Principal's Message

Jackson School is a collaborative learning community for all. We aim to develop independence through safety, respect and responsibility. We aspire to offer authentic, quality educational experiences that develop futures, create opportunities and inspire student potential; enabling our students to be valued and contributing members of the wider community. We share and celebrate our successes and achievements.   

The Issue Highlights

• Whole school step-up day. You will receive details of your child's class teacher and ESS by email this week.
• Year 12 Graduation
• Concert in the Courtyard
• Year 6 Graduation & Achievement Assembly
• Semester 2 Reports to Parents/Carers published today by email
• Our School Building Upgrade is Finished! Staff move in from tomorrow.
• Students of the Week from our PBIS rewards system.
• Showcase of students' learning from across the school in Primary and Secondary
• Health and Wellbeing information to support you and your child.
• Community news including from Jackson OSHC provider TheirCare.
• School Dates -For the most up-to-date calendar dates, always refer to the Xuno Calendar in your Parent Portal.

Dear Families,

Whole School Step-up Day

On Tuesday 5th December our students took part in their Whole-School Step-up Day where they got to meet their new teacher and education support staff for 2024. This was a great success and gave us a taster of what classes will be like next year. A lot of preparation and staff input is given creating our classes, but as always there have been some minor changes to class placements based upon staff feedback from the Transition Day. This week you will be notified by email of your child's 2024 class teacher and education support staff. Please fine below a generic social story to support your child's transition into next year. We still have some vacancies and will continue to recruit for these positions in the new year.

Year 12 Graduation Ceremony

On Wednesday 6th December we celebrated our Year 12 students' successes and achievements at their Graduation Ceremony. I’m so proud of all our graduates have achieved throughout your time with us at Jackson School as they now enter into the World of Work. You can watch the live stream on the video above or via our Jackson School Live link. The video quality is not as good as we had hoped due to the internet connection on the night. 

100% of our Year 12 students have been placed in further education, training, post-school pathways or employment. This reflects our strong focus on work education and employability skills across the school.

This was our first cohort to graduate with the Victorian Pathways Certificate (VPC) which replaced VCAL (Foundation) as part of the state-wide Senior Secondary Reforms. VPC is a senior secondary certificate of education recognised within the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) accredited though through VCAA as a pathway to VCE. This also include VET and Work Experience programs.

Our other students graduating completed the ASDAN program. ASDAN offers a range of internationally approved qualifications based around the development of personal, social, work-related and independent living skills. This has also included supported work experience programs in the community.

Congratulations to all our additional award winners. I wish all of our Year 12 graduating students all the very best for the future.

Thank you to The Hon. Natalie Suleyman MP, Minister for Youth, Minister for Veterans and Minister for Small Business who joined us for our Year 12 Graduation. Minister Suleyman has always been a great support to our school.

Concert in the Courtyard

Thank you for much for all of the families who were able to attend our 2023 Concert in the Courtyard this week. We hope you enjoyed your evening with us. We were so proud of our students for performing so well on the night, especially since you have not had a Performing Arts room this year. You all did an amazing job! I would also like to congratulate our hosts for the evening, our School Captain and Vice-Captain - May-Jane Percell and Ben Gardener. You were stars! Lastly, I would like to thank Helena, Nikki, Pagan and the team of staff who made the night possible.

Year 6 Graduation & Achievement Assembly

Today students came together in the courtyard for our Annual Achievement Assembly where we celebrate our success and achievements aligned to our school values of: Learning, Independence, Safety, Respect and Responsibility. Congratulations to all of our award winners.

This is also where we celebrate our students who are graduating from our Primary School and moving into Year 7 next year. On Friday, our Primary students took part in their first Primary Celebration Day in place of our annual trip to the Variety Christmas Party. I think everyone agreed this should be our new tradition. Students took part in a range of activities, including an African Drumming experience. This was amazing! Students across the school also took part in our Water Play Day. 

Watch our Achievement Assembly / Year 6 Graduation in the video player above. You can also view other events videos by clicking on our Jackson School Live link, including the Concert in the Courtyard and Year 12 Graduation Ceremony. 

