Assistant 

Principal News Flash 

Stephanie Torchia & Dan Moloney 

Highlights of this term include:

Term 2 Swimming Program (Broadmeadows Leisure Centre)

• Primary Sub School (Week 5): May 13th - May 17th 

We are seeking parent volunteers. 

Please look out for volunteer forms in your child's diary. 

We would dearly appreciate your support with our students, please note that a current Working With Childrens Check (WWCC) is required.

Term 2 SSGs

This term, our SSG Meetings are to be held from Monday, 13th May - Thursday 30th May (Weeks 5-7). 

This will be a great opportunity to meet with your child's teacher to go through the detail included in your child's Individual Education Plan (IEP).  Your child's teacher can explain  your child's:

• academic level
• level of learning adjustment
• type of learning adjustments 
• teaching strategies we use to engage your child in each area of their learning

I encourage parents and carers to walk through their child's IEP so that you can establish a better understanding of the supports we have in place to support your child's learning and engagement.

Term 2 PLC/Professional Learning

In Term 1, and despite a considerable amount of time and effort, it became apparent to leadership that our opt-in Professional Practice sessions were of low attendance and deemed an ineffective means to deliver professional learning to our staff.

Teacher feedback was therefore collected last term to design an enhanced model for our PLC Inquiry Cycle, where targeted professional learning is embedded within the improvement cycle focused on student learning and wellbeing outcomes. 

The enhanced model has created an opportunity for PLC IL/ presenters, to ‘front-load’ information regarding teaching and learning practices, so that practices can be embedded through ongoing professional conversations and collaborative work. 

The Term 2 professional learning topics include autism, communication strategies, assessments, moderation and peer observations which are strategically woven within targeted Curriculum Areas (linked to the AIP) including Numeracy and Literacy.

The enhanced PLC model enables:

• all staff to access professional learning.
• PLCs to remain relevant to staff’s current work.
• PLCs remain purposeful use of allocated meeting time.
• targeted professional learning remains focused on autism-specific practices linked to the Improvement Cycle.
• PLCs continues to foster collaboration with fellow colleagues.
• Teachers to engage in peer observations to observe and provide feedback on teacher practice to improve student learning outcomes. 

2024 Student Attitudes to School Survey

  

 

The 2024 Student Attitudes to School Survey (AtoSS),  will be administered to all government school students in Years 4 to 12.  

 

The AtoSS is a voluntary annual student survey offered by the Department of Education to assist schools and the department to gain an understanding of students' perceptions and experience of school. We value student voice as a means to improving student engagement, wellbeing and quality instruction and will be asking your child about their thoughts and feelings in relation to their school, their learning, peer relationships, resilience, bullying, health and wellbeing, physical activity, and life in general.

ORIMA Research Pty Ltd has been contracted by the department to administer the online survey and will provide support to schools throughout the survey period via a telephone hotline and email.

This year, the survey will be conducted from 6th May until 14th June.

If we have not received a Refusal of Consent email before the survey commencement date, as above, this will be taken as your consent for your child to participate in the 2024 Attitudes to School Survey. However, as noted above the survey is voluntary: even with your consent, your child can choose to skip questions or withdraw at any time.

What are the benefits?

Young people enjoy having a say! This survey has been running for nearly 20 years and is invaluable in helping schools understand student views to plan programs and activities to improve your child's schooling experience. The survey responses also help the Department of Education understand how student’s learning experiences can be improved.

What are the risks?

While we do not anticipate many risks of participation, some students may find some of the survey questions personal and sensitive in nature. Should you agree for your child to participate, they are still free to skip questions or to withdraw at any stage if the survey makes them upset or uncomfortable. A teacher will be present during the survey to support students.

The questions are selected from validated survey instruments used in Australia and around the world, are strength-based, and tailored for each year level group.

What will my child be asked to do?

Your child will be invited to complete the survey online during class time using a purpose built secure online survey tool. It is important to note that we are not in any way “testing” your child. Please note:

• Student participation in the survey is voluntary and students may withdraw at any time.
• The survey is available in a variety of different versions to enable all students to participate.
• The survey will take around 20-45 minutes to complete.

How is my child’s confidentiality protected?

Your child will be provided with a unique login to complete the survey from their teacher. The student login is an assigned identifier that will be used by the department to link data for analysis and research purposes only. Identifiable information, such as student name or Victorian Student Number (VSN) is not used for linking datasets. Some student demographic data (i.e. year level, gender, age, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander status) is derived from department-held administrative records and is linked to the individual student login ID during survey set up work to support survey administration.

ORIMA Research will only use student personal information for research purposes to facilitate the administration and data collection of the Attitudes to School Survey. To ensure the confidentiality of your child’s responses is protected at all times, personally identifiable data will not be recorded in the survey response file that ORIMA Research provides to the department. All data is stored on servers located in Australia and access is restricted to staff who are working on the project.