Assistant Principal (Years 11/12) Report 

Report from Assistant Principal Jason Tickner

Semester One Reports and Awards Assembly

With the end of Semester One approaching students will be completing final assessments within in their subjects. Attendance at school, the completion of class work and homework are all crucial components of achieving the best possible results in this reporting cycle. Our VCE and Vocational Major (VM) students will complete their Unit 1 studies and transition to their Unit 2 studies in week 10 & 11 of this term. In Week 9 our Yr11 VCE students will sit their mid-year exams with an exam timetable to be finalised and communicated to students and families in the coming weeks.

The grades for Common assessments Tasks (CATs) (Year 7-10) and School-based Assessed Coursework (SACs) and Essential Learning Tasks (ELTs) for our VCE and VM students respectively, will appear in Semester 1 reports, made available to students and carers, in Compass, in the week 11 of this term. Please be aware that parents will need to go into Compass to see specific comments that teachers have made on the CATs or ELTs/SACs/SATs completed by students during the semester, as the reports will include just the grades for these assessed tasks.

On Thursday 20th June we will hold our Semester 1 Awards assembly at school in the gymnasium. This event recognises students who have been nominated for an Overall Academic or Personal Best Award in their respective year levels. Additionally, our top 3 Westall Points recipients will also be recognised at each year level for their sustained ability to demonstrate our iCare school values throughout the Semester. Students and families of award winners will be contacted by their sub-schools in Week 9 of this term leading into this event.

Course Selection for 2023

The end of Semester 1 is also the beginning of the course and subject selection process for 2024. This is a critical time for students to make decisions regarding pathway programs and subject/elective choices for 2025. Evidence suggests, that when students choose the correct educational program and subjects that experience greater success and engagement at school. 

Our current Year 10 students will elect to complete a VCE (mainstream) or VCE Vocational Major (VM) program. The decision is an important one and will impact upon career and educational options post-secondary schooling. Year 10 students will also have to choose two electives as part of their program. Year 9 students will have to choose one elective as part of their overall program, and Year 7&8 students will select an iCreate subject for their 2025 program.

Additionally, Year 9 students interested in following a VCE VM pathway, in their senior years, will have the ability to choose two core subjects linked more closely to a VM pathway. These two subjects will be Vocational Pathway (VP) Work Related Skills (WRS) and Vocational Pathway (VP) Personal Development Skills (PDS). These will replace Science and Global Literacy subjects. This will allow these students to engage at their point of need and prepare them better for a Vocational Major (VM) in their senior years.

It is extremely important for students to engage in researching future pathways that are of interest so that they can make informed choices. The school will provide various forms of supports throughout the course selection process and counsel students appropriately. These supports will include a subject expo, program information sessions, a Year 9 elective taster program (New in 2024), and individualised course approval interviews. This will ensure that our students are guided to make informed decisions about their overall program, linked to their passions, strengths, and pathway ambitions.

We will be running an onsite Course Counselling Parent Information session early in Term 3. Please keep a look out on our next newsletter and/or Compass for a confirmed date for this session. This will provide an opportunity for parents to listen to information presented by Ms Alice Paget (Assistant Principal 7-9) and Mr. Jason Tickner (Assistant Principal 10-12) regarding the programs and subjects on 

Professional Learning Community (PLC) Update

Throughout Term 2 our dedicated teachers have continued to meet and collaborate on a weekly basis as part of their 7-week cycle of targeting the effective implementation of our Explicit Direct Instruction (EDI) instructional model. In summary, this work has seen domain teams analyse students learning data, to inform goal setting and learning PLC groups. Currently, all teachers are engaged in classroom observations where they provide collegial feedback, geared towards improved practice in the classroom. The work has been challenging at times, but certainly rewarding, and we are hopeful as a staff that it can contribute to improved student learning outcomes down the line. This week signals the end of our first PLC cycle for 2024 and I would like to thank all staff for their approach to this important work.

Students ‘at risk’

How do you know if your child is academically ‘at risk’ at school? Obviously, Semester and Progress Reports give parents/carers a clear indication of your child’s progress across assessments and our 5 learning behaviours across all subjects. However, there are other indicators that can used throughout the year to determine whether your child is ‘at risk’ in their subjects and/or program. By checking Compass on a weekly basis parents/carers can stay up to date with how often your child is attending school, check assessments results, and read academic observation chronicle posts documented by subject teachers. In senior school ‘at risk’ letters are sent home midway through each term which provides another layer to parents/carers that their child is in danger of not satisfying requirements in specific subjects and/or their overall VCE or VM programs. If you have concerns with how your child is progressing, parents/carers should attend parent/teacher conferences (coming up T3Wk3) and/or ring the school to discuss your concerns. By doing all, or a combination of the above parents/carers can stay up to date with in your child’s academic progress, and in some cases, contribute to a range intervention strategies to support your child’s progress at school.

Pivot – A tool to Improve Student Voice

Throughout weeks 5 & 6 of this term our teachers will be administering the ‘Student Feedback on Teaching’ survey from PIVOT. This provides an opportunity for our students to provide feedback to their classroom teachers in the following areas: to classroom environment, instruction, relationships, and student voice. 

The student feedback provides us with an opportunity to improve the learning experience for our students in every classroom. Teachers will use the survey data to reflect upon the learning environment created in their classrooms. Once areas of growth have been identified, teachers will then lead a process where they, and their students look for ways of contributing to improvement together.

Mr Jason Tickner

Assistant Principal (Year 11/12)