming through. We are also super excited to see our Intensive English Language Centre starting back up in term 3. 

Our international program is a wonderful feature of our school, and our international students not only add to the already diverse and inclusive nature of the school, but also bring an amazing global perspective we can all learn from.

This week also sees the unveiling of the promotional video recently filmed by DET to promote our International program globally.

There are very few things I like less than seeing anything that includes a visual of myself in it. In fact, it was 7 years into my teaching career before I had my first staff photo, and that only happened as my principal marched me into the library to get it done. The finished product has come up amazingly, and will be shown at a Virtual Familiarisation School Tour Showcase on 22 June. It will also be available on YouTube for perpetuity (and for my family to bring up at every family gathering until I retire…….) We will be sure to share it with families once it has passed the embargo stage!

Have a safe and happy term break and look forward to seeing everyone back on Monday 11 July.

Andrew Arney

Acting Principal