From the Principal Class

Welcome to Term 3

Welcome back to all staff and students for Semester 2. I hope everyone has had a chance for a break and that we are all ready to go for the next 10 weeks. A particular welcome to the following staff who take up positions this term:

• Michael Conti - English
• Lateisha Hayes - Mathematics
• Frederica Narcisi - Italian 
• Joseph Pintarich – ES Integration
• Daniela Bonfiglio – ES Science Laboratory Technician
• Mary Mallia – ES Library Assistant 

We also welcome back Bronte Minou who returns from leave and will be based in the Food Technology area. Recently we farewelled Natalie Montalto who picked up another position at another Victorian Government School. We thank Natalie for her hard work over the past 6 years and for her contributions at the school.

End of Semester Reports

End of semester reports are now available to download from Compass for students and parents. 

• Reports will include a list of major assessment tasks for each subject, a description of the task and grade awarded.
• They will include a percentage of attendance for each subject, a graph of student work habits in each class, and a teacher judgement rating for the student against the Victorian Curriculum state-wide five point scale for students in Years 7-10.
• There will be no descriptive comments included as these have been previously recorded on learning tasks saved to Compass as each task was completed throughout the semester.

It is important to remember that student reports provide students, teachers and parents with a clear and concise picture of a student’s achievement and progress at a point in time. Teachers make informed and consistent decisions about student progress against the achievement standards using a variety of assessments and observations to inform their judgement. They map the student’s learning against the achievement standards, and place the student on the learning continuum, that best reflect the student’s level of performance and progress.

The Victorian Curriculum is structured as a single developmental learning continuum and is organised by levels not years of schooling. The curriculum consists of Towards Foundation Levels A to D and Levels Foundation to 10. All curriculum areas have achievement standards, describing what students are able to understand and do.

All students progress along the learning continuum at their own rate and from their own starting point. Teachers provide learning opportunities to support the learning for all students, including those students with additional learning needs or a disability. 

I encourage all parents and guardians to read through the reports, and discuss with your children how they have gone, and what they can do in Term 3 to improve. Regardless of how good the report is, there are always things which can be improved.

College Promotion Policy 

The college has developed a Promotion Policy to provide students and their families with a clear understanding of student expectations and minimum requirements to be promoted to be the following year. Although these expectations and minimum requirements were always used to support student promotion, it was certainly not precise enough for our school community to fully understand. A lot of consultation has already occurred with this policy, including discussion with all teaching staff, student groups and parents from the Parents, Family and Friends Group and College Council. The Promotion Policy has been approved by College Council at the end of last term. All students have been informed of the new policy in the recent student assemblies. The policy will also be utilised during the upcoming course advice sessions for students in Years 9 - 11.

Progress Report  Rubric

The College has updated the Progress Report Rubric for Semester 2.  Changes to the progress report rubric have occurred after a long consultation process involving teachers, students and parents/carers. The sub-school teams will unpack this further with students. The updated rubric will be utilised by teaching staff when completing the first round of progress reports for this semester in early August. We ask all parents/carers and students to read the updated progress report rubric carefully and understand how students will be assed for each criteria by their teachers. 

NAPLAN Reporting 2024

NAPLAN results will be provided to students and parents over the next week with the results being mailed out individually. Parents/carers were also provided information about the new proficiency levels.

NAPLAN reporting is undertaken nationally by the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). NAPLAN will continue to measure student achievement in numeracy, reading, writing, spelling, and grammar and punctuation and the results are presented in 4 proficiency levels. These are:

• exceeding
• strong
• developing
• needs additional support.

This gives schools, parents and carers clearer information that details student achievement against proficiency levels. Students’ NAPLAN reports will continue to show how they are tracking against their peers and provide an indication of their skill levels against national averages and where we would expect them to be in order to get the most out of schooling. This provides valuable information to teachers about how we can continue to support our students. Each set of NAPLAN results is an important milestone but it’s also important that students know that one result does not define them – these results are about making sure every student gets the support they need so they can continue to get the best from their learning.

Staff Professional Learning Day

This will occur on Monday August 5th 2024. Regular classes will not be operating on this day. Staff will be involved in a range of professional learning activities centred around curriculum and wellbeing. 

Year 12 VTAC Information Evening

All parents of  Year 12 students are invited to the College on Thursday August 8th 2024 from 7:00pm to 8:30pm. This evening is an opportunity to learn more about the VTAC process and new requirements for the 2025 tertiary selection entry.  After the information session there will be time to ask questions to help you further understand the process. We hope to see you all there! Please contact the Careers Leader if you have any questions.

Parent/Carers Opinion Survey

Our school is conducting a survey to find out what parents/carers think of our school. The Parent/Carer Opinion Survey is an annual survey offered by the Department of Education that is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behavior, and student engagement. We encourage families to participate. Our school will use the survey results to help inform and direct future school planning and improvement strategies.

A random sample of approximately 30 per cent of parents/carers has been selected to participate in this year’s survey. If you have been chosen at random to undertake this  you will receive information about this, we would like you to complete this as soon as possible. The survey will be conducted online by ORIMA Research Pty Ltd and only takes 15 minutes to complete. The survey can be accessed via desktop computer, laptop, tablet or mobile at any convenient time within the fieldwork period from Monday 29th July to Friday 30th August 2024. All responses to the survey are anonymous.  The survey results will be reported back to the College later in the year. Last year we used the survey results to plan school improvement initiatives, set goals and targets as part of the College’s Annual Implementation Plan. Please contact the general office if you would like more information.

Student Success

Congratulations to Kavian Rahmani of Year 12 who has been named in the Young Socceroos squad for the ASEAN U19 Championship this month.

and finally...

Thank you to all of you, as parents, who ensure that your children follow the uniform requirements and arrive on time for school each day.  We expect students to be in class, ready to learn on the second bell.  A reminder to parents and students to notify the College for approval when going on a family holiday or when seeking approval for the student's absence from school for an extended period of time. Please note not all requests will be approved, especially for students in Years 11 and 12. Students will need to meet VCAA and College requirements to satisfactory meet the outcome of the study.

Danny Dedes

On Behalf of Assistant Principals - Rick Hudson, Sasha Mildenhall and Louisa Norwood.