Principal's Update

Todd Asensio

Principal

Dear Students, Staff and Families,

Elwood College has had a busy and productive semester, with students and staff engaging in a wide range of learning experiences. The end of semester is always busy with CATs and SACs, followed by reports.  Reports are the representation of a lot of thought and effort from students and teachers alike. I encourage families to share in recognising the achievements of the semester, and support reflection upon student reports to identify areas for future growth. 

This semester, students’ learning has been complemented by a wide range of co-curricular experiences, including music performances, VCE Formal, Year Level Camps, outdoor education camps and excursions, sporting competitions and clubs. Our Student Representative Council presented another amazing Talent Night. Students’ talents included solo musical performances, bands, dance and calisthenics.  When supervising students backstage, it was heartening to see the support students provide to one another. Although there are prizes at the end, behind the scenes there was little evidence of competition. Students’ encouragement and camaraderie was excellent, which was reflected in their amazing performances.

Education administrators often refer to developing students as lifelong learners, which can sound aspirational rather than demonstrable.   I’m proud to lead a team of professionals, who regularly engage in learning with the goal of improving themselves for the benefit of our students. Throughout the semester our staff have engaged in professional development focussing on further developing our shared understanding of the science of learning; supporting our students’ wellbeing by gaining Youth Mental First Aid qualifications; continued learning about neurodiversity and how to best support students’ learning differences in the classroom; and with our recent Curriculum Day professional learning focusing on retrieval practices, explicit teaching and the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model (VTLM 2.0).   

We will conclude our semester with a whole school assembly to celebrate students’ successes. I wish everyone in our community a healthy, happy and safe break.

Regards

Todd Asensio

Principal