Semester 2 Reports to Parents/Carers

Today you will have received your child's end of semester reports by email which outlines your child's achievement and progress against their learning goals based upon the Victorian Curriculum (P-10) or VPC/ASDAN in Years 11 & 12. These are based upon robust end-of-term assessments and teacher's professional judgement. There is a section for you to provide any comments or feedback to the classroom teacher on your child's report should you wish.

This semester, 95% of students made good progress or above in their ILP goals across all learning areas. This is an amazing achievement. Well done to our students and staff for all their hard work. Our Literacy and Numeracy assessment results also show we are above like special schools across the state.

Parents and carers are able to request a hard copy of their child’s report if they would like one through their current or next year's teacher. If you have not received an email from us please make sure your email address is correct with our school office or download your child's report on Xuno.

All of your child's 2023 ILPs and Reports are also available on Xuno. Parents and carers will have an opportunity to discuss your child's progress from Semester 2 and their proposed learning goals for Semester 1 2023 at your Student Support Group (SSG) parent-teacher interviews in Term 1.

Our School Building Upgrade is Finished!

This time last year we begun our school capital works upgrade. 12 months on we are at the finish line - almost. Even though we have not yet been able to move into our new buildings, our furniture has now arrival and we can eventually begin to set-up our new rooms for next year. Over January, Rendine Modularity will complete the remaining defects in readiness for our students starting school. 

On Tuesday 5th December School Councillors, the Leadership Team, Joan O'Connor-Cox (Previous Principal) and Phil Cox, Craig Barnett (Previous School Council President) and Simone Bienz (ex-School Councillor) came to have a private viewing of our new school. This milestone celebrates over 5 years of work from School Council in investing in our new facilities. Prior to receiving the $10 million from the Victorian Government, School Council had allocated $2 million towards a school upgrade. This investment has contributed to our finished project which will delivery state-of-the-art facilities for our students for years to come. Our students and staff have coped remarkably with the disruption onsite and reduced facilities available. I am very proud of what we have achieved together.

We would like to invite all community members to our Official Opening and Welcome BBQ on Friday 9th February 2024 between 12pm and 2pm. Join us to take a tour of our new buildings. We will begin with a whole school assembly celebrating Luna New Year (Tet), as well as a Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony from a Wurundjeri elder.

Thank you

Today is the last day of the school year for students and staff. On Tuesday staff will meet for a Curriculum Day to work together to share information about your children to ensure that our students transition into 2024 successfully. School Council have agreed on our Pupil Free Days (Curriculum Days and Common Professional Practice Days) for next year. These are:

• Monday 29th January - Day 1 Term 1 (Welcome New Staff / AIP & School Review)
• Tuesday 30th January - Day 2 Term 1 (School Operations & Disability Inclusion)
• Monday 15th April - Day 1 Term 2 (Staff Medical Training)
• Monday 4th November - Melbourne Cup Eve (Assessment & Reporting)
• Thursday 19th December (Student Transition & Christmas Lunch/Goodbyes)

The first day for students in 2024 will be Wednesday 31st January and the last day for students in 2024 will be Wednesday 18th December.

As another busy year draws to a close, I want to take this opportunity once again to thank you all of our community for your incredible support this year with your child's education. Without the shared commitment from our families and hard work from our students this would not be possible - Thank you!

We say goodbye to the following Teachers: Kal, who is retiring after many years of service in public education. Laura M, who is moving to Queensland to continue her career. Michael, who has explored his first love of acting in a major production - Groundhog Day The Musical. We hope you come back soon! Sue M, who is returning to a local mainstream school. Janet, who has made the decision to continue is a casual role with us. ESS: Alisha who is taking on an opportunity at a local special development school. Aparna who has taken on an opportunity at a school nearer to home. Ram, who has decided to seek employment elsewhere. Dash and Ja Ja who have decided to continue to work on a casual basis with us. On behalf of the community, I would like to thank all of you for your contribution to our students during your time working with us. 

I hope you all have a well-deserved break and I look forward to seeing you all in 2024. 

Merry Christmas!

Anthony