From the Principal's Desk

God of All Things New, I believe that through You I can achieve change in my life because You are doing a new thing! Now it springs up; I pray that I perceive it, I pray that I acknowledge that You are the source of my change. Lord, I thank You for the changes that have occurred in my life and the changes that are about to happen, Amen. (Isaiah 43:19)

Lord, we pray that you help us to overcome our fears and doubts, to trust in your love and guidance, and to be open to the lessons and experiences that come our way. Amen.

A PROCESS TO CONTINUOUSLY IMPROVE OUR SCHOOL

The School Improvement Framework (SIF) recognises the distinctive nature of Catholic education. Focusing on the full flourishing of each student, this framework is designed to highlight the priorities and practices that support student outcomes through school improvement and effectiveness.

The SIF of Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) has two purposes:

to assist schools and teachers to improve student outcomes
to satisfy legitimate expectations of government and sector authorities.

Within the Continuous Improvement Process each school moves through self-assessment and reflection, improvement and compliance reviews, school improvement planning and annual implementation planning. Each stage supports the accountability and compliance requirements of schools.

Our school ensures that the standards and other requirements for registration, Child Safe Standards and other State and Commonwealth requirements for Victorian Catholic schools are being met.

Access to perception data from Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools – School Improvement Surveys (MACSSIS) assists schools to track their progress, and the Annual Report to the School Community offers schools an opportunity to share and celebrate improvement. The Continuous Improvement Process moves cyclically over four years, however, improvement is a continuous and ongoing process, with schools growing and flourishing in multidimensional ways over time.

The School Review process usually occurs in the fourth year of the continuous improvement process and results in the development of the School Improvement Plan (SIP) for the next four years as well as an Annual Action Plan (AAP) each year.

In preparing a four-year SIP, the plan sets out the school’s:

vision
strategic intent
priorities
goals
intended outcomes
targets that are clearly identified to improve school and student outcomes
key improvement strategies for achieving the intended outcomes.

It is important that all goals, intended outcomes and targets provide a challenging basis for school improvement, while maintaining a realistic balance of what is achievable within a four-year period.

Self-assessment and reflection serve as ongoing evaluation for schools to map their progress against the spheres of improvement.

As part of compliance with regulatory guidelines, schools are expected to engage with, and gather feedback from, their communities as part of their school improvement cycle. Schools are encouraged to view MACSSIS as a positive opportunity for gathering feedback and engaging communities in ongoing school improvement efforts.

MACSSIS is a set of tools for creating, collecting, analysing, interpreting and using data to inform Catholic school improvement. MACSSIS produces perception data. This data shows what different people in a school community think and feel about the learning environment.

Between now and the end of this term, our Year 4-6 students, all staff and a randomly-selected group of families will complete the MACSSIS. The report of this perception data will be provided to us later in the year. It will compare our 2022 and 2023 results as well as comparing our results to all MACS primary schools this year. The report will provide us with an opportunity to celebrate what we are doing well, reflect, ask questions and focus on the improvement of our school.

Jane Dunstone

PRINCIPAL