Principal Report
Evan MILLER - Principal
Welcome back to Term 2
A big welcome back to all of our students. Term 2 is only a 9-week term, and will be over before we know it, so students need to make sure they are continuing to keep up to date with all of their schoolwork in preparation for their mid-year exams starting in Week 7.
On Wednesday this week, we had our Term 2 Junior School Assembly which was excellently run by our Junior School Captains. During the assembly we had a number of performances by our students and the standard of the performances was extremely high. Our students who have received 5 or more green chronicles for exhibiting our school values in a postive way were also recognised and given certificate to reward their achievements. Giving our students the opportunity to perform in front of their peers and acknowledging our students exhibiting our school values will continue to help build their confidence and culture of support, understanding and excellence.
Some important dates for the Term are highlighted in the Important Dates section on page 3 for your review.
Privacy Awareness Week 2023 - Monday 1st May to Sunday 7th May
The Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner (OVIC) is celebrating Privacy Awareness Week from Monday 1 May – Sunday 7 May 2023. The theme for Privacy Awareness Week (PAW) 2023 is Privacy: Back to basics.
PAW is an annual event celebrated by privacy regulators across Australia and the Asia Pacific that highlights the importance of protecting personal information. OVIC encourages organisations and the community to get involved in PAW and join the celebrations.
To test your privacy knowledge OVIC has created a short quiz - Take our Privacy Quiz for young people
For more information regarding Privacy Awareness Week please visit ovic.vic.gov.au/PAW
ChatGPT and Artificial Intelligence
You may be aware of, or indeed be using, new Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies that have become publicly available. One of these technologies in particular, ChatGPT, has received a lot of media coverage this year.
At the start of Term 1, 2023, the Department of Education restricted access to ChatGPT in Victorian government schools. This was because the terms of service restricted access to those aged 18 years or over.
Those terms have now been changed to permit access for those aged 13 years and over. As a result, the interim restriction on ChatGPT has been lifted and secondary school aged students who are at least 13 years old can now access these technologies (the current restriction on use with primary school-aged students will remain in place).
If we at Highvale Secondary College determine the use of generative AI tools should be part of our teaching and learning program, we will first write to you to explain why. We will also seek your consent if your child’s personal details (such as a mobile phone number) are required to register for the use of the tool. We will also continue to ensure our compliance with all department policies, including those in relation to the safe and responsible use of technology, and privacy and information sharing.
Please remind your child that they should not enter any personal information such as name, age or address into generative AI platforms they might be using at home as this can be a risk to their privacy. This is because content typed into some generative AI tools may be used and reused by the platform and its users.
One area of concern with generative AI tools relates to student assessment. We are aware of these concerns and will use existing assessment policies and processes to understand what students know about the topics being taught and ensure that assessments are completed without undue assistance.
The Department of Education is working with the non-government sector authorities and other state and territory education departments on the use of generative AI tools in schools. We will provide any updates as the term and year progress.
If you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions, please get in touch.