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.

It was great to welcome our students back to school last Monday after the Term 1 holidays. Term 1 was busy and successful, and I hope the members of our community found time over the holiday break to relax from the busyness of life, enjoy the beautiful weather we were blessed with and spend time with family and friends. It has been a positive start to Term 2, and as I walk around the school, I have observed the calm nature of the College and our students engaged and focused in their learning. I wish our students and staff all the best for Term 2.

Thank you to our parents and guardians who attended Wednesday’s Parent/Teacher/Student Interviews for students in Years 7 to 10. It is wonderful to meet the families in our community and very helpful for our students to have us all working together. These interviews are an important part of our assessment and reporting to our community. I encourage parents and guardians to check the Parent Access Module (PAM) regularly for the results and feedback for your child’s assessment tasks. During the evening we also had a display of student work in the Parish Function Centre. It was a great opportunity to showcase the amazing work of our students.

The start of a new term provides an opportunity to reflect on the achievements from the previous term and to set some goals moving forward. Students may set the goal to study better this term, but what does that mean? I recently read an article from the American Psychological Association titled ‘Six research-tested ways to study better’. The article can be found here. The video here outlines ‘10 principles of effective studying that students should understand if they wish to maximise learning from their study time’. Here is an interesting article from Edutopia on our brains and how we learn.

Subject Expo

Our Subject Expo will be held on Wednesday 22nd of May. Over the coming weeks, students will be starting to have conversations with their teachers about their subject selections for 2025. Year 9 students have had our VCE acceleration policy explained to them, and the policy can be found here. We are blessed with an expert team of Pathways teachers who will support your child in making informed choices regarding the subjects they will choose for next year.

Information Sessions for 2025 in the Parish Function Centre

Year 7 2025 Parent Information: 5:45pm

Year 9 and Year 10 2025 Pathways Information: 6:30pm

Year 11 and 12 2025 Pathways Information: 7:15pm

VCE Information

Our VCE students have completed their first term of Unit 1 (Year 11) and Unit 3 (Year 12) subjects. At the start of the new term, I thought I would provide some further information on the VCE policies and procedures.

What is a Study Design?

• Each subject at VCE level has a Study Design. The study designs for each subject are produced by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA). They detail the areas of study, key knowledge and skills students are required to demonstrate an understanding of in order to achieve a satisfactory result for each unit.
• Study designs are available from the VCAA website, and our VCE teachers refer to them a lot in their classes.
• The external examinations for Unit 3/4 (Year 12) subjects are created using the key knowledge and skills outlined in the Study Design.
• Students should make sure they understand the key knowledge and skills from the Study Design before the end of year examinations.

Examinations

• The end of year Unit 3/4 (Year 12) exams are externally set and assessed by the VCAA. Every student taking the same Unit 3/4 subject will complete the same exam at the same time. Languages, music, dance and drama also have a performance exam along with a written exam. 
• The external examinations are marked by assessors who are experts in their area of study. All VCE studies are marked to the same standard and there are multiple checks to make sure marking is fair and consistent.

Past Exams and Reports

• Past VCE and VCE VET examination reports are a great tool for students to use when they are preparing for their Unit 3/4 external examinations. By completing past examination papers, students can familiarise themselves with the format of the exam, and the time required to complete each section, practise applying their knowledge and skills, and understand their strengths and areas for improvement.
• All past examinations on the VCAA website are accompanied by an examination report. This report contains useful information and advice based on the previous performance of students in the study. The reports usually contain sample answers to questions from the written examination. It is highly recommended students read these reports as they prepare for their exams.
• Further information can be found on the VCAA website at: https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Pages/HomePage.aspx 

A guide to support parents of VCE / VCE VM and VPC students is available on PAM.

We wish our VCE and VCE VM / VPC students all the very best for their studies this year.