Assistant Principals

From Mrs Stathatos

Term 3 has flown by and the holidays are an opportunity for many of us to change pace from the frenetic timetable of the past ten weeks, while Year 12 students will be giving their attention to their final study period, attending revision sessions and writing practice tasks. Whatever you are doing, make the most of the time ahead and ensure that you take time for yourself.

At the end of this term I reflect on how the interactions I have had with students bring me joy. Our contact daily with the Community Service students who undertake a range of tasks throughout the day for the college highlights the respect they have for their teachers and the respect they have for their school. In class, the discussion around issues, however controversial and contested, brings a measure of civility that our politicians could learn from. In my Year 7 French class, the discussion around President Macron’s election promise to bring in a law to ban mobile phones in schools was thoughtful, relevant and personal. I am delighted by the authenticity of the student voice and I aim to harness its potential further to engage students in their learning. On a larger scale, one of the strengths of the college is that we value student voice and so the provision of a survey completed by the students about their teachers’ instructional practice fosters reflection and response to the learning needs of students. Teachers receive their feedback in relation to key areas around instructional practice and students respond to the questions: What do you enjoy about my teaching and what can improve.

The Domains in the survey are related to our instructional GANAG model:

Goal- Setting visible Learning Intentions

Accessing Prior Information

New Information

Application of information

Goal- Setting visible Success Criteria

Ringwood Secondary College values

This is the response from my students.

What do you enjoy about my teaching?

I enjoy how you take everyone's feelings into consideration and manage to teach us lots while at the same time keeping class fun and stress-free.

I love how you make french class fun!!

You incorporate so many different ways of learning and explain how the lesson works so clearly

French songs

 Everything

The clarity on what we are learning for the day

The positivity and enthusiasm

What can I do to improve the lessons?

Give us more homework so we don't learn things then completely forget about them by next class.

 Neater writing

Nothing

Give us chocolates every lesson!!

 As an educator I will take this feedback from my students and incorporate their suggestions into my lessons. As a school we are moving collectively in the right direction to amplify student voice and create a positive climate for learning.

The NAPLAN results were released to schools and for the first time we have noted some great achievements in the domains that were assessed and most importantly tremendous growth from Year 7 to 9. Staff have been briefed about the results and in the coming weeks will discuss this data in a meaningful way to benefit student learning.

A plethora of activities has occurred over the term including rehearsals for the Victorian State Schools Spectacular and Band Tour, lunchtime activities for RU OK day and Poetry week, science classes exploring Ringwood Lake, Market Day for VCE Business students, a BOUNCE focus on Mindfulness, sport and more. It has been an exciting term.

A reminder that the end of Term 3 brings us the celebration of a tremendous year of music, with the Gala Concert on Thursday September 20, 7.30pm at Yarra Valley Grammar.

Finally, Mr Barut and I have finished the Unlocking Potential Program, a leadership program run by the Bastow Institute of Teaching and Monash University for principal aspirants. The biggest learning for us from the program is the increasing importance of strategic and operational decisions of a school being made with evidence based research and with the students at the centre of the decision making process. We are grateful to our principal Michael Phillips who supported us in the program.

Have a safe and wonderful break

Eleni Stathatos

Assistant Principal

From Mr Barut

Did someone say September?

As I pen this missive, the term holidays are upon us. Time for a bit of sibling/family time and a break from studies…but! Not for the Year 12 cohort…

Exams are nigh, next term is a short time for face to face teaching and a study routine needs to lift to the next level. There are a series of revision lectures available to all the students, made possible by the relationships and collegiality of all the schools in the MSSP (Maroondah Secondary Schools Partnership) in the network. Norwood Secondary College will be the venue for these revision opportunities. Further, all those students who study English, have a practice English examination here at the College, that will be marked EXTERNALLY by a current VCAA assessor! What a sensational opportunity for all our students to receive feedback from someone who will be at the coal face, marking thousands of essays from students all over Victoria. Other subjects have also penned in practice exams, (some following the same procedure) and students must ensure their organisational health is in place so that they do not MISS any sessions made available to them.

This is a very vital time for the Year 12 cohort (and those Year 11 students undertaking a Unit 3 and 4 study) as notwithstanding consistency throughout the year, exam success is vital in maximising an ATAR….there are still so many marks up for grabs. I often get asked by students on some ideas about how to maintain a ‘study routine’ over the term break and the answer is quite simple – follow your current school timetable – that way, you will know that you have covered off on every lesson.

This is a vital time.

In other developments throughout the College, last Saturday saw the Year 12 class of 2024 present for testing. There were certainly a few nerves amongst the Grade 6 students that will be attending the College as Year 7 next year. I am happy to report that all the students (and their parents!) survived this first step of transition into secondary schooling. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ms Anna Urbano, Head of Junior School, Mrs Leah Pritchard, our Director of Admissions, Marketing and the International Student portfolio, Ms Narelle Meek, our VASS co –ordinator and owner and handler of Europa, our gorgeous therapy Labrador. This team allowed the day to run smoothly and without a hiccup.

