Principal Report
A message from the Principal
Ms Nerina Pretlove
As we enter Week 6 of Term 1, the threat of the Covid-19 epidemic is beginning to recede and activities around the school are starting to return to normal with some precautions still in place. Over the summer break, the improvement work around our school has continued with more learning environments being updated and grounds being renovated to provide innovative spaces for your children.
Year 7 have quickly transitioned into their new high school setting. We welcome all our Year 7 parents, particularly those of you who are first time high school ones. I hope that you have had a chance to see the video, through our social media accounts, showcasing Year 7 at work and to meet some of their teachers. A big thank you to the talented Mr Chapman for creating this opportunity for us to connect with you. We are looking at opportunities to have Covid-19 safe meetings for parents to connect with us in person as soon as possible.
At the same time, Year 12 are focussed on their assessments and preparation for the coming half yearly exams. We remind them to make good use of Fridays and the opportunities available to extend themselves through study, working on their major projects and performances. Research from across the world, has indicated that the top 11% of students have a number of things in common no matter what country they are in, and that is, they complete past exam papers on a regular basis as part of their study. We have workshopped this at lunchtime for interested students.
After an absence last year, NAPLAN testing will go ahead early next term for Years 7 and 9. More information will come to you soon. Whilst the NAPLAN results provide an important source of data for teachers, it is only one indicator of student educational progress at a particular point in time.
In recognition that the Covid-19 epidemic may have made an impact on some students’ learning, the Government has allocated extra funds to our school to support students across all years with extra tuition. The Covid Intensive Learning Support Program (ILSP) will provide small group tuition by having additional educators who will work closely with classroom teachers to make sure the tuition is well targeted to students in need of extra support. We have a team of expert staff led by Mr El Hafiane that is looking at our data to identify students who would benefit from the extra support over this year. We will be providing more information to you in the near future.
With each new year, we welcome new staff and this year I am excited to announce that our Language program has been enhanced with the arrival on Ms Von Hacht and Ms Lin. They are delivering studies in the German and Japanese languages to Years 7, 8 and 9. Ms Newsome who brings extensive experience in human resource and business management has been appointed as our permanent Careers Teacher. Her connections and understanding of the business and tertiary educational worlds will provide our students with many opportunities to plan their transitions to post schooling destinations.
We also welcome to our school the appointment of Ms Sarah Emmanuel as our Community Liaison Officer (CLO). She will bring another level of expertise to increase our connections with our wider community and opportunities for you to engage with our school.
The closing of the borders to reduce our exposure of the Covid-19 virus has had a direct impact on our Intensive English Centre (IEC). With very few people being able to immigrate to Australia over the past twelve months, the numbers of students have significantly declined. As a result, we have had to reduce a large number of staff in our IEC. However, in recognition of the incredible expertise that our IEC staff have in supporting EAL/D students, we have developed a number of partnerships to utilise their skills. We are working closely with schools in the Murrumbidgee area and our local primary partner, Walters Road Public School. Furthermore, we are supporting EAL/D learners across our school's network with the recent appointment of Mr Michael Cleary as the Deputy Principal EAL/D Education Leader. In addition, Evans IEC was invited to provide virtual lessons to students based overseas who were enrolled in schools but were unable to come to Australia due to the closed borders.
At present, our school team is working on our new School Improvement Plan 2021-24. We would very much like to share our vision for the school and have your feedback before we publish it in April. If you are interested in participating as part of a parent group please send your details, including times of availability both during and outside school hours to our CLO, Sarah Emmanual: sarah.emmanuel@det.nsw.edu.au
As you can see, there is much happening here at Evans to support your students through their learning journeys with us. We also look forward to meeting with you in person on various occasions as the year progresses and Covid-19 regresses.
Nerina Pretlove
Principal