Learning & Teaching
Welcome to a new year of learning and teaching at Wantirna College and a special welcome to our new Year 7 students and parents, many of whom we met at the Year 7 Family Night this week.
Regular learning walks by College leaders indicate that student have settled well into the learning routines and are focused and engaged in learning activities. Overwhelmingly, our leadership team reports Calm and Productive Learning - which is our aim.
Each Newsletter, I aim to highlight notable learning and teaching initiatives and activities, so as to better connect parents to their child's learning program. We know that student’s achievement and student engagement at school are enhanced when parents are connected to the college and highly engaged in their child's education. I hope you find this week's report valuable.
Upcoming Events
CPEC Meeting
Tue 11 February, 5:30pm - 6:30pm
The Curriculum and Policy Education Committee (CPEC) is a group of staff and parents that review key educational policies, provide feedback on new learning and teaching initiatives and ideas, and have input into a broad range of educational ideas and processes at the college. We are always keen for new members. Please contact me by email (below) for more details.
VCE/VCE VM Info Evening
Mon 17 February, 6pm - 7:30pm, Theatre
We warmly invite parent and students of VCE/VCE VM to our upcoming Information Evening. The purpose of the event is to discuss important VCE /VCE VM policies and procedures, including strategies parents can use to assist their child to reach their full potential. In our experience we have found that success in VCE and VCE VM is best promoted when the student, their family and school staff work together during these important years. We encourage parents to attend in order to understand key aspects of VCE / VCE VM assessments, and learning and behavioural expectations that support our students to achieve success in the final years at the College.
New Year 12 Parent Teacher Interviews
Thu 20 February 4pm - 7pm
This term we are offering parents of Year 12 (and Year 11 early start) students the opportunity to book short (7 min) online interviews with Year 12 VCE & VCE VM subject teachers. The purpose of the interviews is to meet & greet teachers, learn about subject / teacher expectations, and discuss relevant information about your child.
These interviews will take place online, however several VCE teachers have multiple classes and many students, so they will have additional interview times available to book between 1:30pm and 7pm.
Our current Year 12 students participated in Academic Review Conferences late last year, and as such they will not participate in the ARC conferences we have scheduled for 21 March.
Term 1 Year 7-11 Academic Review Conferences
Last year, we trialled the ARC conferences in Term 3 replacing the traditional parent teacher interviews of the past which had low participation rates.
The 15 minute Conferences aim to engage students and parents in meaningful, three-way conversations about successes in learning, achievements and behaviours, and to have discussions about specific learning behaviours, and celebrate learning progress. They also focus on identifying future improvements and foster student agency by setting goals, overcoming barriers to learning and developing improvement plans.
Digital Learning Platforms in 2025
We use a range of Digital Learning Platforms to support student learning at school and home including Edrolo, Mathspace, Education Perfect and Smart Lab.
For classes using these platforms, student accounts have already been activated, and teachers are setting learning activities and assessments. These platforms are vital to our learning and teaching program. Payments for these platforms have been made easy this year through the Campion Booklist. If you have yet to purchase your licences through Campion, I would encourage you to do so soon before the accounts are deactivated.
Smart Lab Reading
In 2025, we have introduced Smart Lab for all Year 7 students. Smart Lab Reading is a literacy learning tool which provides accessible learning modules, tutorials, diagnostic testing and individualised student learning pathways in all aspects of literacy development - grammar, reading, punctuation, spelling and language.
Learning activities for reading are supported by videos, worksheets and practice questions. Students will be able to review their performance overall in a module to quickly ascertain how many questions were answered correctly. They will also be able to identify topics they have mastered as well as topics that require further attention.
Assessment and Reporting New and Noteworthy in 2025
As you know, we are focused on teaching using developmental assessment - that is, short in-class, formative assessment activities that give teachers and students timely and specific feedback on what they can do and what they need to do next. Overwhelmingly, the research evidence shows that this form of assessment is much more impactful on learning than other summative forms.
Teachers also periodically assess students using summative tasks that measure student performance at a given point in time. Teachers understand that summative tasks are more impactful to student learning when students are supported to revise and practice the skills prior to the assessment and have the opportunity to receive meaningful feedback on the tasks after the assessment.
