Principal Report
Evan MILLER - Principal
Upcoming changes to NAPLAN Reporting
As NAPLAN results for students are being released shortly, I’m writing to inform you of some changes to this year’s reporting. These are changes being introduced nationally by the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA).
NAPLAN will continue to measure student achievement in numeracy, reading, writing, spelling, and grammar and punctuation but the results will now be presented in 4 proficiency levels:
These are:
- exceeding
- strong
- developing
- needs additional support
This change will give schools, parents and carers clearer information that details student achievement against new proficiency levels.
Students’ NAPLAN reports will continue to show how they are tracking against their peers and provide an indication of their skill levels against national averages and where we would expect them to be in order to get the most out of schooling. This provides valuable information to teachers about how we can continue to support your child.
Each set of NAPLAN results is an important milestone but it’s also important that students know that one result does not define them – these results are about making sure every student gets the support they need so they can continue to get the best from their learning.
When we provide you with your results, you will also receive information about what the new proficiency levels mean.
As ever, you’re welcome to speak to any member of the Principal team or Mr Tom Barton, Director of Data and Pedagogy about any of these changes.
Curriculum Day - Friday 18th August
We can now confirm our fourth Curriculum Day for the year will be on Friday 18th August. This will be a student free day. We have been able to secure Leon Furze, who is an international consultant, author, and speaker with years of experience in education and leadership. Leon is studying his PhD in the implications of Artificial Intelligence on writing instruction and education. We acknowledge this is shorter notice than normal, however, we think addressing AI tools such as ChatGPT is an important topic we need to explore as a school to understand the implications for our teaching, learning and assessment practices, and this is the day we have been able to secure Leon to present to our Staff.
Q+A X BTN High
On Wednesday 19 July, Ms Marianne Clarkson and myself took nine Year 10 and 11 students into the ABC studios to be a part of the Q&A X BTN High special iview digital episode. Amelia Moseley hosted the show and was joined by the following panel members:
Anne Aly, Minister for Youth & Early Childhood Education
Aud Mason-Hyde, Actor, poet & activist
Amarley Bron, Biripi Worimi woman & Year 12 student
Leo Puglisi, Founder and chief anchor, 6 News Australia & Year 10 student
Laura Strawbridge, NSW Youth Parliament & Year 12 student
Will Shackel, Founder, Nuclear for Australia & Year 11 student
The students posed questions tackling some of the big issues they’ll be facing in the years to come including:
- What will the jobs of the future look like?
- What does the climate crisis mean for the next generation … is enough being done or are you looking for more radical solutions?
- Will the cost of university deter you from further study?
- What does the rise of AI mean for your life and livelihood?
Our students represented Highvale SC incredibly and we were very proud of their active participation in the discussion. To view their reflection on the night and what they learnt please read their article later in our newsletter here.
If anyone is interested, you can re-watch the show on ABC iview and catch the highlights and After Q+A on Youtube.