From the Principal Class Team

Parent Opinion Survey

As reminder to all parents that the annual parent opinion survey is now open, and remains available for completion until August 26th. This is an important survey as it enables us to gain information from parents about what we are doing well, and where we need to refocus our efforts. A link has been sent via Compass to families with an active email address. If you did not receive this information please contact the General Office to update your email details.

 

Use of Compass

A reminder to all families that Compass is our primary way for communicating with home. All student reports, both progress and end of semester, are available on Compass. We would like you to access these reports, and discuss them with your child or children. If you have any questions or concerns about reports please feel free to contact your child's Year Level Coordinator. Also a reminder that Parent Teacher Interviews will be booked this term through Compass. There will be instructions sent home closer to the date/. in the mean time please ensure you are able to log on to Compass. If you experience any difficulties please contact the General Office.

 

Course Counselling

Over the next few weeks students in years 8 to 11 will participate in a comprehensive career program, culminating in the choice of subjects for next year. It is important that much care and thought is given to this process so that students are completing the correct prerequisites for future tertiary courses. This information also informs our timetabling and staffing for 2019. Parents are able to support their children  by using the Careers website. The link for this website is :   www.stalbanssccareers.com

 

If you have any questions about our Courser Counselling process, or Careers information in general, please do not hesitate to contact our Careers/Managed Individual Pathways Coordinator, Ms Cathy Armstrong.

 

Year 12 Mid Year Examinations and Reports

In the last couple of weeks of Term 2 and during the term break Year 12 VCE students sat mid year practice examinations for each of their subjects.  This was organised to assist students to prepare for final VCE exams by providing practice in similar conditions experienced at the end of the year.  It will enhance the development of the most effective exam techniques, assist students to refine summaries and to identify areas requiring further consolidation.  Research suggests the more of this sort of practice students complete the better prepared they will be when the time comes to sit the actual final examinations.  The results of these practice exams are on the End of Unit 3 reports which are now available on compass.

 

Year 12 Unit 3 VCE and VCAL reports were put on Compass on Friday, 27 July.  These reports include a range of assessments for Unit 3 subjects and provide a valuable source of information on each student’s progress and achievement for the first semester of this year.  Reports provide parents with a wonderful opportunity to discuss progress in individual subjects with their son or daughter.  Where appropriate, students should discuss developing revision strategies, creating summaries and engaging more deeply with the content with their teachers.  We wish all our Year 12 students well in this final semester of their Secondary School journey.

 

Interact Club Investiture Ceremony.

The Interact Club of St Albans Secondary College celebrated the appointment of its new members and new executive this term. Outgoing president Vanessa Duong and Vice President Janet Huynh spoke about the projects they have facilitated over the last year and handed over leadership to new president May Nguyen and Vice President Viet Gou. The interact club is sponsored by Rotary and the school is sad to say goodbye to the founding club of Brimbank Central that has closed its doors this year. Brimbank Central has provided tremendous support of our school over the years and thanks to their work they have impacted the lives of many students and families at our school. The Interact Club welcomes its new sponsoring club Keilor East Rotary and we look forward to the future work we will do together. Interact students are currently setting up a partnership with local primary schools to support primary schools students and help foster community.

 

Student Voice

Eliciting the views and opinions of students at the College is an important part of our school ethos. Last term 95% of students completed the Student Attitude to School Survey which is an important tool in our arsenal towards continuous improvement.  The school uses this data to help inform our strategic direction and ensure the work that we are doing supports our students.  Some of the key highlights from this data indicate that students feel supported and very satisfied with the quality of teaching and learning.  Another important aspect of our approach to student feedback involves regularly working with random groups of students in every year level in student forums. Students provide input into all aspects of our College, from our Instructional Model LATAR to the support they receive in the classroom. The student Forums, and surveys are also further enhanced by a robust student council.  The College’s work in student voice has resulted in St Albans Secondary College being chosen as a case study for the Department of Education’s “Amplify” initiative developing student voice in schools. The school is also engaged in ongoing project within our region as a lead school to support the development of student voice.

And finally...

We have been working on improving student punctuality this week with a school wide blitz to encourage students to arrive on time for every class. We have seen a huge improvement.

Thank you to parents who are supporting this by ensuring your children arrive at school no later than 8:45am.

Principal - Ms Kerrie Dowsley 

Assistant Principal - Mr Craig Jennings

Assistant Principal - Mr John Coulson

Assistant Principal - Ms Tracey D'Elton