From the Principal

SCHOOL VALUES

Respect, Responsibility, Resilience and Learning. 

Staff, students and parents are encouraged to ensure we all operate and conduct our business at school according to these core values that were established by various members of our school community for the school community throughout the school review process in 2019.

Key focus areas for Donald High School in 2024

As part of our Annual Implementation Plan, and as part of the findings from our school review this year, our school has identified a number of key priorities we will be focussing on in 2024. These include:

1. Striving for improvements in Literacy and Numeracy with a particular focus on Reading and Writing.
2. Re-focussing our teaching staff to teach according to our Donald High School Instructional Model and re-focussing classroom behavioural and learning expectations.
3. Using data to inform our teaching and learning for improved student outcomes with a focus on teaching students to their point of need.
4. Using student voice as a source of feedback inside and outside the classroom with a view to improving student engagement and connectedness; and
5. Striving for improvements in student mental health and wellbeing, and engagement and connectedness at school through specialist programs and support.

There is also an expectation of all students to ensure they continue to grow and develop as learners, and for staff to continue to strive for improvement in themselves and the students.

SCHOOL PERFORMANCE REPORT AND PROGRESS FROM AIP GOALS

Much of my work over the last couple of weeks has been determining how our school has performed according to the goals set in our Annual Implementation Plan for this year. According to our recently released School Performance Report, we have seen a 13.3% relative growth improvement in our Year 7 -> 9 Naplan Reading results with 56% of students in Year 9 in the Strong or Exceeding performance area for Naplan Reading. In the Numeracy domain, we have seen a 38.8% relative growth improvement in our Year 7 -> 9 Naplan Numeracy results with 71% of students in Year 9 in the Strong or Exceeding performance area for Naplan Numeracy. For our school’s Learning Performance on our School Performance Report, our school has been rated as Improving, whilst we have been rated as Medium for our school’s Wellbeing Performance. Our Overall Performance on our 2024 School Performance Report, has been rated as Medium, and we are 1 of 12 similar schools out of 31 similar schools in the area that have been rated as a Medium Performance School in a ranking system from High -> Improving -> Medium -> Developing. We have continually focussed on the School’s Instructional Model for Teaching through our Professional Learning Meetings throughout this year and have re-focussed our classroom behavioural and learning expectations with staff to pass onto the students. There has also been some consistent sharing of student data for staff to utilise to be able to teach students at their point of need. We have continually provided specialist programs and support in the wellbeing space throughout the year to assist students with their mental health and wellbeing and engagement and connectedness at school. An area of continual improvement at present is to enable more students to have a voice inside and outside of the classroom with a view to improving student engagement and connectedness.

SCHOOL TV

Please note that our school community now has access to a website called SchoolTV.

This website provides all members of our school community with a wide range of information and resources both in text and video form as well as asks people to complete surveys on a variety of topics on Mental Health and Wellbeing. It is a website that is used as a preventative measure to educate all people on the various topics and is a fantastic resource I recommend people access whether you are a parent, teacher or student.

The topics are conveniently arranged into a number of series. Topics feature interviews with leading youth wellbeing experts and researchers from around the world offering hours of relevant and practical information. Additionally, each topic includes a compilation of related resources from key organisations providing a comprehensive stream of content. Resources include informative fact sheets, articles, apps, books, podcasts, websites, and other videos - all related to a single topic, in one place for easy access!!

The website is found at donaldhs.vic.schooltv.me

Some of the most recent special reports on the SchoolTV website include: Eating Anxiety, Healthy Study Habits, The Cost of Living Crisis and Navigating AI Relationships.

YEAR 12 VCE EXAMS CONTINUING

The Year 12 VCE Exams are now into their third week with a number of students coming towards the end of their individual exam period. Well done to all our Year 12 VCE students that have been working hard to achieve their best results in all their exams.

Exciting News: headspace Open Day – Tuesday 12th November 2024!

Students were invited to visit the Wellbeing room at recess or lunchtime on Tuesday 12th November 2024 to meet Emily Noonan from headspace Swan Hill. Emily will be visiting our school at least every two weeks to offer support and guidance to students. This is a great opportunity for anyone who may need help managing stress, anxiety, or other emotional challenges.

When: Tuesday, 12th November and once a week from now until the end of the year at Recess and Lunchtime.

Where: Wellbeing Room (outside the Home Ec. Centre) 

What:  Meet and greet, fun activities and something to EAT!Whether you're struggling with school stress, personal issues, or just need someone to talk to, Emily is here to listen and help. Your mental health matters!

ATTENDANCE AT SCHOOL 

Can parents and students please take note of the graphic below. Last year we had too many of our students missing over 15 days of school (some students over 20 days). Some students this year have already had over 20 unexplained absences (half or full days). Everyone should be prioritising education and learning for all our students. The more time students spend at school, the greater the outcomes for their learning. All Year 7 – 12 students are expected to be at school for the entire day on a ‘normal’ school day. The only exceptions are for illness, medical appointments, or a family bereavement. Parents are encouraged to adhere to these guidelines for their child’s attendance.

I am available to talk to people at the school to assist you with any enquiries if required and can be contacted to make an appointment or have a discussion on Ph. (03) 5497 1205.

Paul Aikman.