Assistant Principal (Years 7-9) Report 

Report from Assistant Principal Alice Paget

Dear students, parents and guardians,

Firstly, I would like to congratulate the students on their dedication to their studies this Term and the support given from parents and guardians. Year 7s, you have taken a huge leap into Secondary College and shown bravery, care and dedication to your start here at Westall. Well done!

Our new staff to the College have made a seamless transition and supported our young people in their growth and development. Our new teaching staff have begun our Professional Learning modules from our Westall Institute of Teaching. All teaching staff and provided with 75 minutes each week to collaborate with each other, developing best practice and aligning their teaching and learning strategies to consistent practices we have at Westall, such as the Explicit Direct Instruction Model and the Westall Way Positive Behaviour Framework. 

This week we held our Westall Open Night to provide prospective students and families an opportunity to see a snapshot of what makes Westall Secondary College so special. I look forward to following up with families who attended the Open Night and offering them a school tour, to see the school in action. We have tours in Terms 2:

• Week 1 (April 18th, Thursday 9.30am)
• Week 2 (April 23rd, Tuesday 2.15pm)
• Week 3 (May 1st, Wednesday 2.15pm) Watch our iCreate program in action
• Week 4 (May 6th, Monday 9.30am) 

NAPLAN update:

I’d like to acknowledge the efforts of our Year 7 and 9 students, for their personal best during our NAPLAN Assessments. These concluded last week, with each student completing 3 Literacy Assessments and 1 Numeracy Assessment. It was wonderful to see the focus of the students throughout this period, whilst they strived for their personal excellence in each Assessment. 

A NAPLAN individual student report will be sent home later in the year. Student achievement is shown against 4 levels of proficiency: Exceeding, Strong, Developing and Needs Additional Support. 

How are NAPLAN results used?

• Students and parents/carers can use individual results to discuss progress with teachers.
• Teachers use results to help identify students who need greater challenges or extra support.
• Schools use results to identify strengths and areas of need to improve teaching programs, and to set goals in literacy and numeracy.
• School systems use results to review the effectiveness of programs and support offered to schools.

Wellbeing update:

Wellbeing has been recently recognised by the Department of Education as crucial and valued of equal importance to learning. Wellbeing is the development of the capabilities necessary to thrive, contribute and respond positively to challenges and opportunities of life. Wellbeing is now being explicitly taught in each year level at Westall. Let’s have a closer look at what is happening in Years 7-9:

• Brain Care (Year 7 and 8 Wellbeing Curriculum)
• Social Stencil: 

Each week on Monday or Tuesday, each year level with begin the day with Brain Care. Social Stencil is a program that teachers practical social concepts and strategies, to build peer relationship skills, and a culture of respect, understanding, care and collaboration. So far students have taken a deeper dive into listening, collaborating, reading emotions and how we can thrive when we are feeling the emotion of anger (when we have adrenaline running through the body). Next Term we will take a closer look at how we can navigate friendships and overcome challenges with these social dynamics. 

I have also included a link to the Mental Health and Wellbeing Toolkit for parents and carers. The link provides guidance to help strengthen your child’s mental health and wellbeing at home, and how to work with your school and seek help if you have concerns. Click the link to find out more:

 https://www.vic.gov.au/parents-mental-health-toolkit

I hope you all have a lovely break over the holidays and look forward to seeing you all back in Term 2! 

I will be on leave for the first 2 weeks of Term 2 and look forward to seeing you al in week 3. Until next time.

Take care,

Alice Paget

Assistant Principal (Years 7-9)