Our reflections of 2021

We are incredibly proud of all our school community’s achievements in 2021. Sunbury College students and staff have demonstrated adaptability and resilience in ensuring continuity of learning across all areas throughout the year. Our ability to teach, learn, support and connect with each other in new and authentic ways, has truly been remarkable. We also want to acknowledge our parents and carers for their ongoing assistance and care for our students throughout these unprecedented times.

It was an honour for us to celebrate the academic and sporting achievements of 2021 with each year level at various awards ceremonies this term. All our students were commended on the respect, responsibility, resilience and endeavour they have demonstrated this year. Thank you to John Lane and Egmond Molenaar for their coordination of these significant school events.

We would like to wish all our community a very happy and restful festive season and look forward to working in collaboration with you all in 2022.

Tutor Learning Initiative (TLI) 2022

The 2021 school year has been an extraordinary and challenging one for every school community. Many Victorian students spent much of Terms 2 and 3 this year learning remotely and Victorian schools and their communities have made an exceptional effort to provide continuity of teaching and learning to our students during this time.

During Term 4, schools across Victoria have been focused on supporting students’ mental health and wellbeing and assisting students as they readjust to on-site learning. Teachers have also been focusing on assessing student learning, addressing individual learning gaps and identifying those students who need extra support for their learning, using classroom-based observation and assessments.

We know that the remote learning experience was different for every student. While some students thrived, some students may not have engaged as fully with remote learning. For most of our students, regular high-quality teaching in 2022 will be enough to help them progress to the expected level of learning. Some students will benefit from additional intensive learning support in 2022. As you may be aware, in response to this, the Victorian Government is continuing to invest $250 million in the Tutor Learning Initiative to enable schools across Victoria to engage around 4,100 teachers as tutors in 2022 to support students who need extra assistance with their learning.

Our school is currently in the final stages of selecting students and further enhancing the implementation of this program. We want to ensure that students receiving additional support, will do so in a way that minimises disruptions to other learning or school activities. We will be engaging additional teachers to support these students with intensive learning, to provide classroom teachers with a greater capacity to ensure that all other students’ achievement, engagement and wellbeing needs are met. All our students will receive the support they need in 2022.

Further information about the Tutor Learning Initiative, and how it will be implemented for students who need individual learning support in our school, will be issued before students begin tutoring in 2022.

PAT (Progressive Achievement Testing)

This term all year 7, 8 and 9 students have completed PAT (Progressive Achievement Testing) for English and Maths. Students accessed the tests on-line through their own devices. Each PAT test provides quantitative and qualitative data on student performance, making the PAT ideal for understanding students’ current strengths and weaknesses, informing our teaching and learning, and monitoring progress over time. We would like to congratulate our students on the manner in which they conducted themselves during the testing.

New Engagement Structure for 2022

The school has been well-served by the current engagement structure. Students and families have been supported over a number of years by our Coordinators at Year 7 and our House Leaders at year 8 to 12. The Year 7 Coordinators, along with the Year 7 Significant Teachers and the wider LP7 program have provided our youngest students with a positive transition from Primary School into Secondary School life. Our hard working and caring House Leaders often coordinate the same students within a house over a number of years, as the students move up through the year levels within a house. The House Leaders have played a pivotal role in supporting students at our College. Our students have also been supported by three leading teachers, our Middle Years Program Leader, Senior Years Program Leader and our Student Engagement and SWPBS Leader. Each of these positions have fostered positive student outcomes and strengthened teacher practice at our College.

Thank you to our Year 7 coordinators Daniel Lombardo and Rachel Withers and our House Leaders, Heath Simpson and Christine Polonidis (Clarke), Chris Fellows (Jackson), Megan Fitzgerald (Evans), and Kate Hedin and Lindy Brants (Batman) on their great support for our students this year. Thank you to our three leading teachers, John Lane (Senior School Program Leader), Egmond Molenaar (Junior School Programs Leader) and Marion McCaskar (Engagement and SWPBS Leader) on their fantastic, flexible and insightful work this year. We are very proud of the support and programs they have been able to provide our students, given the ever-changing landscape we have all experienced this year.

There are many strengths to the Year 7 and House Structure that has been in place for the last 6 years, though on review of the engagement structure this year, we have found there are improvements that can be made to further enhance the support that is provided to students each day. At the start of 2022, we are maintaining our very successful year 7 program while moving to a more horizontal structure at year 8 to 12. There will be several improvements and we are confident the new structure will provide greater clarity on the support students, families and teachers can access to improve learning, engagement, wellbeing and attendance outcomes.

It is very pleasing that our Year 7 Coordinators and House Leaders will take up new positions as Year Level Coordinators at our College in 2022, except for Rachel and Lindy who will take-up other important leadership positions within our school. The three leading teacher positions have each been aligned to oversee two year levels at year 7 and 8, 9 and 10 and 11 and 12 next year. The leading teachers will provide further leadership for each sub-school, with each sub-school further supported by an Assistant Principal.

The College’s four houses play an important role in the school and they won’t be lost. All students will still be aligned to one of the four houses. Four newly formed teacher leadership positions, known as House Champions, will be aligned to each house. These teachers will lead and facilitate house pride within each house.

Further information will be released at the start of the 2022 school year.

New engagement structure

Farewell Darryn

We would like to formally farewell our Principal, Darryn Kruse, who is retiring at the end of this year. Darryn’s outstanding leadership and contribution to the College over the last four years has made an impression on every member of the school community. Darryn’s commitment to putting people first, at all times, is a remarkable characteristic that will live on here at the school. On a personal level, Darryn’s mentorship and support have supported us as an Assistant Principal team to grow and develop immensely for which we are all very grateful.

We, along with the whole school community, wish Darryn all the best as he moves into retirement. Hopefully he can now take some of the well-earned holidays he had planned during COVID!

High Achievers

Our students pass with flying colours