Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting
Daniel Moloney
Assistant Principal
Hi there, everyone!
Having reached Week 4 of the term now, we have seen a number of our class groups enjoying a range of excursions including our sub-school swimming programs, community visits and walking trips in our local area. It is great for our students to have the opportunity to venture out and enjoy new experiences with their peers in such a positive way.
Another pending curriculum, assessment and reporting item are as follows:
Term 2 SSG Meetings
Our SSG meetings have commenced this week - Week 4 Monday, 16th May – Thursday, June 2nd.
Again, this is a critical time for our JSA families to reconnect ‘in person’ with their child’s teacher if they would like. They may also opt to meet online via WebEx or chat over the phone. We encourage you to continue to work collaboratively with your child’s teacher to support your child to achieve their learning milestones over each term. Onwards and upwards.
Semester 1 Reporting Schedule
As you might have expected, our teachers are working busily to monitor and assess our student progress, as aligned with their PLSP goals for Semester 1. According to our Reporting timeline, all student reports will be made available via XUNO or in the mail (by request) on Friday, 24th June.
Student Attitudes to School Survey
Every year, members of our school community undertake a range of DET surveys for our principals, staff, parents and students to review and inform our school-wide systems and practices.
All JSA students (aged between Years 4 to 12) are scheduled to undertake the annual Student Attitudes to School Survey based on seeking their perceptions of their teachers, the differentiation of their learning and the level of engagement in their learning each year. Whilst aiming for 100% completion, we adapt all 21 questions using our JSA visuals and simplified language to engage responses from our students, particularly those with high-level support needs.
Hume / Moreland Respectful Relationships School-wide Evaluation (2022-4)
In Term 1, the Hume Moreland Network and broader DET, requested Expressions of Interest for 12 schools across the state to participate in a 3-year school-wide evaluation of our implementation of the Respectful Relationships curriculum. This curriculum is focused on 8 key areas such as emotional literacy, personal strengths, anti-bullying, gender identity and sexual decision making.
This evaluation is intended to identify areas of strength and where we can better deliver this more effectively across our community. Stage 1 of this evaluation will begin with an initial assessment of the delivery and perceptions of our school program from our principal, and focus groups including our teachers delivering the program in classrooms and members of our parent community. It is scheduled to occur in Week 9.
I believe that this evaluation will support us to:
1) improve our existing curriculum evaluation processes in many areas, and
2) consolidate an improved delivery of the Respectful Relationships curriculum now and in the future.
As one of only 12 schools involved, we have the opportunity to develop learning that will be renowned as a school for other specialist settings to come and observe.
eSmart Parent PD Sessions
eSmart is an initiative by the Alannah & Madeline Foundation, and guides schools in embedding best-practice systems and behaviour change processes. A key component of their program is directed at supporting parents/carers to develop their knowledge about supporting their children to familiarise themselves with the digital world, safe usage of IT and positive online gaming practices.
Each term, they offer free PD for parents to access.
If you are interested in this initiative, please click here to register yourself online.
XUNO Online Platform
As mentioned in previous editions, we have linked our XUNO platform to Accelerus (our assessment and reporting platform), to streamline key processes such as family access to your child's XUNO online student profile and their access to student reports (PLSPs, Semester Reports, Behaviour Response Plans, Behaviour Support Plans, Re-Engagement Plans and Career Plans) when available for distribution. This process commenced in Term 1, Week 10.
In Semester 2, we are planning to establish an online SSG booking system. In time, this system will be used to ultimately replace the parents' letters and return slips that we currently use for many families. It is hoped that this platform will become a more comprehensive online ‘one-stop-shop’ to access key all school documentation at the point of need.
JSA Website Upgrade
Keith Webb, the assigned photographer by our web designer, Andrew Carlisle, visited us last week to develop a bank of new still photography for JSA. At this point, we will be revising and updating the written detail on our existing site to transfer over as necessary.
We are looking forward to revitalising this site as the main location for new and prospective families to identify the current programs and the support that we have on offer. Watch this space as work in this area continues to progress throughout the term.
