Teaching and Learning

Congratulations on a successful first term!

To our Year 7s, well done! We hope you are proud of the milestones you have achieved in your first ten weeks of secondary school. And to our Year 12s who are counting down the weeks - you’ve got less than 25 to go!

We would like to thank all families for their support surrounding NAPLAN this year. With your help, over 90% of our Year 7 and Year 9 cohorts were able to complete their testing. We will continue to update families regarding students’ results as the year progresses. We ask that all Year 7 and Year 9 families check that they have registered their correct residential address with the college to ensure that NAPLAN results are sent to the correct address.

Moving into Term 2, across the cohorts, students will be provided opportunities to attend excursions and Student-Led Conferences. We will also be moving into the next assessment cycle - our first round of Year 11 VCE and Year 10 exams, as well as Year 10 Work Experience. Further updates regarding these key dates will be posted to Compass.

To support our students across Middle School in staying up to date with their learning and preparing for upcoming assessment tasks, please see the Term 2 assessment overview below:

Valuing Student Voice

Recently our SRC students were invited to our PLC Inquiry Launch which allowed them to peek behind the curtain at School Improvement in action! Along with the entire teaching staff, the students listened to a presentation about the positive impact of explicit teaching practices and active learning in the classroom and were challenged to think about their own experiences as students here at Edgars Creek SC. They were introduced to some of the teaching and learning datasets we use here to determine student achievement and our next steps, and were presented with research about how gender stereotypes impact learning confidence in the secondary classroom. 

With all of this new knowledge, they joined teachers across all learning areas of the College to share their experiences and how engaging the teaching and learning is, and could be, at ECSC. These questions particularly centred around students having what we call varied ‘opportunities to respond’ (OTR) during the teaching phase of the lesson. The questions they were asked by their teachers are below:

1. What type of OTRs are students currently seeing in the classroom?
2. Is there a type of OTR that students are more likely to engage with/respond to?
3. Do certain OTRs support learner confidence more than others?

From here, teachers are working in inquiry teams to unpack the question below as a way of improving their practice. 

We hope that the outcome of this work will be increased participation and learner confidence from all students.

SEAL Program 2026

Recently Tiffani Meier, in her role as the SEAL and High Ability LT, presented our 2026 program and curriculum vision for our SEAL program to Rod Williamson who sits on the TAAS Executive. The 2 hour long discussion enabled us to directly showcase how SEAL will be implemented here at ECSC from 2026, and what high ability learning looks like for those students, and other high achievers in Years 8-12. We received outstanding feedback on the work completed so far; with particular feedback around the complexity and thinking around how to develop a challenging and rigorous curriculum for SEAL students. I want to congratulate Tiffani on this work, along with our internal team of teachers who wrote the curriculum presented, as it has set the standard for our foundation SEAL year next year.

High Expectations and a Growth Mindset

As we enter an assessment heavy period for students, we want to reiterate the importance of students maintaining high academic expectations of themselves, whilst also adopting a growth mindset. There are key supports available for students to help them navigate assessments and exams and accessing these will build their confidence. 

One of these strategies is to regularly attend Homework Club. There, students can meet with teachers that can support their learning, assist them with completing set home learning tasks, prepare for assessment tasks and provide feedback. 

We know as educators that effective feedback has an enormous impact on learning growth for students, but that sometimes it can be tricky to understand the feedback teachers give. We do encourage students to attend and consolidate their learning before tackling assessments. 

PAT Testing

If your child is in year 7-10, their Literacy and Numeracy Progressive Achievement Test (PAT) score will soon be published to you on Compass via the Learning Task tab early in term 2. We will email you when this is available on Compass. 

We have analysed your child’s PAT data and put them into the below categories based on their percentile score. 

If they scored in the 40th percentile or below in their PAT testing, they fall under the Needs Additional Support category and will be offered support via a range of different interventions, depending on their needs. 

If your child scored in the 40th to 60th percentile in their PAT testing, then they are in the Working Towards category and teachers will be working with your child to support them in the class by modifying work and/or instructions to support them to complete work at their level. 

If your child scored in the 61st to 85th percentile in their PAT testing, they are considered to be At Level. Their teachers will continue to support them to challenge their learning. 

If your child scored in the 85th percentile or above in their PAT testing, they are placed in the Exceeding category. Their teachers will work with your child to offer them opportunities for extension work. 

We hope that providing you with this data will help to give you more insight into your child’s Literacy and Numeracy skills and abilities. 

If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact the school. 

Thanks, 

Tanele Spiteri and Erin Simpson.

Humanities

Throughout the term, our Humanities students have participated in a range of engaging excursions and interactive lessons designed to deepen their understanding and enhance their learning across various topics.

Year 12 Geography

Our Year 12 Geography class engaged in a practical field study by conducting traffic counts and public interviews to assess the impacts of the Lumina Townhomes Development. This hands-on data collection formed an important part of their preparation for their School Assessed Coursework (SAC).

Year 11 Modern History

The Year 11 Modern History class visited the State Library of Victoria. During the excursion, students participated in a Research Skills Workshop, where they developed valuable skills in preparation for their upcoming Inquiry SAC. They also enjoyed a guided tour of the Library, which included a visit to the iconic La Trobe Reading Room.

Year 11 Politics Class

The Year 11 Politics class conducted a United Nations Mock Trial. Students represented various nations from around the world and engaged in thoughtful debate on significant current issues. The activity gave students the opportunity to develop their public speaking, negotiation, and critical thinking skills while deepening their understanding of international relations.