DEPUTY PRINCIPAL - TEACHING & LEARNING REPORT 

Vision for Teaching and Learning at St Mary MacKillop College - a statement that drives the development of a high performance learning culture at SMMC

At St Mary MacKillop College we have high expectations of our students as we equip them with the knowledge, skills and dispositions for lifelong learning. We pursue excellence through a teaching and learning environment that is inclusive, engaging and encourages growth. We value collaboration, innovation and building strong relationships.

Term 3 Enrichment Programs

Throughout Term 3 small groups of high achieving students from Years 7 to 10 are participating in different enrichment programs.

Last week the Renewable Energy Futures program commenced, involving a group of students from Year 7 and 8. We are pleased to have been invited again this year to partner with the Bendigo Tech School to deliver this program. The program is being co-delivered by Mr Howison and a teacher from the Bendigo Tech School. The sessions will include live and virtual opportunities, building knowledge of the topic of renewable/sustainable energy solutions.

Last week also saw a small group of Year 10 students participate in the Connect Global Youth Forum, a program organised by the Asia Education Foundation. The one-day program connected our students with their counterparts in Indonesia. Together, they explored a shared local challenge linked to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The aim of this program was to foster an understanding of both similarities and differences, inspiring collaborative actions for positive change.

This week a group of Year 9 students attended the Future Anything Big Ideas Challenge at Haileybury City Campus in Melbourne. The focus of the day was to explicitly develop students' enterprise thinking and human-centred design skills. Students heard from inspiring changemakers before ideating, prototyping, and pitching their own innovative solutions to the real-world problems that they care about.

Thank you to Indi Grey, Vanessa Hall, Isabella Papa for writing the following reflections on their experiences of these programs.

Connect Global Youth Forum – reflection by Vanessa Hall

On the 28th of July, Zoe and I [Vanessa] participated in the Connect Global Youth Forum. We got to talk to people from other countries, across Australia, Malaysia and India. In groups we broke down problems within our communities and around the world. I found it amazing and eye opening to see how even in another county so far away from us, we still experience similar problems. We explored different ways we can contribute to solutions to these problems. It was pretty awesome to see so many people contribute and communicate their own answers, solutions and thoughts.

Future Anything Big Ideas Challenge – Reflection by Indi Grey and Isabella Papa

On Monday the 31st, 17 year nine students, Mr Anderson and Ms Miliano caught the train down to Melbourne to attend the first Melbourne “Future anything Big Ideas Challenge” on Tuesday morning, this program has been all around Australia and we were very privileged to be a part of it. We left Swan Hill on the lunch time train and had to swap to the bus in Bendigo. When we arrived at Southern Cross Station, we walked down to the motel and dropped off our bags. Everyone started to get hungry so we got some dinner at Melbourne Central. The next morning, we got ready, ate breakfast and walked to Haileybury School for our course. Jen was our host throughout the program, during the first session she spoke about entrepreneurship and problem solving. Afterwards we had recess on the rooftop outdoor area. Then it was into the second session, where we chose what sort of problem in our local community we would like to improve with our big ideas. We had to go outside of our comfort zone by meeting new people and share our ideas. In small groups we had to come up with a solution for our problem to make our local community a better place, there were many inspiring ideas that have been influenced upon us. Throughout the rest of the day, we worked in our groups to brainstorm ideas on how we can improve our community, following our discussion we pitched our ideas to other groups and teachers who would choose a group to go forth into the Grand Final. Mitchell, Mikaela and Grace made it to the Grand Final with their farming idea that reduced food wastage. Overall, it was a great day and a really educational experience. It has inspired us to bring home our ideas to improve our local communities.

Release of NAPLAN results for Years 7 and 9 students

We have received the NAPLAN results and they have been mailed to families. Families may like to view the video in the link below to understand the NAPLAN Individual Student Report that they will receive in the mailout.

NAPLAN Individual Student Report Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcYsiLtE7a8

Academic Recognition Program

This week teachers nominated students from their Year 10 classes for academic and endeavour recognition. The following students were nominated:

Academic Recognition

Graphics Mix: Miley Keam

Japanese: Lillie Wallace

Italian: Brooklyn Benham

Maths: Vanessa Hall, Montana Davies, Imogen Cummins

Science: Montana Davies

Food For Entertaining: Montana Davies

Endeavour Recognition

Graphics Mix: Jasmine Harvey

Japanese: Bailey Johnson, Jasmine Harvey

Italian: Chloe Twentyman

Maths: Miley Keam, Bailey Johnson, Holly Ayars

Science: Aleesha Mammone

Food For Entertaining: Airshat Mushtaq

Thank you to the Academic Committee for organising this initiative.