Principal's Report

NAPLAN Results: 

Each year students in years 3, 5, 7, and 9 across Australia undertake the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). The results of these assessments give parents/carers and teachers an indication of how students are progressing over time. They also allow schools the opportunity to identify areas of strength and improvement for both individual students and year levels.  

At Brentwood NAPLAN results are used by teachers, alongside frequent school assessments, classwork and Progressive Achievement Tests administered each semester to measure learning growth and inform teacher planning for their students, so they are best able to meet their needs.  

From a whole school perspective, NAPLAN is used as one of our indicators of the impact of our school improvement work and implementation of the Brentwood Teaching and Learning Model. Once again, this year our NAPLAN results are very encouraging and show that our students are achieving excellent results. The images below show the NAPLAN results of Brentwood compared to similar schools across the state and also our local (network) schools. They state the percentage of students whose results were in the ‘Exceeding’ or ‘Strong’ categories. 

As you can see, the percentage of students in these top two categories is greater than similar and network schools in most categories at Year 7 and nine out of 10 at Year 9.

Year 7 NAPLAN Overview:  

Year 9 NAPLAN Overview: 

Premier’s Award – Congratulations Rei 

We are very proud of Rei in Year 12 who was awarded a Premiers Award for his outstanding results in Year 12 Japanese (2nd language) last year. Rei completed this subject when he was in Year 11 and achieved results in the top few students of the state. 

He, along with all the other Premiers Award recipients received his award at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre from the Victorian Premier, Hon Jacinta Allan MP. 

We are very proud of Rei and his achievement in receiving this award which is testament to his commitment to his studies and determination to be the best learner and person he can be. 

This award also acknowledges the support of his family and his teachers during his time studying Japanese – thank you!  

Year 11 Central Australia Camp: 

In the last week of June 72 Year 11 students and 8 teachers had a wonderful experience exploring Central Australia. In addition to visiting Alice Springs, the Western Macdonnell Ranges, Uluru, Kings Canyon and Kata Tjuta National Park our students spent time on the Lilla Remote Outstation in Watarrka National Park where they spent time with the traditional owners for Luritja. This visit and cultural experience is always a highlight for our students. I would like to acknowledge our students who were excellent ambassadors of our school community and thank the teachers for giving our students this experience that they will remember forever.  

Basketball Courts: 

Over the school holidays the construction of our new basketball courts continued with a very large concrete slab being poured. This was a significant milestone for the project as it ‘comes out of the ground’ after significant excavation work and footings being completed. The next major step will be the top coating which will occur in Term 4 once the weather starts to warm up. 

We hope that students will be able to enjoy this extra sporting and recreational space before the end of the year.  

Staff Professional Learning Day: 

Tuesday July 23 was a pupil free day to allow staff to work together planning for 2025. The day started with a workshop from The Resilience Project who work with more than 1000 schools across Australia educating school communities on the importance of wellbeing and teaching students’ strategies to enhance theirs and others wellbeing. At Brentwood, this work informs one of the three main pillars of our ASPIRE program.  

A significant part of the day was focused on reviewing our curriculum to ensure it aligns with the updated Victorian Curriculum that was released in Term 2. This is significant piece of work for our teachers as they audit the 2024 curriculum and begin the process of updating the curriculum and assessment documentation in alignment with the updated curriculum and ensure it is also consistent with the Brentwood Teaching and Learning Model and policies. 

I would like to thank the Curriculum Team at Brentwood for their preparation and planning that led to a productive day for all faculties.  

John Ballagh  

Principal