Principals Message 

What a term it’s been! We certainly managed to squeeze a lot into our nine weeks. Like most schools, we were hit hard by both staff and student absences throughout the term, which created an ongoing challenge and required creative and flexible solutions. We were not, however, required to adopt periods of remote learning for cohorts, as many schools needed to; and managed to keep classes operational throughout the term.

Community and connection

It's also been a big term for community and co-curricular events, as the richness of this newsletter reflects.  We’ve run Sports days, Junior Performing Arts, Theatre Studies shows and Production rehearsals, Cultural Day, IDAHOBIT, the VCE Subject Expo, tours, Information Evenings, Year 7 Parent Breakfasts, Year 7, 8, Galileo and Outdoor Education camps, NAPLAN, Exams, excursions and many other special events and activities for our students. Phew! It's been wonderful to be able to offer all of these experiences again, to have parents back on the school site and to see the unique bonds that camps and other adventures outside of the classroom develop.

Facilities update

This term we've also faced significant facilities challenges, with the March fire in the Elizabeth Blackburn Sciences building putting that space out of action. The building is owned by the University of Melbourne, who are working through the clean-up process. We expect to be back using most of those spaces in Term 3. This meant that our Year 9 Galileo program relocated again to Carlton Primary School, where they have been making the most of the community engagement opportunities and working closely with the students at that school. 

Pleasingly, we are also making progress on the refurbishment of the damaged Level 2 of the South Building, which had temporarily stalled whilst we waited on the insurance claim to be finalised. We're now moving ahead with a detailed design and development in preparation for the project to go to tender: after this, works will be able to commence. The refurbishment of this level will restore three Science laboratories, three general-purpose classrooms, collaborative and study spaces for students, and a new staffroom for the Science team.

Our school goals: Strategic Plan 2022-25

Thank you to those who attended our Annual Public Meeting earlier this term, were we presented the 2021 Annual Report and outline our new Strategic Plan goals and associated actions. The new Strategic Plan (2022-25) was developed following the School Review at the end of last year, and sets the broad strategic direction for the next four years. Our goals are firmly centered on student learning, and they are:

1. Every student in every class maximises their learning growth
2. Every student feels engaged and connected to the school and the broader school community
3. Every student feels known, safe and valued at UHS

These goals will drive the work that we undertake with staff, students and families over the next few years.

This term, we've been making some clear steps towards these goals.  Our staff have begun working in small teams called Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), which give teachers dedicated time each week to consider their students’ learning progress and needs, and to plan collaboratively to best support those. Our Learning Specialists and school leaders have been working with individual teachers and teams to support responsive teaching and differentiated learning in a range of areas. 

Supporting Goals 2 and 3, our sub-schools have continued to work together to review, update and enhance consistency and clarity in our processes, supported by the principles of the Berry Street Education Model. As well as continuing our whole-staff learning in this area, we’ve put in place practical steps for its implementation both within the sub-schools and in all Year 7 classes, with many practices such as brain breaks and ready-to-learn scales being used across year levels.  We’ve continued to work on enhancing our students and families’ sense of connectedness through community and co-curricular events, and kept developing the shared values (see image above: staff working together in a School Values workshop) that will underpin our work. 2022 will also see the broader implementation of the Respectful Relationships program and curriculum: staff have engaged in initial training which will continue throughout the year. 

Another exciting development are the changes to students' senior years pathways and opportunities. We're making with significant progress towards implementation of the VCE-Vocational Major in 2022, and are looking forward to these enhanced options and offerings for our Year 10-12 students. 

Happy holidays and looking forward to Term 3

I hope you have a very safe, restful mid-year break. We're looking forward to Term 3, and invite you to get involved in our school events. Some to look out for coming up are:

• School Production: 22-24 July
• Parent-Student-Teacher Interviews: 28-29 July
• School Vision and Values development - Family Workshop: 4 August

We're also looking at running a school grounds Working Bee - stay tuned for more information on this and other events, which will be shared via Compass Newsfeed.

Ciar Foster - Principal