DEPUTY PRINCIPAL REPORT

The Riverina Anglican College Parental Engagement Top 10% in Australia

As you may be aware, my focus this term has been on parental engagement with the learning aspects of the College. With that in mind, I had some fantastic news this week from our educational partners 'Elevate'. Free webinars for parents have been occurring over the course of this term and they have confirmed that the engagement of parents of The Riverina Anglican College places us in the top 10% of schools in Australia. They also mentioned the ‘glowing reviews’ provided by parents who had attended. Thank you College parents for having such an interest in building your child’s learning skills! Keep an eye out for future events in The Riverina Anglican College Newsletter and on our College Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TRACwagga/. If you would like to know more about Elevate Education, please check the website: https://au.elevateeducation.com/. 

Are you on Compass? 

As we continue to roll out the Compass education platform there will be even greater opportunities for you to be informed about your child’s attendance, academic performance and overall engagement with the college community. If you have not done so already, please activate your parent portal so that you can be part of the action. 

To access our Parent Portal, go to this link  https://trac-nsw.compass.education/. 

These links are also available on the College website.

Using the Parent Portal in Compass you will be able to:

• Access and download your child's Semester Reports
• View up-to-date class and school attendance information
• Approve or enter upcoming or past absences for your son/daughter
• Update your registered email and mobile number (used for SMS alerts) details
• Access information regarding upcoming events and news
• Book your Parent/Student/Teacher interviews

Upon the first login, you will be required to change your temporary password and confirm your email address and mobile phone number. Please do not hesitate to contact the College if you require any further assistance.

Your Username is «ParentCode»

Your (temporary) Password is «ParentPassword»

If you forget your password, click on "Can't access your account?" on the login page and follow the prompts.

For more information please read this Guide for Parents and Families - https://www.compass.education/guide

Teachers Teaching Teachers

In teaching news, our teachers are always engaging in professional development to enhance their skills, knowledge and pedagogical capacity. One of the silver linings from the online period of teaching and learning during COVID-19 was the growth in our understanding around a range of information and communication technologies that improved learning at that time, but also in an ongoing manner in the regular classroom. Last week we held the second in a series of teaching and learning showcases within our professional learning period that takes place on Tuesday afternoons. Topics covered on the day included Jamboard, Screencastify, Nearpod, Flipgrid, Quizlet and EdPuzzle. This was a follow-up session to last term’s sessions on using a green screen, use of YouTube in the classroom, videos for practical subjects, differentiation in Google Classroom, flipped learning, Lip Sync, Chatter Pix and Videoleap. 

These two professional learning opportunities involved all teaching staff as participants and over 28 staff presenting to their peers. As renowned educational researcher John Hattie asserts, collective teacher efficacy has the greatest impact on the positive learning experiences of a child at school. In other words, the more we share our best practice as a staff the greater we can impact on all students in our care. I deeply appreciate the time and effort our wonderful staff took to help their peers build their skills. 

As always, if you would like to talk learning, please do not hesitate to be in touch. 

Anthony Heffer | Deputy Principal - Teaching, Learning and Innovation