From the Assistant Principal

Years 10-12

Year 7 camp

The second camp of 2022 was an overwhelming success.  Our Year 7 students and a team of staff led by Mr Bevacqua and ably supported by Ms Phillipson headed to Camp Rumbug for three days of adventure, socialising and country air.  Every report we received was full of positive comments and stories of fun being had by all.  The students and staff got well-acquainted with mud, camp food and the hectic schedule of activities.  Well done to all.  It is very exciting that in 2022 so far, our Year 7s and Year 12s have been able to go on camp.

Year 10 and 11 study day

To ensure that the students are well prepared for the challenges of senior school and VCE, a full day of sessions were presented by our staff.  The session titles are outlined in Ms Karvouni’s article, and our staff led group and individual workshops that provided each student a chance to make some adjustments and improvements in their approach to completing their work.  These sessions were very well received by the students with the challenge now being to turn this planning into action.  Students are encouraged to follow up with staff about the topics and continue trying new strategies that allow them to become autonomous learners.

International Women’s Day March 8th

The school community participated in many conversations and activities on International Women’s Day.  A highlight during the week was the guest speaker Yolanda Vega who is a lecturer at Swinburne University of Technology. Her recently completed PhD investigated how Australia ratifies international women’s rights laws and how the power of policy can lead to a more equitable society.  Students enjoyed her presentation and definitely left the event with a greater understanding and perspective.

School Photos

Thank you to staff and students for the smooth completion of the 2022 school photos.  The individual photos will be used on Compass and on Student ID cards.  Families can purchase albums of photos via Compass.  There will be a ‘make up’ day later in Term 1 for students absent on the day.  The date will be advertised via Compass and MS Teams.

Teaching and Learning

Re-engaging students in the routines of school, differentiation of teaching and tracking student progress are three key elements of our annual implementation plan.  Each week staff are focusing in small teams and in faculties on strategies to achieve these things.  At the centre of these strategies is improving every student’s outcomes and using data points to inform decision making.

At the halfway point of the term, students and staff now have a good idea of how they are coping and teachers have collected data on Snapshot tasks and some summative assessment.  Next week Friday March 18th is an eLearning day and teachers will work on key elements and general teaching duties.  Later this month there will be Parent Teacher conferences where formal feedback regarding progress will be provided.

Congratulations to all the students and staff for starting the year positively and making the most of our on-site learning opportunity.