Curriculum & Pedagogy
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Naplan Practice Test
A huge thank you to our teachers and students in Year 7 & 9. It was fantastic to see the concentrated effort students were putting into their assessment. Most importantly now students have had an opportunity to experience what this looks and feels like and will be better prepared going forward into NAPLAN next term. It was pleasing to see the amount of students who had ensured their laptop was fully charged and ready to go. Well done to all involved.
Important Dates for NAPLAN:
Tuesday 10th May - 9:10am
Reading assessment
Wednesday 11th May – 9:10am
Writing assessment
Thursday 12th May – Catch up writing sessions for students who were away (all day)
Friday 13th May – 9:10am
Language Conventions (spelling/grammar/punctuation)
Monday 16th May – 9:10am
Numeracy
Tuesday 17th May
Catch up Reading (as required)
Thursday 19th May
Catch up Language Conventions (as required)
Friday 20th May
Catch up Numeracy (as required)
Students will be supported in these sessions with their normal classroom teacher so that they are with someone well known to them.
Parent Student Teacher Conferences
Please note the change of dates and format to ONLINE conferences only:
Thursday 31st March – 4 - 6pm
Tuesday 5th April – 4 - 6pm
Bookings are now open on Compass.
Stacie Lundberg
Curriculum & Pedagogy
English Domain
The English domain have had a fabulous start to the year. We have determined from our data, late last year that we would focus on improving student writing.
Students have all received their very own writer’s notebook and have been using these at the beginning of every lesson to boost their stamina and skill. We have also taken the time to increase student engagement in writing.
The Year 9s were lucky to have the experts from the ABC Takeover Shepparton project, come in and run a session with them on personal story telling. It was great to see how many of our students were engaged in this. Several students from Years 9 and 10 have since entered their pieces into the TakeOver Shepparton competition. This competition, should their writing be accepted, means that they will have their work published on ABC TV and ABC Radio. This is a wonderful opportunity for our students!
In addition to this, several of our classes this week have been privileged to have the Joseph Furphy Literary Award Winner, Tom Allan, speak to their classes. He shared his writing with them by reading out passages from his book. Our Year 11 Literature class were even lucky enough to receive their own copy of the Joseph Furphy Short Story Anthology titled “Oranges”
As the Learning Area Leader I am constantly impressed by the hard work and determination of my team. I have been able to view the positive impact of their curiosity and conscientiousness on our students. Some of our part time teachers have even come in on their days off to ensure that students can re-sit assessments!
Staff have been investigating the New English Study Design and VCE/VCAL units to adequately prepare this year’s Year 10s for what they will encounter in 2023. We have had other staff revisiting some professional reading on improving student writing, and implementing this in their lessons.
Our team are constantly looking at ways to increase student engagement and achievement in English. We look forward to providing more exciting opportunities in Term 2.
Caitey Wilton
English Domain Leader