Message from the School Council

As a parent member of the School Council, I recently had the privilege of being part of the school’s strategic review - an intensive and detailed process which occurs in every Victorian state school on a four-year cycle and one that all parents should be aware of.

The intent of the review process is to evaluate the school’s performance against its previous strategic plan and to use the results to inform the development of the school’s next strategic plan along with the improvement goals for the next four years.

In addition to looking at the previous strategic plan, the review also assesses the school’s performance against the Department of Education and Training (DET) framework for improvement of student outcomes with its four priority areas of Excellence in Teaching and Learning, Professional Leadership, Positive Climate and Community Engagement in Learning.

Throughout the review, the school had the support of a School Review Panel. The MGSC panel was extensive and included an independent accredited reviewer, a Senior Education Improvement Leader (SEIL) from the DET, the principal, assistant principals and school leaders, two principals from other Victorian high schools and school community members, including students, parents and the School Improvement Team. This collaborative approach allowed for a deeper analysis of data and performance, with no stone or opinion left unturned!

The MGSC review included evaluation of a wealth of data including:

NAPLAN and VCE results, benchmarked against other similar schools (those with similar demographics)
School performance reports
Parent Opinion Surveys
Student Attitudes to School Surveys
Staff Opinion Surveys
Staff feedback on student voice and agency, student leadership, curriculum content, teaching practice and strategic plan goals.

During the review, the panel heard opinions from both parent and student focus groups and undertook observations in classrooms to get a first hand look at teaching practice and student engagement.

The outcomes of the review and the new direction for the school will be shared once finalised over the next few months. However, there were a few takeaways I wanted to highlight:

1. MGSC’s existing performance data is impressive, which was endorsed by the external members of the panel. Whilst there are always areas for improvement, the next strategic plan will definitely be making an already good school, better.

2. The students, from across all year levels, who participated in the review were extremely good ambassadors for the school. They were open, honest and articulate and expressed opinions in a constructive manner. They also enjoyed the experience, reflecting that the use and outcomes from data that is collected from students (opinion surveys etc) should be discussed more openly to encourage proper participation.

3. There was minimal parent engagement with the review, with only myself and one other parent in the parent forum. This is despite requests for parents to join the parent panel through newsletters and on Compass. The review really is a chance to shape the future of school and I strongly encourage all parents to make the most of every feedback opportunity moving forwards.

4. Linda Brown and her team are certainly working hard to ensure the best for our girls! Exciting times ahead!

Geri Sumpter

Council member

Exam arrangements Year 9, 10 & 11

The exam period commences on Friday 16 November and runs till Friday 23 November. Students can check individual exam timetables and rooms on Compass.

The Year 11 exams start on Friday 16 November.

Year 9 and 10 classes WILL run on this day.

The Year 9 and 10 exams will run from Monday 19 November to Friday 23 November.

There are NO Year 9 or 10 classes in this week.

Please note that Year 9, 10 and 11 students only attend when they have an exam

Booklist - Second-hand options

Booklists will soon be distributed to students. They will all be online this year.

There are a number of second-hand options for families, including a Facebook page set up by the PFA – MGSC Book Swap and Sell.

Further details, including the list of texts from 2018 that are being used again in 2019, will be published on Compass.

Canteen Cafe - Online ordering now available

The canteen operators, Bocca Foods, have introduced online ordering. By using the service students can avoid queues and receive a 5% discount. Orders can be placed up to 10am on the same day.

Registration is required at boccafoods.com.au.

Presentation Night

All MGSC families are warmly invited to the Presentation Evening, our final formal event for 2018 celebrating the outstanding achievements of students in Years 7 to 11. The award recipients have been notified.

This year’s guest speaker is Ms Shanthi Pillai (Class of 2008 ) who currently works at CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency and innovation catalyst.

Tickets are free and can be reserved on this link : https://tinyurl.com/yb9r47an

Past Students - 20 year reunion

At the end of October we welcomed past students from the Class of 1998 for their 20 year reunion. Attendees were able to catch up with each other and former teachers still on staff including Linda Brown, Luke De Munk, Dave Shillabeer, Michael Warden, and Geoff Perks. A highlight was being able to tour the buildings and see the changes and upgrades and the refurbished library made an excellent venue for the Reunion.

Ms Carol Duggan & Ms Bronwyn Moline

Assistant Principals

Mentone Girls' Secondary College Newsletter

Issue 17 · 09 Nov 2018

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