Assistant Principal (Years 7-9) Report 

Report from Assistant Principal Alice Paget

Dear students, parents and guardians,

This week marks the half-way point of the year and I wanted to congratulate all the students on their hard-work thus far, especially completing their final Common Assessment Tasks for the Semester. Over the last month, Grade 6 students have had to make a decision about their Secondary School choice for next year. I am also excited to announce we have received 79 applications for a Year 7 placement in 2024! I look forward to supporting their Transition into the College with the Junior School team.

A few weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to join our Year 9s and 10s at Camp Rumbug. It was an invaluable experience for our students and a great opportunity for everyone to step outside of their comfort zone, myself included! A big thank you to our Middle School Leadership Team (Michelle Collins, Summer Bao, Gowri Nair, Reia Grey, Kim Phung and Bar Hose) for organising this opportunity for our students and all the staff who went to support our students. 

iCreate:

Westall Secondary College offers a unique Elective based subject for all students in the College every Wednesday afternoon. iCreate is a student-led inquiry-based subject, where students explore their passions with like-minded peers and staff. We offer a range of subject, including:

• Master the Westall Café
• Outdoor Adventure (Duke of Edinburgh Program)
• Masters of the Metaverse
• Taekwondo
• Boxing
• Sport
• Art
• Coding
• Landscape, Architecture and design
• Aviation / STEM
• Study Space

Inquiry-based learning is an education approach that focuses on investigation and problem-solving. Lee et al. (2004) defined inquiry-based learning as an "array of classroom practices that promote student learning through guided and, increasingly, independent investigation of complex questions and problems, often for which there is no single answer”. Inquiry-based learning is different from traditional approaches because it reverses the order of learning. Instead of presenting information, or ‘the answer’, up-front, teachers start with a range of scenarios, questions and problems for students to navigate.

Here are some pictures of what the students have been up to this Semester in their iCreate, through an inquiry lens:

A big thank you to all the iCreate teachers who have provided an engaging, thought-provoking environment this semester for the students to further explore their passions and interests. 

Course Counselling / Subject selection (Year 7-9):

Heading into Semester 2, students will need to start forecasting towards 2024 and making informed decisions about their subject selections and pathways.  I encourage all students to take the time to look into the subject handbooks over the holidays to explore their options for next year. Year 7s, you will need to think about what iCreate you would like to study, whether this be continuing on with the same one or exploring another iCreate subject. Year 8s, you will need to start exploring the Year 9/10 Electives subjects, as you will picking up one of these subjects along with your iCreate subject. Year 9s, you will need to make some decisions about what additional Year 9 and 10 subjects you would like to study in Year 10, as this will increase from 1 to 2 subjects, as well as your iCreate subject. 

I encourage all students to explore these option with their parents and guardians over the holidays and discuss with their teachers upon their return in Semester 2. 

I hope all the students, families and staff have a wonderful holiday break and come back refreshed for Semester 2! 

Kind regards,

Alice Paget

Assistant Principal (Years 7-9)