Junior School Update

Assistant Principals' Update

Brooke Roy (7&8) and Matthew Bodley (9)

What a great start we have had to Term 2 in Years 7, 8 and 9. This term, we have welcomed back Poppy Hunter to the JS Team. Poppy is our Acting Yr 9 Learning Level Leader for T2 as Kara Dunstan has moved into a Senior School Curriculum Learning Specialist role with the 10 - 12 team. We wish Kara all the best!

As per our Visible Learning program, (https://westernportsc.vic.edu.au/learning-pathways/visible-learning/) Junior School students will complete a series of Formative and then final Summative tasks this term to achieve an S (Satisfactory) result for each Semester subject. To achieve a certificate of completion at each year level Graduation (yes new in 2023!), students must receive an S for all subjects. Students at risk of receiving an N for their Semester subject will first see an 'academic concern' on Compass followed by enrolment into a Junior School Redemption session to 'redeem' the task and achieve a possible S. This Redemption Process is also in line with our Senior School Redemption Policy and similar to the Assessment Policy, is supporting our 7-9 students to be accountable for their learning whilst also building the learning stamina ready for a senior certificate.

We are also looking forward to our activities planned for Reconciliation Week and we thank our students who have been working in the background to mark this important week for our whole school community. Finally, thank you to our Parents and Carers who joined Student Led Conferences on Monday 8th May, we will look forward to running another online opportunity in Term 4. 

Year 7 Update

Lucy Anderson and Tiegan Whitby

Our Year 7s have had an exceptional start to their secondary school journey in Term 1. Despite the challenges of adapting to a new learning environment, the students have settled in remarkably well and have actively participated in various academic and extracurricular activities. The term was particularly busy with various events, including camp at Howqua and NAPLAN testing. We also had an Incursion with the Pat Cronin Foundation who spoke to us about the impact of 'one punch', this was a very moving and informative session. Coming up also this term will be our Point and Be Proud sessions with the St Kilda Football Club. These sessions will be for our 7s/8s/9s and will address inclusion and impacts of racism.

We are incredibly proud of our students for their positive attitude towards these activities, and their ability to manage their time and maintain a focus on their learning. With the successful completion of Term 1, we are excited to see our students continue to develop their skills and knowledge in Term 2.

Year 8 Update

Xavier Mclaurin and Jade Kairys

During Term 1 our Year 8 Leaders in Training (LIT) Students had the opportunity to participate in the Inspire Program at Somers Primary School. During which, our students showed off their leadership skills and tremendous levels of respect and participation in helping run a range of activities with the primary students including; sport, art, and cooking.

Our year 8s had the opportunity to head out on Interschool Sports, where our girls went to Mornington Secondary College to play Volleyball and all their hard work and training paid off as they won a spot in the grand final. And our boys came 3rd overall in Cricket at Emil Madsen Reserve.

This term has started exceptionally well with all students bringing their charged MyTech device to school each day and looking to take part in Extra Curricular activities at Recess, Lunch or after school - see here for what's on offer https://westernportsc.vic.edu.au/extra-curricular/ . Year 8 students have also chosen their Sport Ed focus for the term out of the following; Yoga/Fitness, Basketball, Golf and Indoor Hockey/Futsal.

Year 9 Update

Poppy Hunter and Georgia Pulling

Our Year 9 students have had a busy start to the year, experiencing their electives and getting settled into 2023. Every Year 9 student, for the first time, was provided with a laptop to further enhance their studies at Western Port. We celebrated the achievements of many of our students including CARE awards, School Wide Positive Behaviour (SWPBS) Champions as well our top attenders for the Term. The Year 9s also successfully completed NAPLAN for the last time – a big congratulations to everyone for their exceptional behaviour and effort during these tough two weeks!

This term the Year 9’s have had an exciting and busy start, jumping straight into our career focus by creating their own individual Career Action Plan. It has been lovely to see them get excited about making some of their first pathway decisions and this will be further explored during ICARE when participating in the Career Insights profiling. Students have also continued to mature in their On Time and Ready to Learn routines and will begin the first part of the Respectful Relationships program working closely with Cathy our School nurse in creating better Healthy relationships.