Assistant Principals
From Mrs Stathatos
It has been another busy fortnight in the college with great progress being made in many areas.
Assessment and Reporting
This semester there are a number of subjects in each of our Learning Areas that are providing continuous feedback to students via the Learning Tasks on Compass. Parents will be notified of these subjects on their child’s report. Semester reports will be made available through Compass on the last day of term. It is important for students to keep up to date with their work requirements and to seek assistance from their teachers if they are experiencing difficulties meeting work submission deadlines.
Tuesday June 14 is Correction Day/Report Writing Day for staff while Parent/Teacher/ Student interviews are scheduled to take place on Thursday August 18.
Assistant Principal’s network meeting
I attended an Assistant Principal’s network meeting with Kyle Simkin at Croydon Hills Primary School where our Senior Education Improvement Leader, Frank Catalano, spoke about the important role Assistant Principals play in improving student outcomes in schools. Frank highlighted the statistics that governments take note of, such as PISA from the OECD countries, when they plan their educational reform packages. He also noted that the Victorian government’s blue print for driving educational improvements, manifested in the Education State, emphasises the role we all play in improving student outcomes.
Certainly one way parents can support their children to reach their potential is to provide time, space and interest in their child’s reading. Reading is often a skill we take for granted, but with any skill reading must be practised, ideas must be discussed, the nuances and inferences must be deliberated, new words must be understood and adopted so that students maximise their skill level when it is needed. We understand the importance of reading and it is for this reason that our Reading Ladders program, which is run in the library, gives Year 7, 8 & 9 students the continued experience of selecting their choice of text, a quiet time to read with recommendations from expert staff members who track the students’ reading material throughout the year. Talks on newly released books and classics are an integral part of the program. Immersion in the wonderful stories of fiction and the informative genre of non-fiction is an activity that can be added into any upcoming holiday plans.
Education week
Education week highlights are many and a huge thank you must be extended to the many staff who organised activities and promoted a friendly competitiveness amongst the staff and students. Well done to students on taking the opportunity to be involved.
EAL Trivia
It was delightful to be invited to the EAL Trivia session held on Thursday and be part of a team of students and teachers who were excited to learn together. Thank you to Ms Moore and the Middle School Co-ordination team for organising and running this highly successful session.
Finally the school community extends to the Frith family their deepest condolences for the passing of Anna Frith, wife of Stuart, mother of Harry and Laura, President of the PCTA. Anna will be missed and her legacy of kindness and compassion, grit and determination will be remembered.
Eleni Stathatos
Assistant Principal
Senior School
Leadership and Service
Our Head Prefects, Rebecca and Caleb, along with other neighbouring schools and their prefects, were invited by the President of the Legislative Council, the Hon Bruce Atkinson, to a tour of Parliament House.
Bruce Atkinson’s warm welcome captured the essence of the work our politicians do in serving the community and leading development as communities grow and policies are updated.
Our group was fortunate enough to be shown around by Dee Ryall, Member for Ringwood in the Legislative Assembly. The history of the Parliament was explained to all the young leaders and their knowledge of governance and serving the community was explored and explained further. Both Houses of Parliament were debating at the time, with one session that was expected to finish at 1am in the morning!
It was a terrific night, with many friendships forged as the young school leaders shared their anecdotes about the final year of secondary schooling.
Imagine being grilled by 120 Grade Sixers from all the primary schools in the area about ‘Why you became a leader?’ This was the case for Meagan and Jesse as they were part of a panel of Year 12 prefects, that took part in a Q and A type format – questions included:
What was your first leadership role?
Do you still talk to your friends?
Why did you become a leader?
Are you scared to talk to the principal?
How do you manage your time?
What’s your greatest leadership achievement?
Hard hitting, indeed! Jesse and Meagan had a great time being involved in this workshop and they laughed with fondness as they reminisced about their Grade Six days.
James Barut
Assistant Principal
Middle School
Whilst it has only been two weeks since the last edition of the newsletter was published, a lot of exciting things have been occurring in and out of the middle school classrooms. NAPLAN testing was completed during Week 5 and gave Year 9 students a chance to complete examinations under conditions similar to those they will face in Year 10 and VCE. The feedback from the teachers who supervised the tests, and my own observations of those who completed the tasks in the Hall, were that Year 9 students behaved very well during the testing period and it was obvious most students were attempting to complete the tasks to the best standard possible.
Year 9 students have also been busy commencing their community engagement projects, which aim to make a positive difference to the lives of various groups within the local area. Over the course of 4 weeks, students are working in teams on projects including creating a sustainability garden at Ringwood Secondary, assisting in a local aged care home and at local primary schools, knitting for those in need, working with Maroondah Youth Services and teaching technology skills to members of the community. The feedback from the community members and the students involved in the first session was overwhelmingly positive and we look forward to seeing and hearing about the fantastic achievements that will occur during the program.
