Principal's Report

Principal’s Update

As we come to the end of Term 2, I am pleased to share that the 2026 school year continues to progress in a positive and settled manner. Attendance rates remain at an acceptable level, with an average attendance rate of 88.4% across the College. Our goal is to achieve 88% by year’s end, so the challenge is there for our students to maintain and build on this with support from home and our staff at Westall.

Student attendance continues to be a key priority for school leadership. Regular attendance is closely linked to stronger learning, improved wellbeing and greater connection to school. This term, sub-schools have placed a renewed focus on monitoring attendance data, following up unexplained absences, contacting families and putting supports in place where needed. Education Support staff have played an important role in assisting this work across each sub-school.

We have also introduced a new positive reinforcement initiative to highlight the importance of strong attendance. This term, students who achieved 100% attendance were recognised through our new PANDA Awards, which stands for Perfect Attendance, No Days Away. This initiative has been designed to celebrate excellent attendance, raise awareness of the importance of being at school every day and encourage students to build strong attendance habits. Our final assembly will focus on the theme “Every Day Counts, Every Day Matters”, reinforcing the importance of arriving at school on time, being ready to learn and understanding that every day at school contributes to progress, confidence and future success.

Enrolments have continued to grow, and our student learning, management and wellbeing data indicates that our sub-schools, wellbeing team and additional learning supports are largely meeting the needs of our students. Current enrolments have increased to 659 students, including 48 students in the Westall English Language Centre. This represents an increase of 19 students since earlier in Term 1 and reflects continued confidence in the learning programs, pathways and supports offered across the school within our community.

There has also been important work across school operations. As part of our preparation for our upcoming School Review scheduled for Term 4, the school is currently undertaking a Minimum Standards Child Safety Audit with the Department of Education. This process has included a review of key policies, procedures, documentation and site evidence. Feedback to date has been positive, and we remain committed to ensuring child safety is embedded in our culture, practices and decision-making.

Next term, the Senior Leadership Team will also undertake a full review of the school’s Emergency Management roles and responsibilities. This will ensure staff have a clear understanding of their roles in the event of an emergency and that our procedures, communication processes and response plans remain clear, coordinated and effective.

Facilities and infrastructure works have continued throughout Term 2 through the Victorian School Building Authority. These works have included upgrades to roofing, guttering, downpipes, fascia boards and stormwater across key buildings. School leaders and facilities staff have worked closely with project managers and contractors to minimise disruption to teaching and learning. The next stage of works will include painting internal and external windows across Buildings A, B and C, as well as upgrades to the library sub-floor. We thank students, staff and families for their patience while these important improvements are completed.

In Teaching and Learning, our Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum work remains a major focus across domain teams. Staff are continuing to develop consistent curriculum documentation and lesson sequences to support high-quality teaching and learning materials aligned to our Explicit Direct Instructional Model and the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model 2.0. This work is ongoing and will help to build greater consistency in what is taught, how it is taught and how student learning is assessed.

Semester 1 Reports have now been published on Compass. These reports provide families with important feedback on student assessment achievement, learning progress and rates of attendance.

I encourage parents and carers to take the time to sit down with their child and read through the report together. These conversations are most valuable when they focus not only on results, but also on effort, attendance, learning habits and the next steps for improvement. Reports provide an opportunity to celebrate achievements, identify areas where additional support may be needed and set clear learning goals for Semester 2. When students and families discuss reports together, it helps strengthen shared responsibility for learning and reinforces the importance of consistent effort, organisation and attendance.

The reports will also provide a valuable starting point for conversations at the Term 3 Parent-Teacher Conferences, scheduled for Week 4 of Term 3. I encourage families to attend these conferences and work in partnership with teachers to support student learning and engagement in Semester 2.

Preliminary 2026 Attitudes to School Survey data has also provided encouraging signs of progress. The data shows growth across a number of important areas, including effective teaching, stimulating learning, classroom behaviour, teacher-student relationships, attitudes to attendance, student voice, sense of connectedness and managing bullying as compared to our 2025 results. While there is still work to do, particularly in continuing to build student learning confidence, the overall trend is positive and reflects the shared efforts of staff, students and families.

Professional learning has remained a strong focus throughout the term. Staff have continued work in our Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) focus area of Guided Practice which is a key component of our EDI instructional model. Additionally, teachers have engaged in several literacy-themed workshops in preparation for continued whole-school improvement in this area which will be the focus of PLCs in Semester 2 for all teachers. Staff have also participated in professional learning connected to Positive Classroom Management Strategies, NCCD, Teach the Teacher initiative and the Refugee Education Support Program (RESO). This work is supporting improved classroom routines, stronger engagement, culturally responsive practice, trauma-informed approaches and better support for students from refugee backgrounds.

As we move into Term 3, our focus will remain on maintaining high expectations, strengthening attendance, supporting student wellbeing, improving learning growth and continuing to build consistent teaching practice across the school. I would like to thank our staff for their professionalism and commitment, our students for their continued efforts, and our families for their ongoing support throughout the first half of the school year.

Jason Tickner

Acting/ Principal

Westall Secondary College