Principal's Update - 2024 and beyond

Thoughts on the ATAR 

At this time of year, with the pressure of exams and further education options looming large, conversation naturally turns its focus to the HSC and ATAR, both within our community and in the wider media. 

Within each state and territory of Australia there are different end credentials with which students graduate. In New South Wales we have the HSC, in Victoria students complete the VCE, and other states have their own end-of-school credential. The one common feature which binds all state and territory education jurisdictions across Australia is the ATAR – the Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank. Some have labelled this a reductionist approach to education because it reduces thirteen years of formal schooling to one number, on one day. 

About three weeks ago, Jan Owen posted an article on LinkedIn making the point that #WeAreMore than an ATAR. Jan reminded all her LinkedIn followers that our students leave school without an adequate story which tells of all that they know and can do. Our current education system does not allow for that. Just last week, there were more interactions about the value of the ATAR on LinkedIn. One school principal announced that almost 40% of their Year 12 students were offered early entry, with other offers to come within the next few weeks. The principal then asked, “If tertiary institutions aren’t requiring it, is the ATAR still relevant?” This question prompted a rather robust discussion among other educational leaders.

My thoughts? We owe our students more than an ATAR, especially our Chevalier students who have had the privilege of a heart-centred education, and whose approach to learning has been meaningfully impacted and shaped by our academic care philosophy. As Jan Owen reflects, students are “more than a statistic, a point in time mark or 'rank’.” Jan is co-chair for Learning Creates Australia, who regularly agitate and lobby state and federal governments to deliver a better, more contemporary and real-world education for all students. They do so by asking many questions, two of which include:

• What does success in learning mean and look like in the 21st century? 
• How will children and young people gain mastery in their hyper technology world whilst honouring their body, mind and, at Chevalier, their faith?

Jan’s post mentions a number of design principles in education for schools and communities so they can continue to reimagine education to serve the needs of students in a rapidly changing world. The work of groups such as Learning Creates Australia and the Melbourne Assessment Group, as well as international research led by Valerie Hannon, informs future-facing education. It also informs what is emerging here at Chevalier in 2024 with:

1. Increased engagement with more interest electives and taster courses for Year 7-10 students.
2. Early commencement of HSC with Vocational Education & Training (VET) courses for Year 9 students and passion projects as a central focus of HSC Design and Technology for students in Year 10.
3. The introduction of a dedicated wellbeing curriculum for Year 7-10 students. 
4. The introduction of ‘SIM’ (Strengths, Interests and Motivations) - a timetabled course enabling students, by the end of Year 10, to better articulate who they are and what they can do.

In 2024, we will, as Jan Owen would say, “give the oxygen to new scenarios” by introducing “initiatives of local significance” at Chevalier. We will test and trial Best Use of Time - an initiative which ‘banks’ whole school events such as pupil-free days, carnivals and celebration days, and year-based activities such as excursions and retreats, on one day, a Monday. For the days when we do not have these events/activities, we will provide ‘flipped learning’ so we can maximise the crucial elements of face-to-face teaching each Tuesday to Friday.

Looking further ahead, and once we embed the possibilities outlined above, we will then look to develop a Learner Profile for each student. A Chevalier Learner Profile would consist of an online folio of work which showcases the very best of who that student is, what they can do and what difference they can make in the world. One of the ways we are enabling this is by increasing our purposeful partnerships with industry, businesses and local community connections. 

To support us on our way forward, we consider the Shergold Review of 2020, ‘Looking to the Future - The Review of Senior Secondary Pathways’. The Review made 20 recommendations to the Australian Government to facilitate important changes to the design and management of secondary school pathways. Most notably, Recommendation 4 called for the creation of learner profiles in Australia by stating:

‘Students should leave school with a Learner Profile that incorporates not only their ATAR score  (where relevant) together with their individual subject results, but that also captures the               broader range of evidenced capabilities necessary for employment and active citizenship that  they have acquired in senior secondary schooling.’ 

Looking to the Future Shergold et al., 2020, p. 20

The aspiration for a Learner Profile for students at Chevalier is worthwhile. It will be possible after we further develop contemporary approaches to learning, such as Best Use of Time in 2024.

Building upon the wonderful approach of Spirituality of the Heart and a sound base of best practice learning, Chevalier aspires to do better for our students. Why? Because our students deserve it.

Kind Regards

Greg Miller

Principal