From the Principal

Staffing update

It has been a very busy start to the term, albeit a cold, wet and windy one.

Two new teaching staff have commenced at the school:

• Matt Lee, teaching Outdoor Ed and PE

• Sunying Gao, teaching Mathematics.

The Aboriginal Education Teacher role has been commenced by Dave Roberts.

Student Free Day

On 20 July we held our third Student Free Day for the Year focusing on authentic assessment.

I recently attended two professional learning days, about developments in the SACE, and about the importance of and possibilities within career education in schools.  Both of these days added to the steady drum beat that we can hear coming from our employer and the State Government: our graduates need to be skilled and also skillable; able to operate in a world in which 9/10 jobs will require a post-secondary qualification, and cognizant of not just the content, but also the capabilities and dispositions that make them the employable humans of the future. 

Presenters at both of these conferences spoke of 10 000 defence jobs, 20 000 construction jobs, and 47 000 health and social assistance jobs needed between now and 2035 in SA alone.  That is the time frame in which every one of our current students will conclude their education and be seeking work.

It is our job to be educating for our students’ futures – not our pasts, where we experienced rigor through the 3 hour exam and the 3000 word essay.  This is very different to the rigor which will bedevil the AI infiltrated world of our current students.

Our Student Free Day explored the clear alignment between the learning that we as teachers intend that our students will demonstrate when we set an assessment task, and what it is evident that our students have learned, when they submit their work to us for assessment.  

A key question that we considered: is this student’s assessment piece indicative of the learning which was expected?  If not, why not, and what might this mean about what we as teachers need to do next?

2027 Subject Selection process

The Subject Selection Process is nearing completion with Year 10 and 11 students engaging in Pathway Planning days this week, and other year levels having completed their subject selections.  The school will now begin the task of building the 2027 timetable based on student subject choices.

NAPLAN results

Our 2026 NAPLAN results are strong in all components for year 7 and 9, excluding writing.  Because of problems with the online writing test nationwide this year, no mean score or proficiency level has been released to any school in 2026.

Below is a graph indicating the mean scores for year 7 and 9 students in each of the NAPLAN components for 2024-2026.

Year 7

Year 9

It is pleasing to note the improvement trend in Year 7 spelling, punctuation and grammar, and across the board in Year 9. As a school, we work to consolidate students’ literacy and numeracy across all subjects, not just English and mathematics.

We are almost halfway through the term now, and the race towards end of term due dates will soon be with us.  I hope that you and your children have a happy and productive last half of the term at our school.

Cassie Dickeson

Principal