As a follow on from that, thank you to Mrs Annette Niven, our ACE Program co –ordinator who ran extra testing for a large number of our incumbent Grade 6 students applying to be in the ACE class from 2019 onwards. Results will be available in due course.

Sometimes, the media seizes any opportunity to report on an unsavoury incident that involves young learners that has the intended effect of creating hysteria and furrowed brows from the target audience, often making misleading, hyperbolic commentary about an entire generation – where am I going with this? Imagine nearly 300 Year 9 students having the opportunity to partake in the City Experience project as part of their curriculum….mayhem? pillage? anarchy? Nay! I have received a number of reports from our supervising staff that have watched our Year 9 cohort grow in confidence before their very eyes as they have navigated and attended various iconic Melbourne establishments, used public transport to get to places and visited other eateries (outside Maccas?) for lunch. The students have handled themselves with aplomb and maturity, respectfully aware that they are not only representing their own values and behaviour, but also the values and expectations of our college. This is a massive undertaking by the College, as it involves so many staff to attend and support each other to allow our students to be exposed to authentic learning of our fine city. Thank you to the staff who have attended, the staff back at RSC who are covering classes and to Mrs Virginia Watson for co - ordinating the entire program and the support and involvement of the middle school team.

Have a restful break, everyone.

James Barut

Assistant Principal

From Mrs Allison

As September arrives and the weather warms up, RSC becomes very busy with 2019 planning in full drive. Over the past month, students from Years 8 to Year 11 have selected their subjects for next year. Career education is a vital focus area with students required to have a career action plan from an early age. It is imperative that any decisions for the future are well thought through and I encourage parents to talk about future plans with their children so as to support our youth through this challenging mind field of choice. CICA states: “the decisions that young people make at school have a big impact on their lives – affecting not just their further education, training or employment, but also their social lives, finances and health outcomes”. For students to make informed choices they need to focus on their interests, strengths and aspirations and achievements. In 2019, all Year 10 students will undertake work experience for a week and those students studying VCAL will undertake a structured work placement. Career education provides students with the knowledge, skills and capabilities needed to make informed course and career decisions, and equips them for the world of work.

Maroondah Plus 10 Schools

Ringwood Secondary College is proud to be participating in the Maroondah Plus 10 Schools project. Maroondah Plus 10 schools aim to increase the wellbeing and educational outcomes of students in Maroondah through the implementation of Positive Education and targeted wellbeing initiatives. Using a collective impact framework, local schools are working together with Maroondah City Council, community agencies and world leaders in Positive Education to share practice, build expertise and work collaboratively to achieve meaningful outcomes for young people.

In December 2017, all RSC staff participated in a full day of training on Positive Education. Positive Education brings together the science of Positive Psychology with best practice teaching to encourage and support individuals, schools and communities to flourish. We are proud to be part of this exciting project, and look forward to sharing our Positive Education journey with you as we progress. Since then our staff have received further professional learning on Mindfulness, from Dr Craig Hassed, and later this year they will experience another full day of positive education training.

For more information on Plus10 schools, visit http://www.maroondahyouth.com.au/Plus10schools or watch this great video https://www.facebook.com/MaroondahCityCouncil/videos/232660970731629/

2019 Leadership positions

Ringwood Secondary College’s leadership program aims to:

• empower students to work in partnership with staff towards shared goals.
• enable creativity to flourish as the school community benefits from the wealth of experiences, ideas, skills and sense of fun that students bring.
• provide opportunities for students to develop leadership skills through a variety of inspiring, challenging and valued projects which impact positively on learning, teaching and well-being for both students and staff.
• prepare students for secondary and tertiary education to achieve personal and professional excellence in life after school.

Students in Years 7-10 are encouraged to apply for a 2019 leadership positions that will be advertised soon.

Wellbeing Focus for this week…

Wellbeing Builder: Positive & Optimistic Thinking

Meaning and Purpose: Leadership/Move More

As Barbara Fredrickson’s research has informed us, it is the frequency of positive emotions, not their intensity, which builds our wellbeing. Looking at life optimistically and searching for what is good in things and right about what we are doing sees positive emotions bubbling away in us. We are striving, thriving and flourishing.

When we educate our students about the amazing benefits of adopting an optimistic outlook in their lives and introduce them to the little positive actions they can do often, they shine. Happy people enjoy better health and are more likely to achieve what they set out to do.

The alternative is to look at life pessimistically and search for what is wrong with things. Well guess what? People who adopt this negative way of thinking find plenty of things they perceive to be not right, because that is all they are on the lookout for. It’s a pity they miss out on the great things that are happening and could happen. As such, they seldom have those warm feelings of gratitude and appreciation.

The zest of optimistic thinkers is contagious and rubs off on those around them. Unfortunately, this is also true for negative thinkers.

“It makes sense to me to only think optimistically.” MW

Scholarships Award

Congratulations to Kade Caulfield Knight and Justin Pomponio, both successful scholarship recipients, provided by a not for profit organisation, Kids Under Cover. This financial assistance will help them with their 2019 education and training costs.

Maria Allison

Assistant Principal