VUSC News Issue Three

Dear Families,

As we reach the end of Term 1, we sincerely hope that everyone in our school community is coping with the circumstances we find ourselves in. It is a very different world at the moment. In particular I am thinking of our Year 12 students who have had their final year interrupted by this crisis. Keep focusing on your work and do the best that you can. To all of our staff, students and families, please take care of yourselves and each other. We hope to get back to normality as soon as possible!

Students' Term 1 Progress Reports and VET Reports are now available on Compass. To access reports:

1. Parent or student logs into Compass

2. Click on Profile (Attendance, Schedule, Reports) under the student name.

3. Click on the Reports menu tab.

4. The Term 1 Progress Report should appear halfway down the page.

5. Click on 'Export as PDF' on the right if you wish to print the report.

Students are still expected to complete and submit work that was due this week. At this stage the school will be open in Term 2. We will advise you if we are required to close. To prepare for this, teachers are posting work on Compass and setting up virtual classrooms on Microsoft Teams.

In the event that our school will have to close in Term 2, parents/carers should prepare for this now by ensuring that their child has a suitable device and internet access at home. Click here for information about where to purchase a laptop for your child.

We will give families further updates via Compass and on the Home page of our website during the holidays. Parents can also email their child's Home Group Teacher via Compass with any queries and the school office can also be emailed via the Contact Us page on our website. Teachers will begin Term 2 on Tuesday 14th April. Students will begin Term 2 on Wednesday 15th April.

For some good news, I am pleased to report that last year's College Captains have been successful in being offered their preferred courses at university. Benjamin Mariano is studying a Bachelor of Computer Science (Professional), majoring in Cybersecurity at Swinburne University. Akon Chol is studying a Bachelor of Science on a Trinity Scholarship at the University of Melbourne, with the aim to study medicine down the track. This is an amazing achievement for Akon, who only arrived in Australia in 2017 from Sudan. Akon's dream has always been to become a doctor. In his own words: "I work hard and achieve the unexpected and that is life trying to do your best in every situation. I am grateful." Well done Ben and Akon! The college is very proud of you.

Also Mr Dan Sullivan, our previous Later Years Engagement Leader, was successful in obtaining a Campus Principal position at Copperfield College recently. We congratulate Mr Sullivan and wish him all the best in his new role.

School Breakfast Club Program

Our school has partnered with Foodbank Victoria to deliver the School Breakfast Club Program at both campuses beginning in Week 2 of Term 2 (at this stage). The program is fully funded by the Dept of Education and will comprise fresh applies and non-perishable foods such as cereal, muesli, baked beans, fruit cups and long life milk. The breakfast will be available every Friday morning in the campus Food Tech rooms from 8.15 - 8.40am and will be run by staff volunteers and the Wellbeing team.

New School

Our new school building plans are complete for Stage 1 and the tender process will now begin. Currently construction is due to commence in June. Below you will see the architect's sketch of what the new buildings will look like. Each building will have a unique colour identifier. For detailed plans, please go to our website here.

Ballarat Schools Visit

The Senior Campus hosted a visit on Wednesday 4th March from staff from various Ballarat secondary schools and DET regional staff. The visitors were interested and curious to learn how our Professional Learning Teams (PLTs) operate and were excited to conduct some learning walks.

The visiting leading teachers and principals were glowing in their praise of what they saw and all of them returned with ideas for their school. We noticed once again how far ahead VUSC is in terms of its teaching and learning as well as the PLT work. The visitors singled out our student leaders, the classroom environment, Cornell notes, uniform, and our consistent and clear approach to teaching and learning as being exemplary. The word ‘consistency’ popped up time and time again.

Below are a few comments from the visitors:

Writer’s workshop and PQP (Praise, Question, Polish) and using this in Science to gain peer feedback on written responses
Using exit slips to create differentiated next steps for student learning
Great strategies that are consistently in use to get students to lift weights
Use of exemplars to model to students what good quality writing looks like
Conversations in classrooms and in PLTS consistent around vocab and student improvement
Cornell notes implemented consistently and students use them effectively without teacher prompts
Students clearly engaged in tasks
Great questioning techniques used by teachers
Caring school – ‘I’d send my kids here - the teachers clearly care about students’ progress and outcomes’
PLT discussions clearly student based
Teachers engaged in teaching – not trapped at the front of the room - moving around engaging in formatively assessing student learning
What was spoken about by the school principals and leaders we saw clearly evident in classrooms
Loved the idea of having own classroom and the effectiveness of the ‘3rd teacher’
Consistent language used by teachers and students
Teachers consistently talking about ‘interventions’ and ‘extending’ student learners
Anchor charts and student work in rooms to assist learning
Consistent displays in all rooms – Expected behaviours, values etc.

Having a leader from a different school say, “I’d send my kid here”, says it all for me!!

It’s always pleasing to have Department heads and other school leaders see what great work staff at VUSC are doing. I was proud to see how confident our students were when speaking to our visitors and the feedback from the leaders was extremely positive and encouraging.

Select Entry Accelerated Learning (SEAL) Program

In 2021 VUSC will be introducing an accredited SEAL (Select Entry Accelerated Learning) Program for high achieving Year 7 students. The SEAL Program is a Department of Education program that recognises outstanding

Child Safety at VUSC

Victoria University Secondary College is a child safe organisation committed to protecting students from all forms of abuse.

Our College has stringent protocols in place and endeavours at all times to be fully compliant with the Child Safe Standards set out under Ministerial Order 870.

Our College has the following documents and policies in place to achieve compliance with the Standards. All of these documents are available for downloading on our website or contact the school for a copy.

Commitment to Child Safety
Child Safety Policy
Child Safety Code of Conduct
Child Protection Policy and Procedures