From The Principal

Term 3 has commenced with us welcoming new staff.  They include:

• Ms Kirsty Ramsey, year 10 Leader and Food and Hospitality teacher
• Mr Ash Brook, Mathematics leader and Mathematics teacher
• Mr Aidan Mounkley, English teacher and HASS teacher
• Ms Jennifer Ongalo, English teacher
• Ms Anna Cocks, Mathematics teacher

At the end of week 9 last term, we held the Year 12 Formal at the Intercontinental Hotel, North Terrace. Our students did themselves proud in the way they interacted with each other, with our staff and with the staff at the Intercontinental. Students and their partners were respectful, inclusive of each other and demonstrated high levels of maturity. Students certainly had a great time interacting with each other and dancing the night away.

Term 3 commenced with our third student free day. All teaching staff were involved in a workshop looking at literacy requirements and formative assessment. Formative assessment is the mechanism by which teachers gather ongoing information about how students are progressing in their learning. Techniques such as exit cards, peer checking as well as other strategies to identify where students are at and how we know were explored. The remainder of the day saw curriculum teams exploring the ideas in our first workshop to ensure that we are explicit about the literacy requirements of each subject. The commencing workshop linked with some professional learning we undertook with Melissa Walker, our speech pathologist, on ensuring that our students have the repertoire of vocabulary needed to demonstrate their learning. Our next student free day is on 2 September. All staff will be undertaking the second day of professional learning of the Berry Street Education Model. The day will focus on relationships.

The start of term 3 provides an opportunity for all of our students to consider their academic achievements in semester 1 and 2. Students are well into their academic year and have the ability to look at their previous achievements as well as consider what they can improve. It is important that students ensure all assessment tasks are completed and done to the best of their ability. This requires being organised and not leaving things to the last minute, Seeking help from peers and teachers can benefit completion of tasks. Regular attendance at school is important to ensure continuity of learning.