Principal's Report

Report from Westall Principal 2024

Dear Westall Secondary College Community,

Teaching and Learning is of course our core business, and I am pleased to share our recent NAPLAN results just released.

Preliminary 2024 NAPLAN data:

We will have access to full and more detailed results and reports in June including individual student results available to parents. For now it is pleasing to see we hit our 2024 AIP (Annual Improvement Plan) targets so far.

Target – Year 9 Reading results 55% at strong/exceeding – we achieved 55% exactly.

Target – Year 9 Numeracy results 65% at strong/exceeding – again we achieved the exact target 65%.

Our results continue to show exceptional growth between Years 7 and 9. Writing results will come through in June.

Congratulations to all staff and students on these excellent results and meeting our benchmark targets.

How do we keep getting consistently good results? The will of students and the skill of teachers. Put simply, the will and effort students demonstrate and their readiness to learn. This is being on time each day with the correct equipment, in full uniform, completing homework and study and engaging in every lesson with effort. Uniform is a big part of this, and we will be conducting uniform blitzes this month to ensure compliance. For teachers it is the skill to teach their subjects in a structured and explicit way using our instructional model. Our new Westall Way charts are now displayed in every classroom. These charts clearly detail the standards expected of staff and students and align with our school CARE values.

The Department of Education is committed to ensuring all Victorian government schools are respectful, safe and inclusive places of learning and work for all students, staff and members of our school communities. As part of this commitment, the department supports all schools to join the many other schools and workplaces across the country to recognise International Day Against LGBTIQA+ Discrimination (IDAHOBIT) on Friday 17 May 2024.

This is to support lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender diverse, intersex, queer, questioning and asexual (LGBTIQA+) people in our schools and the community, in accordance with Department of Education’s equal opportunity and anti-discrimination policy for students and employees, and the obligations in the Child Safe Standard 5 to uphold diversity and equity for everyone regardless of their background, characteristics or beliefs.

We believe it is important to teach our students about acceptance, respect, and inclusivity. By doing so, we are not only creating a safe and supportive environment now, but also preparing students to thrive in a global society.

Our school will be marking IDAHOBIT Day on Friday with wellbeing activities based around respect, inclusivity, and our school care values. For more information, refer to the IDAHOBIT website. If you have any queries, you can contact the department by email: enquiries@education.vic.gov.au

We look forward to continuing to work in partnership with you and all our families to support everyone to be safe and thrive at our school. Sadly with the amount of conflict and unrest around the world, we want Westall to be a safe, inclusive and respectful place where all staff, students and families are accepted and included as part of the one human race and family. Your religion, race, cultural beliefs, sexuality are all valued and accepted. You are all safe, respected and included as part of the Westall family.

At Westall SC we use a closed-circuit television (CCTV) system at our school. Our school has an obligation to ensure the school environment is safe and secure, and fulfil our duty of care to students, staff and visitors.  The CCTV system will assist our school to fulfil these obligations and to prevent and manage other inappropriate behaviour on school grounds. CCTV will also provide enhanced capability to protect our school’s assets against vandalism and theft.

We will follow Department of Education and Training policy requirements for the design, installation, management and use of the CCTV systems. This policy is available at: CCTV in Schools – Installation and Management.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the school – westall.sc@education.vic.gov.au or on 9546 3233.

I am pleased to let you all know that a new perimeter fence is being installed with new sliding gates. This will improve safety and security and also provide a much more appealing look for the school.

Until next time

Mr Tristan Lanarus

Principal