Teaching & Learning Update

Welcome back to all students and families for the 2026 school year. We are excited to welcome everyone back.

From a teaching and learning perspective, we will be continuing to implement the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model (VTLM) 2.0 at the College. The VTLM 2.0 introduces an emphasis on the evidence about how students learn as the basis for effective teaching. It provides increased clarity for teachers about the elements of teaching that have the strongest evidence base.

In 2025, staff undertook a range of professional learning activities, and participated in professional learning cycles, that specifically focused on clarifying learning aims and success criteria. This year, we are focusing on starter activities, or ‘Do Now’s’, throughout Term 1. These are a critical part of our SABRE lesson structure, and allow teachers to get lessons off to an engaging and productive start.

All students have a mini whiteboard built into their student planner. Mini whiteboards allow teachers to gauge whole-class learning easily. Rather than relying on ‘hands up’, or asking for one or two students to contribute their thoughts to a discussion, teachers can ask students to answer questions via the mini whiteboard and at a glance, can gauge the level of understanding of the concept or skill being taught. Our staff will be working in professional learning teams throughout the year focusing on the use of these, as well as the implementation of other evidence-based teaching practices from within the VTLM 2.0, that are aimed at improving student learning.

Compass

We began our transition to Compass late last year for attendance, roll marking, and events, and this year we will be making a full transition to Compass for teaching, learning and assessment purposes. Parents will be able to see Learning Tasks begin to appear for their students. As part of our commitment to continuous reporting, students will complete Common Assessment Tasks in all subjects, and the results will be published to Compass as the work is submitted and assessed by teachers.

We will be using Progress Reports to provide termly updates regarding student progress. We have redesigned our Progress Report matrix to provide relevant and timely information to parents - please see a copy below. Progress Reports will be completed in Week 6 of each term, for all Year 7 - 12 classes.

	Insufficient Evidence	Rarely	Sometimes	Usually	Consistently
Ready to Learn Arrives to class on time Brings required materials to class
Striving Strives for academic excellence Asks questions and participates in class discussion Completes homework in a timely manner
Care and Respect Values the contributions of others Treats people and property respectfully Follows teacher instructions
Learning Growth Demonstrates learning growth through classwork and homework

Additionally, our teachers will be making use of Compass to provide more targeted feedback to parents. Teachers will be communicating with parents regarding Positive Academic Observations and Academic Concerns. This is to ensure that our teachers can work productively with parents/carers to support student learning.

We are continuing to use Google Classroom in 2026. Students should all have received a Google Classroom code for each of their subjects. Teachers will be using Google Classroom to set lesson plans and communicate information. As our teachers become more comfortable using Compass, we will evaluate the use of both platforms to ensure that we are using these in the most efficient way possible.

Mark Oudshoorn

Assistant Principal