College Newsletter

Principal's Report

All students are active participants in a learning culture that promotes academic excellence and personal development through a diversity of challenging experiences.  

 

VISION

“Working together, learning together” – Working together to enable all students to achieve their potential and become confident, effective learners who contribute productively to society.

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY

Doncaster Secondary College acknowledges the traditional owners of the land on which our school is situated, the Wurundjeri Woiwurrung people of the Kulin Nation. We pay our respects to elder's past, present and emerging and extend that respect to any and all Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people. We value the ongoing contribution to the cultural heritage that the Wurundjeri Woiwurrung people provide to our school as well as the city of Manningham. We recognise that this land was never ceded and there is no treaty, and we commit to efforts towards reconciliation as a school community. We at Doncaster Secondary College are inclusive of individuals from all backgrounds including the LGBTQIA+, culturally and linguistically diverse as well as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

ANNUAL IMPLEMENTATION PLAN 2021

Every four years the school council must prepare a School Strategic Plan (SSP) The SSP sets out the school’s goals and targets for the next four years, and the strategies to achieve those goals and targets. An Annual Implementation Plan (AIP) is developed each year to support the achievement of the four-year goals. Our 2021 AIP is organised into three different categories (Key Improvement Strategies). The plan for 2021 was endorsed by College Council on Wednesday. A significant amount of work is taking place to ensure that the goals of our AIP remain front and centre in our thinking. 

Our Leadership team will meet every fortnight to ensure that their work is targeted and strategic, whilst our School Improvement Team will meet twice per term to monitor the impact of our actions, identity what is working well and areas for further effort to improve student outcomes. The School Improvement Team includes members of our SRC from across the College. Their input is invaluable and provides the diverse perspectives that we need if we are able to continue to improve and meet the needs of our community.

 

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITY TRAINING

On Wednesday, members of the Principal team and eight staff members started the first of a series of modules run by the Department of Education on leading Professional Learning Communities (PLC)s. The PLC training will improve student learning through building teacher expertise as we work through a cycle that includes the following questions.

  • Evaluate and Diagnose: What is going on for our learners? How do we know?
  • Prioritise and Set Goals: What does our evidence tell us? Where will we concentrate our energies to make the greatest impact on learning? How will we measure impact?
  • Develop and Plan: How will we target our teaching to ensure we are meeting all students where they are AT and support where they need to go next? What will we do that will have the greatest impact on student learning? What is currently working, what needs to change and how will we find out more?
  • Implement and Monitor: How will we know along the way that our efforts are making enough of a difference in student progress?

Staff involved in PLC training will have their classes covered by replacement teacher on the days of their training. The training days will be adjusted in an effort to not impact the same classes. Lesson plans for these classes will be uploaded to Compass prior to the training day. We endeavour to allocate a teacher to the class with the same method qualification e.g. Regular math teacher (PLC training) with a replacement Math teacher.

 

After completion of the training, the PLC leaders will lead the establishment of targeted PLCs at Doncaster Secondary College to continue to build the capacity of all teaching staff to meet the needs of our students.

 

REMOTE LEARNING

Thank you to our students and families for your ability to respond so quickly to the changing circumstances at the end of last week. From the beginning of last Friday, staff set up Microsoft Teams for each of their classes and make sure students were able to connect. During period 4 the leadership team visited classes to speak to our students in person and reassure them that we were going to be okay and that we would be able to work through any challenges which arose. I was extremely proud of the way that students and staff were then able to transition and work within the established structures. Well done to everyone, you should be very proud of how you were able to adapt and demonstrate resilience.

 

CURRENT RESTRICTIONS

Consistent with advice for the broader community and unless an exemption applies, school staff when not teaching and secondary school students, must wear a mask indoors at all times and outdoors when a 1.5-metre distance cannot be maintained. Thank you to the vast majority of our families who have made every effort to ensure that their child has a mask and that we are compliant with the advice from the Chief Health Officer.

 

E-LEARNING DAY – Wednesday, 10 March

Teachers across the Victorian Government School system are entitled to have one day per term called a Professional Practice Day (PPD). During this time they are released from all classes, so they can focus on the improved delivery of high-quality teaching and learning. This is a Departmental initiative that was introduced in 2018 to ensure that teachers have time to collaborate, plan units of work and common assessment tasks, moderate and assess. These days are in addition to existing pupil free days.

 

The impact of PPDs can be considerable for students as they have between 5 and 6 teachers across the week. When combined with staff absences for other school activities, this can impact student classes. For this reason, we will be introducing two E-Learning days to ensure that there is less ad-hoc disruption to students over the course of the term. This will also provide greater opportunity for more staff to collaborate for improved student outcomes. The first E-Learning day will be held on Wednesday, March 10. This day has been chosen as it has the least impact on the whole school program and effects fewer classes. E-Learning days are held successfully at Auburn High School and Glen Waverley Secondary College.

 

On Wednesday, March 10, students will study from home on tasks that teachers set on Compass. Regular teachers will not be available for students during the day. However, this day will promote skill development around being autonomous learners, an essential prerequisite for further learning and the promotion of effective study habits and routines.

 

If students are unable to study from home, we will need to know beforehand so we can employ casual relief teachers (CRTs) for the day. If your child is unable to study from home, please contact:

Further information regarding the first E-Learning day will be provided closer to the date. If we were to again be affected by COVID restrictions and enter remote learning prior to this date, we will bring forward the E-Learning day to align with this period.

 

Glenn Morris

Principal