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 FOR TERM 3

 

Welcome back to school for another action-packed Term of learning and activities. I hope everyone had a fun and restful Winter holiday break to re-charge the batteries for another eventful term.

 

NEW VICTORIAN CURRICULUM F-10 VERSION 2 IN SOME KEY LEARNING AREAS

 

The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) has released the Victorian Curriculum F–10 Version 2.0.

The release includes The Arts, Health and Physical Education, Humanities, Languages (Chinese, French, Italian and Japanese) Science, Technologies, capabilities, foundational skills and cross-curriculum priorities. This follows the curriculum release of English 2.0 and Mathematics 2.0 in 2023.

To support this release, the VCAA has provided resources, introductory videos and interactive webinars on the new F-10 curriculum website. The videos outline key revisions and important aspects of the curriculum, and the webinars are an opportunity to ask questions and better understand the curriculum with a VCAA curriculum manager. 

To view the curriculum, visit the new F-10 curriculum website at f10.vcaa.vic.edu.au

To read more about the Victorian Curriculum F–10 Version 2.0 project including timelines visit the project page on the VCAA website.

Our teaching staff have recently been busy adjusting the curriculum and reporting where necessary to incorporate the new version of the Victorian Curriculum F-10 Version 2.0.

 

NEW STAFF AT DONALD HIGH SCHOOL FROM THE START OF TERM 3

 

We have 2 new staff commencing at our school from the start of Term 3. Caitlin Cavanagh will join the Education Support Team as a part-time Library Technician 3 days per week and Pam McConville will be teaching Work Related Skills 1 day per week (Mondays) to our Year 11 & 12 VOM students and Year 7 Health. We welcome both Caitlin and Pam to our teaching and support teams. 

 

HOUSE ATHLETICS TRIALS 

 

On Tuesday 16th July all of our Year 7 – 10 students and their House Captains were involved in the Athletics trials in preparation for the Interhouse Athletics Carnival on Wednesday 7th August. In cold, windy and sometimes wet conditions all of the students that participated did a great job in participating to the best of their ability in the variety of running, jumping and throwing events in an attempt to get into their desired event(s) to represent their House in the upcoming carnival. Thanks to all of the staff and House Captains and Vice-Captains that ensured the afternoon of the trials ran smoothly and we wish all of the students that have made it into their House teams, all the very best for the Athletics competition in a couple of weeks’ time. 

 

YEAR 10 (& SOME YEAR 11/12 STUDENTS) ON SNOW CAMP

 

Many of our Year 10 students (and some of our Year 11 &12 students who didn’t get a chance to go on last year’s Snow Camp because of the landslide) took off on this year’s trip to Mount Bogong Camp and Fall’s Creek Snowfields on Monday 22nd July. This year, our students and staff are attending the camp with students and staff from Hopetoun P-12 College. There was much excitement about the trip, with all of the students and staff looking forward to what promises to be a great week in very good conditions. Fall’s Creek had 1200mm of snow fall last week in the very cold conditions, with this week promising to be better weather wise and ideal for skiing. Thanks to Mr. Cashin and Mrs. Griffiths for organising, coordinating and supervising on this camp from our school. We look forward to hearing about the camp upon the students and staff returning home.

 

PARENT OPINION SURVEY

 

Many of our parents will receive an invitation within the next week to participate in this year’s Parent Opinion Survey. Whilst participation is voluntary, the Department of Education encourages all invited parents to participate, as the results of the survey are used to identify areas of strength the school has, as well as identifying areas and ways for improvement for our school. The survey will open on Monday 29th July and is open for responses until Friday 30th August.

 

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 15 unexplained absences (half or full days). Everyone should be prioritising education and learning for all of 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 whole 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.