Deputy Principal - Teaching & Learning

Homeroom Progress Review Meetings

Term 3 has begun with gusto, as the College has once again continued with its Homeroom Mentor Teacher progress review meetings. As ever, the aim of these meetings is to ensure partnership between home and school, and a birds-eye view on the overall progress of students. It has been so gratifying to see so many parents and students take advantage of the opportunity to discuss areas for progress and development, as well as to congratulate students on some of their achievements from Semester One. 

I would encourage all students to closely review their Semester One feedback (via the Permissions & Reports tile on MyMtA) across all subjects, and identify potential themes in their feedback, in order to prioritise their next learning steps. 

SET Planning Meetings

I also thank all Year 9 and 10 students for their preparedness in relation to the SET planning process that commenced this week. SET planning represents an important opportunity for the College to better understand the overall aims of students, so that we can advise them around future pathways. In particular, it was so wonderful this year to see more students than ever, able to engage in specific discussions about their post-school aspirations. The College will conduct follow up meetings with some students and their families, over the course of this term. Preparations for 2024 timetabling will commence from next week, on the basis of the preferences confirmed this week.

NAPLAN

The College is pleased to report that NAPLAN results for Year 7 and 9 students were very strong. 

At Mount Alvernia College, we see NAPLAN tests as an indicator (amongst other indicators) of key areas of strength and areas for development, within specific cohorts, and for specific students. Educators use the information to reflect on curriculum programs and to design targeted intervention, where required. A snapshot of the College’s results is provided in the tables below, for your information. 

Table 1: Year 7 2023 compared with NAPLAN State Mean 2023 

Parents of Year 7 students will note that the College is above state mean in all test domains, and that our 2023 Year 7 cohort have achieved the strongest results in the College’s history, in Grammar and Punctuation, Writing and Reading. 

Table 2: Year 9 2023 NAPLAN compared with NAPLAN State Mean 2023

Parents of Year 9 students will note that students have improved upon their distance from the state mean in all test domains, compared with their Year 7 performance. This improvement upon the state mean across all baskets is to be commended. Further, for Grammar and Punctuation, Writing and Reading, the cohort has achieved the strongest results in the College’s history. 

The College is awaiting delivery of NAPLAN reports and will send these out once they are received. The NAPLAN tests represent a point in time result, in spelling, grammar and punctuation, reading, writing and numeracy. We would advise parents and carers to review results appreciating both their child’s previous level of achievement, current level of achievement and state averages. 

We are proud of each cohort and will celebrate these gains in cohort progress reviews which usually take place at the end of each term. We are also proud of the dedicated work being done by teachers to ensure high standards in literacy and numeracy foundations. This work is invaluable in setting students up for long-term educational well-being and post-school success.