From the Principal
Some of our 2019 graduates on their Valedictory Day
Welcome to 2020
After such a harrowing and, for so many people, catastrophic summer, I hope the new school year offers a welcome return to friends and routines that offer stability and support.
For all those coming to Preshil for the first time, I'm confident our efforts to create a welcoming and comfortable environment will quickly set students and new families at ease and make them feel at home.
Our first cohort of IB Diploma graduates
While it is too early to give a full report of where our graduating students are heading for 2020 until the final round of offers is complete in February, I am very eager to let the community know that our first ever IB Diploma results were very pleasing indeed. 82% of our students received a first round offer and of those the majority was their first or second preference - over 60%.
Our top ATAR was 98.05, with over 50% of students receiving an ATAR over 80.
So far The University of Melbourne, Monash University and Swinburne University represent the most popular choices – over 60%.
For the first time, Design and the various science double degrees represent a clear trend this year.
The 2019 Year 12 class was a small one; the 2020 Year 12 class is considerably larger and the Year 11 larger again. We are very confident that our numbers will continue to increase as students and families become aware of the benefits of undertaking the IB. This is in line with the world-wide trend with tertiary institutions and employers which recognise and respect IB graduates because of the skills and capacities it fosters.
The Diploma rewards hard work; it is not a programme only suited to an academic elite and for students at Preshil they have an enormous advantage of already having completed the four years of the IB Middle Years Programme, offering a seamless preparation for the senior years.
Two students did not seek a tertiary entrance score – both planning to either travel or take a gap year. Of those students who did not complete the Diploma but who gain an IB certificate, they either have already received an offer of a tertiary pathway, can expect to do so in the second round or will apply directly to the institution where they wish to study.
One student is exercising the choice to re-sit an exam in May this year – an option which further sets the IB apart as a very attractive fall-back to have a second chance to fulfil requirements or improve a particular subject result.
I do want to acknowledge the unfailing support our students have received from all of their teachers, who delight in every element of their success at whatever level that may be. In particular, Dan Symons and Bronte Howell have been available and very well equipped to guide, advise, re-evaluate and, above all, celebrate with each student.
The third year of our Diploma is going to be informed by all of the experiences we have gathered over the last several years of training, practice and now the rich feedback provided to us by the IB. We can’t wait!
A phoney war!
From the beginning of this academic year an edict for all state schools, from Prep to VCE, has declared that students cannot have their phones at school. I’m not sure how many independent schools will follow suit. Apparently all other devices, tablets, watches and laptops are acceptable.
A whole industry has sprung into being in response to the Minister’s decision, with a host of companies offering ‘phone lockers’ where we are invited to lock up these unacceptable objects. Advice and strategies are being shared as to how miscreants should be punished, how undeclared phones can be detected, how the new policy can be enforced and how office staff are to be required to relay messages to students the old-fashioned way – because they don’t have anything else to do!
Anyone who knows much about Preshil will not be surprised to find we will not be banning mobile phones.
I plan to let all families know about the agreements we will reach with our students and teachers to cement our approach to the educational benefits of respectful and appropriate use of all devices in our next Newsletter.
In the meantime, I’m wondering when, as adults, we will accept that the old mantra of “Do as I say, not what I do” has never worked and only serves to define us as hypocrites in the eyes of those we most want to protect and guide.
Marilyn Smith
Principal