Assistant Principal's Update

Marina Walsh
Marina Walsh

Dear Families, Students and Community Members,

 

This week has been another one filled with many activities and events to engage our students. 

 

Some of our Year 7 and 8 students have taken part in the Victorian High-Ability Program (VHAP), a state government investment in a new Student Excellence Program promoting the development of teamwork, collaboration, and resilience. 

 

Our VCE Unit 3/4 classes continue to work through their final areas of study, seeing some subjects attend excursions/incursions specific to their upcoming School Assessed Coursework (SACs).  These include the Studio Arts class going to The Australian Centre for Community Arts and Legal Studies students attending a Virtual Court Incursion. 

 

In addition, our Year 12 students are preparing for the final exams through a series of practice exams held on Wednesdays after school in the Gym. The structure of these weekly practice exams where students opt in to participate was initiated by our MCSC Curriculum Subcommittee students.  After attaining feedback from their peers, they advocated student voice and agency by proposing that students be provided with the opportunity to practice an exam using the structure and settings of the real event so that students can properly prepare. 

 

So far, we have seen students sit a practice exam for Mathematics and English.  They will be able to access practice exams for their other subjects as the term progresses.  Students are encouraged to opt in for these practice sessions so that they can experience completing the exams under real time constraints in the Gym. 

 

Student Progress Check 

Semester 2 commenced in the second last week of Term 2 which sees this week as the seventh week of the semester.  Last week teachers completed progress checks which will be released to families at 3.30 pm on Friday 12 August. 

 

The purpose of our progress checks is to ensure families know how their students are progressing throughout the semester. Being the first for this semester, the fourth round for this academic year, teachers will report on each student’s learning behaviours which relate to our school values of Respect, Responsibility and Personal Best.  Attendance will be recorded, showing how many lessons have been conducted, how many the student has attended and an overall percentage.  The percentage used for attendance is the School/ VCE Attendance. This is the percentage of time the student’s whereabouts is explained/ accounted for by the school. The calculation for this percentage is (Present + Late + Not Present for School Activity) all divided by sessions conducted.

 

More information regarding our progress checks in general can be found on the Parent/ Carers Compass Home Page by going to Favourites (Star menu) and selecting Reporting Information for Families.

 

With Parent/Student/Teacher Interviews scheduled for Thursday 25 August, parents/ carers will be able to discuss student progress based on the feedback provided in the progress checks.  These interviews will be conducted online and parents/carers will be able to book in with their child’s teachers.  Further details and instructions on how to book will be provided soon.

 

Tutor Learning Initiative

This is our second year of the Tutor Learning Initiative.  With the impact of Covid-19 since 2020, the Department of Education has continued to provide funding towards this initiative for many of our students across the year levels.   

 

To assess how the Tutor Learning Initiative is progressing and to gain feedback from our students, a survey has been created by the Department. Students who have been participating in this initiative will complete the survey over these next two weeks.

 

For more information, please read the attached document.  This attachment was sent out via Compass to everyone last week.

 

Student Toilets

Ensuring our facilities meet the needs of all students and staff is a priority for us at Mordialloc College.  While most students ensure the facilities are cared for, unfortunately we have seen an increase of vandalism of the toilets this year. We have implemented a number of strategies  to address this issue such as reviewing and implementing adjusted yard duty processes and minimising the unnecessary movement of students in the schoolyard during classes.   

 

We are asking parents and carers to remind their children to not take food into the toilet blocks and to choose other locations to socialise with their peers during recess and lunch breaks.  At school, we will be reminding students of this as well as placing signs up as a visual reminder. 

 

As you will no doubt be aware there is a concerning increase in the use of vaping by young people in the community. Unfortunately this is also reflected in an increased use of vaping in school communities including Mordialloc College. As a health promoting school we are very concerned about the rise of vaping in young people.   

 

A strategy moving forward will be to limit the availability of the use of toilets during class time.  Students who require the use of the toilet during class time will be able to obtain permission from the class teacher to access the Unisex toilets in Sick Bay. Education on smoking including vaping is incorporated into the PE Health Curriculum to support students to make healthy choices.

 

We appreciate your support, from conversations with your children about these current challenges, so that we can continue to work together to provide high quality facilities for all students and staff. 

 

Professional Learning Day for Staff

Each year we allocate a small number of days to ongoing professional learning for our staff.  This Friday 12 August), we have our next Professional Learning Day which is a student-free day.  Our focus will be on further developing our teaching and learning of literacy skills and feedback to students.  No classes will operate on this day.   We encourage students to utilise this day to catch up on any work or study as well as  participating in wellbeing activities.

 

Marina Walsh

Assistant Principal