DEPUTY PRINCIPAL - TEACHING & LEARNING REPORT 

Vision for Teaching and Learning at St Mary MacKillop College - a statement that drives the development of a high performance learning culture at SMMC. 

At St Mary MacKillop College we have high expectations of our students so we equip them with the knowledge, skills and dispositions for lifelong learning. We pursue excellence through a teaching and learning environment that is inclusive, engaging and encourages growth. We value collaboration, innovation and building strong relationships.

It was wonderful to be able to celebrate Year 12 Graduation last Friday at our Mass and dinner. Congratulations to all of our Year 12 students for their achievements throughout their years of schooling. We wish you all the best for your future endeavours.

Even though the exams for VCE students have concluded, the rhythm of school life continues. This time of the year is always a busy time as we prepare for the next year. Our senior students entering Year 11 and 12 in 2023 have recently attended interviews with staff to finalise their subject choices for next year. I always enjoy these conversations as I get to find out more about the unique pathways our students wish to pursue once they finish secondary school. Thank you to our amazing Pathways Team for organising these interviews. Thank you also to our parents and guardians who attended the interviews with their child and supported the subject selection process. I hope parents and guardians found the conversations beneficial as we talked about their child’s goals and plans for the future.

Year 9 and 10 students have completed the subject selection process for next year and it is an exciting time for these students as they get to explore new studies through our broad elective program.

Congratulations to our Year 11 students for completing their exams. Year 11 students entering VCE/VCAL next year have spent this week in orientation classes for their 2023 subjects. Thank you to the staff who prepared these classes and have ensured our students will enter next year well prepared for an exciting year of learning. Next week our Year 10 students will complete exams for English, Maths and Science, and will spend Thursday and Friday in orientation classes for their 2023 subjects.

Our Year 7 and 8 students will also complete exams next week for English, Maths and Science. We wish our students all the very best as they prepare for their exams.

The end of the school year is fast approaching and I encourage our students to maintain focus until the end of the term. I wish everyone all the best as Term 4 and the 2022 school year comes to an end.

Happy World Children’s Day! Sunday 20 November

On World Children’s Day we extend a huge thank you to our amazing teachers who each day are making a difference in the lives of all the young people who attend our wonderful school.

World Children’s Day is a reminder that every child needs to be safe, respected, valued and understood. For further information on the day, please click here.

Victorian Young Leaders: Global Youth Forum

By Charli Lovell - Year 9 Student

Over this last week, myself and seventeen other students have taken part in a three day Victorian Young Leaders Global Youth Forum program. This program was run by Asia Education Foundation staff as well as students from the University of Melbourne. We logged into Zoom along with 150+ students over Victoria and the Asia Pacific and learned about leadership, identity, stereotypes, and globalisation. During this program, we had guest speakers including Aunty Georgina, Jahin Tanvir, and Anna Louey. These speakers spoke about a wide range of subjects including culture, getting out of your comfort zone and identity, however, they all had the same underlying message of putting yourself out there and making a change no matter how big or small that will be. During the program we went into breakout rooms with other Year 9 Students from Indonesia and Victoria and were able to discuss what we had learned from the guest speakers, interact with each other and learn about how similar and different our schools are, as well as just having a genuine friendly talk. The last thing we were able to do was present a prototype of something we would be able to change in our school and how we can put it into action. We would like to thank all AEF (Asia Education Foundation) staff, the students from the University of Melbourne and Mr Lane for giving us this opportunity to help us grow as young leaders. It has been an amazing experience.