Teaching & Learning Report 

Exams 

Year 7- 9 Junior School students commenced their Semester 1 exams this week. 

In Year 7 and and Year 8, our students complete formal exams for English and Maths. Our Year 9 students complete exams for English, Maths, Science and Humanities. 

This gradual increase allows students to experience the processes that exams require as they approach Senior School, where exams increase in duration, depending on their senior school pathway. 

Exams are an important part of the learning journey and provide students with an opportunity to showcase the knowledge and skills they have developed throughout the semester. For many students, particularly those new to secondary school, exams can be a valuable experience in building confidence, resilience, and effective study habits. 

Exams also provide useful information for students, parents, and teachers by highlighting strengths, celebrating progress, and identifying areas for future growth and improvement. 

We encourage all students to focus on doing their best and approaching each exam as an opportunity to demonstrate their learning. Effort, preparation, and a positive mindset are key ingredients for success. 

Reports 

Semester 1 reports will be published on Friday 2 June. This is an opportunity to see where students are at when compared to Victorian Curriculum standards for Year 7-10 and the current achievement of our Year 11-12 students in VCE VM and VCE. 

As mentioned in the last newsletter, the AEU and its members have taken Industrial Action earlier this term. This ban has now been uplifted. 

The industrial action involved a ban on written comments in reports whilst the action was in effect. 

This means that some Learning Tasks for Term 2 may not have written comments. However, all Learning Tasks will contain achievement data. 

All Learning Tasks from Term 1 will contain written comments and learning task data. 

If you have any queries, please reach out. 

Staff Professional Learning 

In Term 3, our whole-school Professional Learning focus will be on the explicit teaching of reading. Reading is fundamental to learning in every subject, and developing stronger reading skills helps students engage more successfully with the curriculum and the subject related vocabulary, which increases in complexity throughout secondary schooling. 

This work builds on our previous Professional Learning around instructional practices and the gradual release of responsibility model. Staff will be focusing on how to intentionally support students as they read, using evidence-informed strategies to improve reading frequency, guide vocabulary development and the understanding of subject-specific texts. 

Our goal is for all teachers to make deliberate decisions about how they scaffold reading within lessons, ensuring students receive the support they need to access increasingly challenging texts. Through this approach, we aim to improve student reading outcomes, confidence, and success across all learning areas. 

Professional Learning Day Term 3 

On Tuesday 21 July, staff will participate in a Professional Learning Day focused on improving reading instruction across the school. Throughout the day, teachers will analyse student literacy data, engage with current educational research, and explore evidence-informed teaching strategies designed to support student reading growth. 

Staff will also collaborate with colleagues to model, practise, and refine these approaches, ensuring that students benefit from high-quality reading instruction in every classroom. 

With the exception of our Year 12 VCE students, who will have a program delivered, Tuesday 21 July, will be a student free day for all other Year Levels.