Assistant Principal (Years 11/12) Report 

Report from Assistant Principal Jason Tickner

Congratulations to our departing Yr12 students, who finished off their scheduled classes this term with great diligence and respect. Currently, our mainstream Yr12 students are now in the second week of their VCAA examination period. This is always a stressful, yet exciting time for students, as it marks the end of their secondary school journey.

A reminder for our VCE mainstream students, VCE Results and ATAR advice will be available from 7:00 AM, Thursday 12 December 2024. Information on how to access VCE results can be found here. Similarly, our VCE VM students have completed their final assessments and have now turned their attention to what employment, or vocational study opportunities exist for them in 2025. Exciting times ahead for all our Yr12 students.

As a leader of senior school, I am proud of our Yr12 student’s achievements, and look forward to celebrating Yr12 Graduation on, Thursday 28th November at Clayton Church of Christ.

I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge all teachers at Westall that have taught our Yr12 students over the years at Westall. A special thanks to Ms. Helen Ifandis, Ms. Kristina Vasilakis and Mr. Jonathon Roberts, for their hard work and dedication in leading our departing Yr12 students throughout their final year. 

Semester Reports and Awards Assembly

Heading into the second half of the term, classes are now preparing to complete their final assessments for Semester 2. For our Year 7-10 students the focus is to complete their final Common Assessment Task (CATs). Similarly, our Year 11 VCE mainstream students are completing their School Assessed Coursework (SACs), and or VCE VM students are completing their Essential Learning Tasks (ELTs). In week 8 of term both Yr10 & 11 VCE mainstream students will sit Semester 2 examinations across their subjects. Year 10s will sit exams in their core subjects, while our Yr11 VCE mainstream students will sit exams across all their subjects. This is a great opportunity for these students to practice preparing and sitting examinations, and gauging the progress in the learning across these subjects. In the same week our Yr11 VCE VM students are scheduled to undertake a week of Structured Work Placement (SWL). For these students this is a critical step in preparing for the world of work and building upon their developing employability skills.

More information about these exam periods will also be in the senior and middle school sections of this newsletter.

Once students’ final assessments are completed in Wk7 teachers will turn their attention to finalising Semester 2 reports. Semester 2 Reports will be made available on Compass on Wednesday Monday the 18th December. A reminder that the semester report provides an indication of the Learning Behaviours demonstrated by your child in the second half of the year, as well as a summary of the Learning Task grades that students have completed across their subjects throughout the Semester. Detailed feedback on Learning Tasks are readily available on Compass via our continuous reporting processes, once teacher feedback has been completed. This is one of reasons why it is important for parents/carers to check Compass on a regular basis to monitor your child’s academic progress throughout the semester, not just at the end of term.

Our Semester 2 Awards Assembly will once again be conducted in our Sports Gym this year in Wk9. After receiving individual subject awards at previously held sub-school assemblies, the purpose of this event is to recognise students that will receive overall academic awards. Additionally, there will be a select group of students who will receive special awards across curricular and co-curricular areas. Students who will be receiving awards will be notified well in advance by their sub-schools. This will provide parents with an opportunity to attend this event – Thursday 5th of December, commencing at 10:15am.  

2025 Re-enrolment

Re-enrolment for all students returning to Westall SC in 2025 will be an online process. Families will receive an email in the next three weeks, which will contain information and instructions that need to be urgently actioned. Email attachments will include current enrolment details, which must be fully checked, two reupdated as needed, and returned via email or as a hard copy to the office.   Also attached will be the following documents:

•    Parent Payment Policy

•    Enrolment pack

•    BYOD guidelines

•    Booklist

On the 2025 booklists, you will notice a section titled 'Required by All Students' at the very top of each year-level list of textbooks - this is to provide families with a clear understanding of the basic items all students need to ensure they are able to participate in activities, engage in their learning, and experience success in the classroom. All these items will be available to purchase individually on the Campion website; to make this a little easier and to support families, the 'Required by All Students' items will be available to purchase as a pack, from the school, at a much-reduced cost. Families are encouraged to take advantage of this option.

If you have any questions regarding the process or need clarification on the instructions, please contact the office at 9546 3233. If your child will not be returning to Westall next year, a letter must be forwarded to the appropriate sub-school as soon as possible.

Professional Learning Community (PLC) Update

Throughout Semester 2 our teachers have continued to meet and collaborate on a weekly basis as part of their 7-week cycle of targeting enhanced student wellbeing practices. Reflecting on student wellbeing data, teachers selected a wellbeing strategy aligned to the Department of Education’s, newly forged High Impact Wellbeing Strategy (HIWs) framework. Teachers were then grouped, and PLCs formed, based on what wellbeing strategy they wanted to implement within their classroom/s. The work of the PLCs was then focused on the successful implementation of these strategies, with classroom observation feedback and professional learning assisting with improved practice. The results and feedback to this work has been positive, and I would like to thank all teachers for their approach to this important work.

Mr Jason Tickner

Assistant Principal (Year 11/12)