Assistant Principal's Page

What the media doesn’t tell you – A good news education story

Am I the only one that notices that the mainstream media (Yes, I’m talking about the Herald Sun) only reports what’s wrong with education in Australia. Well, here’s one that didn’t make the front pages. The headline should read:

AUSTRALIAN STUDENTS WORLD STANDARD AT PROBLEM SOLVING!

If this result was translated into sporting terms, we would be in the final 16 at Wimbledon, into the final rounds of the FIFA World Cup, in the break away at the Tour de France... You get the idea

New PISA  data shows Singapore topped the international rankings with a mean score of 561 points – the OECD average is 500 points. Japan (552 points), Hong Kong-China (541), Korea (538) and Canada (535) round out the top five. Australian students performed well, coming in 10th with 532 points, just behind neighbours New Zealand in ninth (533).

The OECD says students in Australia – along with those in New Zealand, Japan, Korea and the United States – performed much better in this assessment than would be expected, based on their scores in the PISA 2015 science, reading and mathematics tests. Australia performed equal 10th in science, equal 12th in reading and equal 20th in mathematics.

Wheelers Hill Secondary College, led brilliantly by our STEM Leading Teacher, Kim Hewlett, has been on the front foot in this area for a number of years. We have introduced problem-solving (Inquiry-based) projects in Years 8 and 9, new subjects at Years 7, 8, 9 & 10 and continue to grow and develop in this space.

It’s nice to see our work paying off on the world stage.

Mobile Phones 2020

You would be aware of the total ban on Mobile phones in schools announced by the Department of Education which will commence in 2020.

In addition to the Department's policy (the link for which was provided in the last newsletter), school's have been asked to provide an outline of how this policy is to be implemented. 

Please take the opportunity to read the Wheelers Hill Secondary College's Implementation policy. This policy outlines what is covered by the Department's policy, exemptions and the College's response to breaches of the policy. 

Please forward any feedback you might have regarding this policy to dx@whsc.vic.edu.au 

Judy Anderson & Andrew Dixon

Assistant Principal