Donald High School Newsletter

From the Principal

Mr. Paul Aikman

SCHOOL VALUES

Respect, Responsibility, Resilience and Learning. 

Staff, students and parents are encouraged to ensure we all operate and conduct our business at school according to these core values that were established by various members of our school community for the school community throughout the school review process in 2019.

 

Key focus areas for Donald High School in 2024

As part of our Annual Implementation Plan, and as part of the findings from our school review this year, our school has identified a number of key priorities we will be focussing on in 2024. These include:

  1. Striving for improvements in Literacy and Numeracy with a particular focus on Reading and Writing;
  2. Re-focussing our teaching staff to teach according to our Donald High School Instructional Model and re-focussing classroom behavioural and learning expectations; 
  3. Using data to inform our teaching and learning for improved student outcomes with a focus on teaching students to their point of need;
  4. Using student voice as a source of feedback inside and outside the classroom with a view to improving student engagement and connectedness; and
  5. Striving for improvements in student mental health and wellbeing, and engagement and connectedness at school through specialist programs and support.

There is also an expectation of all students to ensure they continue to grow and develop as learners, and for staff to continue to strive for improvement in themselves and the students.

 

WELCOME BACK & LEARNING PROGRESS REFLECTIONS

 

Welcome back to school to all students, staff and parents for Term 2 and the continuation of Semester 1. All students and parents have hopefully had a chance to look at the online student progress reports through the Xuno Platform. These interim / mid-semester reports give an indication as to how students are progressing in each of their subjects and give students and parents time to reflect on the positive aspects of a student’s learning and areas for improvement. Please make sure all students complete some form of reflection on their progress and parents attend the upcoming Parent-Teacher Interviews between 3pm – 7pm on Monday 22nd April.

 

PARENT-TEACHER INTERVIEWS – MONDAY 22nd APRIL 2024

 

Parent-Teacher Interviews will take place on Monday 22nd April between 3pm – 7pm. All parents are encouraged to attend and are asked to make their appointments with teachers online through the Xuno platform. I will also be hosting a 15-minute forum for parents to attend between 5.15pm – 5.30pm (during the staff break) in Room 9 to discuss global school related issues with me e.g. current focus areas for the school, subject and program offerings, upcoming projects the school is working on, etc. All parents are welcome to attend this forum.

 

NEW STAFF MEMBER AT DONALD HIGH SCHOOL FROM THE START OF TERM 2

 

As some people may be aware, we have a new staff member that has commenced work at our school from the start of this Term. Miss. Olivia McKay will be teaching a number of Physical Education, English and Humanities classes throughout Years 7 – 10. We welcome Miss. McKay to Donald High School and wish her well with her teaching and work here. Staff, students and parents should also be willing to support Miss. McKay where possible, especially in her initial weeks at our school.

 

SOME YEAR 9 STUDENTS ATTENDING SCHOOL FOR STUDENT LEADERSHIP 

 

Our school has six (6) Year 9 students (Hayden Clark, Charlie Burke, Parker Bicket, Alyssa Hepworth, Kailie Krause and Anny King) attending the School for Student Leadership at the Gnurad Gundidj Campus in Noorat (near Terang) from this Sunday. The students will be staying on residence at the Leadership School for the vast majority of this Term with a parent visit mid-term on one of the weekends. The students will be exposed to a variety of different activities including but not limited to self-awareness tasks, teamwork activities, leadership training and they will complete a community-based project they can implement back into the Donald community upon their return just prior to the end of Term 2. We wish the 3 boys and 3 girls attending all the best and we hope they have an amazing experience at the School for Student Leadership.

 

ATTENDANCE AT SCHOOL

 

Can parents and students please take note of the graphic below. Last year we had too many of our students missing over 15 days of school (some students over 20 days). Some students this year have already had over 10 unexplained absences (half or full days). Everyone should be prioritising education and learning for all our students. The more time students spend at school, the greater the outcomes for their learning. All Year 7 – 12 students are expected to be at school for the entire day on a ‘normal’ school day. The only exceptions are for illness, medical appointments, or a family bereavement. Parents are encouraged to adhere to these guidelines for their child’s attendance.

 

I am available to talk to people at the school to assist you with any enquiries if required and can be contacted to make an appointment or have a discussion on Ph. (03) 5497 1205.

 

Paul Aikman.