Assistant Principal News

The end of the school year is fast approaching and so many exciting things are happening in the College. A recent highlight was the College Oh! Day which saw the whole Year 7 2020 cohort come together to experience their first full day at Marian Catholic College. This is the fourth element of the student’s transition program and they were clearly very confident and excited about their first day together. The students undertook lessons in the Creative Arts, History, Maths, English, PDH and Science as well as meeting some of our Year 9 Peer Support Leaders. They also had a ‘taster’ of the Homeroom experience. We are looking forward to the students joining us next year!

Last week we were lucky to have a presentation given to the Year 7 and 8 students by Mr Matt Kean, a Wagga diocesan Principal, around his melanoma journey. He highlighted the importance of being vigilant regarding sun safety to avoid the very real issue of melanoma. This reminder was timely as the weather is heating up. We expect all students to apply sunscreen and wear hats when in the sun, however the students taking personal responsibility for their sun safety is very important. It is also important for students to be aware that aerosol cans are not allowed at school. Spraying aerosol can have a dangerous effect on those suffering from asthma and other respiratory issues, please ensure that your children do not bring these to school, so we can avoid any unfortunate situations.

This week students in Year 10, 11 and 8 have also been undertaking Literacy and Numeracy Testing. Around 30 students in Year 10 and 11 have been participating in the Minimum Standards Testing in Reading, Writing and Numeracy, with many students reaching the minimum standard and moving beyond. Students who have not met minimum requirements during this round of testing, will have another opportunity in June 2020.

Meanwhile, Year 8 students have participated in PAT tests (Progressive Achievement Tests) in Reading and Mathematics. These tests are diagnostic exams designed to gauge student progress and growth from year to year. I am pleased to say that there has been positive growth in both areas for many of our Year 8 students. The MCC staff will now use this data to inform their planning, teaching and case management in 2020.

Speaking of data, earlier in the Term I shared with you some of the College’s outstanding NAPLAN results for 2019. Below is some more specific data to demonstrate the positive learning gain for our students. The two graphs below demonstrate the College’s outstanding results in Writing. The aqua line is the average score of a MCC student while the red indicates state average and the black represents statistically similar Schools. In both Year 7 and Year 9 we are well above average.

These results are a credit to explicit focus on learning at the College and in particular the explicit narrative and persuasive writing programs that have been established over the last four years, along with the Homework and Senior Writing Clubs. In addition, the graph below demonstrates the average growth of our students in Year 7 and 9, again in the aqua and again above state and other similar schools average.

We look forward to further building on these results next year.

Whilst discussing results, I must also mention that 7-10 Semester 2 Reports will be available for download by the Wednesday the 11th of December. The Reports are now available for parents by logging into Compass, where they can be downloaded. While the reports have a new look, please be reassured that they contain all the same information. If anyone has any questions about how to access their reports, please do not hesitate to contact the College Office.

Following these reports being published, students will also have their Semester 2 Awards Ceremonies on Thursday December 12th. Years 7, 9 and 11 will have their assembly at 10am, while the Year 8 and 10 Awards will commence at 12pm. These ceremonies will start promptly in order to fit all the award winners into the allocated time.

Our Major Awards Ceremony for 2019 will take place one day later on Friday, December 13th at 10am. Student award winners for our Semester ceremonies will have their names posted at the front office, while Major Award recipients will have parents contacted by the College Office.

Finally, we wish our Yr 10 students going on Community Service next week the best of luck!!

Yours in Learning,

Lora Segrave and Damien Herb

Co-Assistant Principals