Principal's Report
Staff Professional Learning Day
Last week, during the student-free day, Brentwood staff undertook an immersive professional learning day. The main aim of the day was to continue developing a collective understanding of how we can promote and embed positive student wellbeing to achieve our College Vision for Learning, through the ongoing development and implementation of the Brentwood Teaching and Learning Model.
The day began with a visit from Tomorrow Man/Tomorrow Woman who spoke to our staff about some of the issues facing our young men and women in today’s world, and outlined the program that they would be running for our students over the course of the year, by modelling it with us through an interactive session.
In session 2 our leadership team led a range of activities around the implementation of the High Impact Wellbeing Strategies, which aim to foster a safe, inclusive environment in the classroom for our students. This session allowed our staff to collaborate and build a common understanding of what wellbeing best practices looks like at Brentwood SC.
The day was a great success and we thank Tomorrow Man/Tomorrow Woman as well as our entire Leadership team for the time and effort they put into creating such an engaging day in sharing his expertise and providing our staff with some very practical student engagement, collaborative and wellbeing strategies.
Attitude to School Survey
Over the course of the next two weeks, all students will be providing feedback on their experiences at school via the Department of Education and Training’s Attitude to School Survey in their Aspire classes. This survey is conducted annually across all government schools. At Brentwood we value student voice as a powerful means to improve student engagement, wellbeing and quality instruction.
The data from this survey, the PIVOT survey run by each classroom teacher last term and the student forums that allow us to unpack this data, support us to gain an understanding of our students’ perceptions and experiences and is used to plan programs and activities to improve your child’s schooling experience.
Some examples of past improvements at the school that have been informed by student feedback are:
- The continuation of lesson plans posted on Teams for students.
- Guest speakers in the ASPIRE program that focus on study skills, time management, relationship, Tomorrow Man/Woman program and bullying.
- Including scarves and beanies into the official school uniform.
Learning Walks
Over the couple of weeks, members of the Brentwood teaching staff have participated in Student Learning walks. Learning walks aim to reinforce a shared vision for high-quality teaching and provide support to enable collective responsibility for achieving school-wide priorities.
In addition to this:
- Learning Walks provide an opportunity for observers to see the Brentwood Instructional model in operation.
- Learning Walks help provide feedback on how students are learning in our classes and how school-wide priorities are being implemented in various settings throughout our school.
- De-identified whole school information will be reported back to staff and will be used to help shape our professional learning program and school improvement initiatives.
Pathways Expo
The Brentwood Pathways Expo is scheduled on 14 May 2024 to celebrate the National Careers Week (13-19 May).
Pathways Expo is a perfect opportunity for students in senior school to consult various subject teachers and representatives from tertiary institutions to plan their VCE subjects and future pathways.
The expo will run as per the following sessions in the college hall:
- Period 2 (9:52 am - 10:52 am) - Year 9
- Period 3 (11:17 am - 12:17 am) - Year 10
- Period 4 (12:20 pm - 1:20 pm) - Year 11
- Period 5 (2:05 pm - 3:05 pm) - Year 12
Parents are welcome to attend these sessions with prior booking.
Here are the resources from last year's expo: https://www.brentwoodpathways.com/news-jobs/pathways-expo
Dean Korlos
Associate Principal