From the Acting Assistant Principal

Years 10-12

What's been happening in the Senior School

Setting up for a successful Unit 2 & 4

Our VCE students are underway with their Unit 2 & 4 studies this term. As we pass through the middle of the year, there is an opportunity to pause and reflect on what was achieved in Unit 1 & 3.  This year in particular, our students have had to work exceptionally hard to make up for learning behaviours that may not have been developed in 2020.  What we have noticed is a VCE cohort who have stepped up to this challenge:

On Monday, we met as a group of VCE teachers to celebrate the successes of our students and to identify what strategies we can implement that will have the most impact on the growth of students this term.  We followed this by facilitating a Year 11 and Year 12 Goal Setting workshop on Wednesday.  During this workshop, students were provided with an individual profile that presented their SAC, Learning Behaviour and Attendance data.  Students were able to not only reflect on their averages and growth, but to consider the enablers and barriers that were present in Unit 1 and 3.  Each student then set individual goals on what behaviours and actions they want to implement this term.  This data is available on Compass for parents and students to see.

Senior School Expo

Thank you to our AHS families who attended our Senior School Expo on Wednesday 14th July.  Teachers had a fantastic time setting up their Year 10, 11 and 12 subject displays.  We had many current senior school students assist in facilitating the evening, answering insightful questions about their experience of Year 10, 11 and 12.  We were all so impressed with the reflective questions that students were asking and how seriously they were considering their senior school program.  Two presentations were facilitated during the evening for Year 9 and Year 10 families.  We were also very pleased to be able to have our offshore families attend via Webex, one silver lining that has emerged for our school community.

Our panel of Year 11 students were able to provide insight into the challenges they faced when enrolling in their first VCE subject, and shared some fantastic tips to the Year 10s about what to focus on this year.  In particular; picking peers in your class that you work well with, starting to use a study timetable and making sure to stay up to date with all homework, being kind to yourself as it is a big learning experience, and also remembering that every student finds the transition from Year 10 to Year 11 a big jump.  It’s about learning more about yourself as a learner.

Over the next fortnight, our Year 9, 10 and 11 students are working on their course counselling program, learning about the requirements of each subject and considering the skills and tools it takes to be a successful student in VCE.  This will culminate in a course confirmation meeting on Thursday 29th July.  We look forward to seeing the programs you have selected.

Transition back to remote learning

As a senior school community, teachers, students and parents, I am sure we are all doing our best to stay focused on our learning and being kind to ourselves during this lockdown.  Students, I really encourage you to find a schedule that works for you, make sure that you are taking time each day to get outside and do two or three things that really make you happy.  Your teachers are doing their best to keep your lessons engaging and fun, but also to stick to our learning program as best we can.  Please communicate with us if you are struggling, have a question, want to provide feedback, or just to check in.  We are here to assist.  At this point, our VCE SAC Calendar will continue as normal.  We have not received any communication from VCAA in relation to the GAT on Thursday 29th July, therefore we are assuming that this will go ahead as planned.