In VCE, these summative tasks are called SACs and SATs. In Year 7-10 students will be set 1-4 Summative Learning Tasks per semester and will receive feedback on the tasks through Maestro, and performance feedback in the form of a Letter Grade on the end of semester reports.
Students in Explore and Elevate Classes will also receive feedback on Compass Reports from their teachers each term about their learning behaviours. This will give parents and students a good sense of their progress and engagement in these subjects.
Maestro Updates
All Year 7 -12 Rubrics are now on Maestro
Maestro is our specially designed developmental assessment and learning platform that allows parents and students to view learning progress within the unit of learning in all subjects, based on their progress on the Developmental Rubric. We are excited to announce that in 2025 all students from Year 7 to 12 will be assessed through the Developmental Rubrics on Maestro.
All the 2025 classes are now appearing in Maestro and many classes are displaying current Developmental Rubrics. Our Maestro technicians, Kirsten and Jag, are currently adding the new and improved version of the VCE rubrics, and the new Victorian Curriculum 2.0 Rubrics into the platform. The relevant developmental rubrics for all subjects will become available to students and parents in coming weeks.
Maestro Student Dashboards are also available for parents and students to view and I have attached a PDF to help interpret the information in these dashboards.
For any technical issues or support with Maestro access and use, please email maestro@wantirnacollege.vic.edu.au
Elevate Year 9 &10
Wednesdays Period 4
Elevate is an important co-curricula program that enhances student skills in critical thinking, personal, social and ethical capabilities, and digital literacy.
The Elevate Rotations
At Year 9, students will participate in one Term of each of the following:
Powerful Storytelling - Everyone has a story to tell but what makes a great story and great storyteller? Storytelling is one of the oldest and most powerful forms of communication in the world and a useful skill to have and this course builds student’s ability to tell and listen to stories with deeper understanding of this craft.
City Experience Term 2 - All Year 9 students together will plan and participate in the City Experience Program - Year 9 City Experience is a week long program with daily trips to the city to explore all that Melbourne has to offer. It builds student confidence in using public transport and navigating our busy city streets.
Holocaust Education - Understanding the past helps us to better appreciate the present. Studying the Holocaust and experiences of Holocaust survivors provides opportunities for our students to learn from this tragic period in our history and be inspired by stories of courage, adversity and resilience.
9 RR - Teaching students how to establish respectful relationships is vital for future relationship success. This course focuses on the skills required to build healthy and fulfilling relationships of all types with oneself and others. Sexual health, consent and sexual relationships are important parts of the lesson content.
At Year 10, students will participate in one Term of each of the following:
Fake, Fiction or Fact? - With the thousands of images and text that students scroll through every day it can be hard to tell what's real and what's not. Becoming savvier in the digital world is ever more important and this course is focused on preparing students to sniff out misinformation, deceptions and to stay informed.
Indigenous perspectives - Our indigenous people have existed for over 65000 years and represent the oldest continuous culture on earth. In this course students gain a greater appreciation of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander experience both historically and currently though real stories and case studies.
Digital Literacy (new in 2025)- Digital literacy encompasses the knowledge and skills students need to create, manage, communicate and investigate data, information and ideas, and solve problems. It assists students to work collaboratively at school and in their lives beyond school. Digital literacy involves students critically identifying and appropriately selecting and using digital devices or systems and learning to make the most of the technologies available to them. Students adapt to new ways of doing things as technologies evolve and protect the safety of themselves and others in digital environments.
10 RR - It is a complex world and navigating important topics drugs, pornography, gender and sexuality can be difficult, esp. if you are not equipped with the facts. This course helps students to understand respectful language, communication and behaviours in all types of relationships. It also supports our young people to make informed decisions to keep themselves and their friends safe now and in the future.
Elevate is a compulsory and essential part of the education program. We encourage you to communicate with Elevate teachers if you have any further questions about the program or the courses on offer.
Natalie Manser
Assistant Principal
mar@wantirnacollege.vic.gov.au