During the past fortnight Year 10 students have been learning about the differences between a growth and fixed mindset, within their Bounce sessions. In last weeks session they watched a video explaining the key features of a growth mindset, which views learning as a continuous process, which can help to increase individual’s willingness to take on challenges and persevere. They then completed a brief survey to see if they currently displayed a predominantly growth or fixed mindset.
In Year 9 Bounce sessions, students continued a focus on random acts of kindness, associated with developing gratitude and thoughtfulness. During their class they reflected on how they felt performing kind acts to others and how the recipients of the kind acts responded.
As always, please be sure to read Ms. Kim Watson’s Middle School Report, for further details of the many activities the Year 9 and 10 levels have been involved in over the past fortnight.
Year 10 Work experience
Thanks to the hard work of the work experience coordinator Ms. Boutsikakis, the careers team and the parents and students of Year 10, the vast majority of students have secured a work experience placement that they will complete during the final week of this term. Work experience is a great opportunity for students to get a first hand insight into a career they may like to pursue after completing school. Hopefully, many students’ experiences will foster existing passions or ignite new ones, whilst also giving them a glimpse into the realities of a working week. Parents and students will receive final instructions about the week via email from Ms. Boutskikas.
Year 10 exams
Exams for Year 10 students commence on Friday 3rd June and conclude on Friday 10th June. Year 10’s have normal timetabled classes on Thursday 2nd June and will resume normal classes, after the long weekend and school correction day, on Wednesday 15th June.
Students are only required to attend school when they have a scheduled exam, which have all been entered into students’ schedules on Compass. When not attending an exam, students should be using their time to revise and prepare for their remaining assessments.
Year 9 and 10, 2017 Subject Selections
Early next term there will be information sessions conducted for parents and students who are currently in Year 8 or Year 9 regarding the subjects available in 2017 and the process for entering subject preferences. Please check the next newsletter for further details regarding these evenings.
Kyle Simkin
Acting Assistant Principal
Junior School
The ‘random acts of kindness’ theme commenced for Education Week has been continued this week, with today’s theme being: Help a shy friend.
If you're in a group situation or at an event and you know one of your friends is particularly shy, help them out by talking to them, introducing them to others, including them in the conversation and making them feel comfortable.
Each day an act of kindness will appear on the Compass news feed.
Reports
The end of semester one is fast approaching and it is an important time for all students to continue to focus and complete all assessment tasks to the highest-level possible. With assessing and ongoing feedback underway, it is vital that any missed or incomplete work is submitted for assessment as soon as possible. Parents are encouraged to access Compass Learning Tasks to view the progress of their son or daughter. Mid-year reports will be available in Week 11, as in Term 1, via Compass.
Technology and Cyber Bullying
As the term progresses it is timely to think about the importance of adopting safe practices regarding young people and technology. Most phones and laptops have cameras and video capabilities and parents need to closely monitor the use of technology by their children at all times. It is not uncommon for students to be texting and phoning each other well during the night, thus disturbing their sleep patterns.
Cyber bullying is bullying that is carried out through the Internet or on mobile phones. Cyber bullying is bullying that is done through the use of technology. For example, using the Internet, a mobile phone or a camera to hurt or embarrass someone is considered cyber bullying. It can be shared widely with a lot of people quickly, which is why it is so dangerous and hurtful.
Being safe from bullies online:
- Do not share your private information like passwords, name and address, phone numbers
with people you don’t know. This can also include sharing of photos of yourself, your friends
and your family
- Don’t respond to messages when you are angry or hurt; to strangers or to people you know.
This will often encourage them to continue or increase their harassment of you
- Log out and stop messaging if you feel you are being harassed
- Remember you have the option to block, delete and report anyone who is harassing you online and on your mobile
- Find out how to report bullying and harassment on each of the different social networks that you use
- Keep a record of calls, messages, posts and emails that may be hurtful or harmful to you
- Remember to set up the privacy options on your social networking sites like Facebook in a way you are comfortable
http://au.reachout.com/cyberbullying
http://www.cybersmart.gov.au/teens/how%20do%20i%20deal%20with/cyberbullying.aspx
Career Action Plans
Both Year 7 and 8 students should have completed their Career Action Plan (CAP) focusing on setting goals for this year, reflecting on last year and looking forward with long term planning. All parents and guardians are encouraged to have an open discussion with their son or daughters about their future dreams and aspirations.
Performing Arts in Junior School
Autumn Music Concert
Last Thursday night was a cold autumn evening but our music students warmed out hearts with their wonderful talent. All bands, including the training band, played to a packed hall full of parents, students and staff. A special thank you to the Music Association members who work tirelessly throughout the year to support our budding musicians and also to students and staff who assisted with supervision or leading the bands throughout the evening.
Biggest Morning Tea (BMT)
The BMT morning tea was held last Wednesday and raised a grand total of over $550 to support research into the prevention of cancer. Thank you to staff who kindly donated to the cause with monetary donations, providing food or donating raffle prizes.
Mrs Maria Allison
Assistant Principal