Principal's Message

We Grow Through Connection

Dear Students, Parents and Carers,

Welcome Back for Semester Two!  Once again there will be plenty happening at our great school for the second half of 2023! 

The mid year break has allowed our College Community to reflect and plan for the year ahead.  Students with their families have had the opportunity to reflect on Semester One Reports and revisit and amend Learning Goals across their subjects as required.  As a staff, we are very much in ‘planning mode’ not just for the remainder of 2023 but also for 2024 given that we have already commenced the Course Counselling Process.  Course Counselling (eg Year 9 into 10 for 2024; Year 10 into 11 for 2024) helps us to understand what our curriculum and program needs may be together with staffing requirements for the year ahead. 

We have already had an incredibly busy start to the term.  Sub School Assemblies, our Course Selection Information Night, Key Meetings and a number of Incursions have been organised to support our students in their learning and approach to their schooling.  Wellbeing and sporting activities are also planned this term for our students.  I again thank our students for their participation, and I thank staff for leading these events. 

Our recent Whole School Assembly was held earlier in the week (Tuesday 25 July) and it was an opportunity to set the tone for the year ahead.  We also acknowledged student achievement and heard updates from students on the College Production and State Schools Spectacular events to be held this term, together with the work of our SRC (Student Representative Council) in reviewing our current College Uniform Policy and requirements.  Our students were respectful and attentive throughout the Assembly and we thank our student leaders for organising and compering this important event.

As per recent Compass Community Updates, our School Wide Positive Behaviour Support Focus for Term 3 is being ‘Ready to Learn’.  As a staff, we will be working as part of a Whole School Approach to help and support our students with their readiness to learn.  For example, we have high expectations in regards to: 

• Uniform 
• Being on time and attending all classes 
• Mobile phones left in secure lockers 
• Lining up out the front of classrooms at the start of each class 
• Students entering the classroom in an orderly manner, with the classroom teacher greeting students on the way in 
• Students standing behind their seats and waiting for the teacher to signal when they can sit down 
• Charged laptops and resources (eg books, materials, etc) being brought to school 
• Leaving the classroom in a tidy and orderly manner 

This Unrelenting Focus on an Orderly Learning Environment allows for even stronger classroom management and engagement.  Establishing and reinforcing effective routines in a consistent manner across the College can lead to even calmer classrooms and better learning outcomes.  Whilst this approach may appear simple, it is an approach that signals to students that we are ready to teach and learn.  We have been pleased with how our students have  responded so far this term to this approach.

As mentioned earlier, there are some exciting co-curricular activities in Term Three with the College Production, ‘Back to The 80’s’ and the State Schools Spectacular coming up in the next few weeks.  Staff and students involved have worked incredibly hard over the course of the year to provide what will be high quality performances.  We thank Genelle Lentini (Leader of the College Production) and Jamie Gourlay (Leader of the State Schools Spectacular) and their respective teams for providing these wonderful opportunities to our students. We wish all staff and students that are involved all the very best with these important Performing Arts events.

A reminder that last week (17 July), the 2023 NAPLAN results were released to schools. This year there have been changes to the reporting of student results. These are changes being introduced nationally by the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA).   NAPLAN will continue to measure student achievement in numeracy, reading, writing, spelling, and grammar and punctuation but the results will now be presented in 4 proficiency levels:   These are: 

• Exceeding: the student's result exceeds expectations at the time of testing. 
• Strong: the student's result meets challenging but reasonable expectations at the time of testing. 
• Developing: the student's result indicates that they are working towards expectations at the time of testing. 
• Needs additional support: the student's result indicates that they are not achieving the learning outcomes expected at the time of testing. They are likely to need additional support to progress satisfactorily. 

This change will give schools, parents and carers clearer information that details student achievement against new proficiency levels. 

Students’ NAPLAN reports will continue to show how they are tracking against their peers and provide an indication of their skill levels against national averages and where we would expect them to be in order to get the most out of schooling. This provides valuable information to teachers about how we can continue to support your child.

Each set of NAPLAN results is an important milestone but it’s also important that students know that one result does not define them – these results are about making sure every student gets the support they need so they can continue to get the best from their learning. 

Results packs will be sent home to all Year 7 and 9 families and include further information about what the new proficiency levels mean.  

The results pack will include your child’s results as well as further information about what the new proficiency levels mean. Should you have any questions regarding these changes to NAPLAN reporting, please contact the General Office on pH 5945 1433.

We achieved some excellent results and several of our students have been awarded High Achievement Certificates from NAPLAN. The Year 9 certificates were presented at our Whole School Assembly this week. We congratulate these students on their outstanding results. Please visit the Student Achievements page in this newsletter for all of the details.

We continue to further improve our Buildings and Grounds.   The Buildings and Grounds Sub Committee will provide a detailed report, however a summary is provided below of some recent mid year school holiday works: 

• Painting 
• PSD Support Space (B6) 
• Install of Air Conditioning (LC2) 
• Install of more Security Cameras 
• Various improvement to the Grounds including seating, concreting, etc 

A new cricket pitch, an outdoor volley ball court, installation of further air conditioning, more painting and updates to garden furniture will all be in place by the end of the year.

We successfully submitted our Asset Management Plan Phase 1 Report relating to our Capital Works Program last week (13 July) to the Victorian Schools Building Authority (VSBA).  We are hoping for a timely response from the VSBA to allow us to continue with our planning to overhaul D Block.  I would expect an architect to be in place to assist with the planning of our Capital Works Program by the end of the year.

At the time of writing, our Year 7 enrolments for 2024 are 183.  Whilst we are expecting this enrolment number to fluctuate over the coming weeks and months, a figure of 183 at this stage of the year is a very healthy number.  This Year 7 enrolment number for next year signals a very strong interest in our College, and it is also affirming for the wonderful work our College Community is completing to best support our students.

We continue to provide a high-quality Teaching and Learning Program which is well complimented by extensive co-curricular activities for our students.  Furthermore, we are to help our families wherever we can concerning support that they may need.  Again, I thank our families and staff for working as a team in the outstanding support and guidance of our students.  A reminder that we are committed to an orderly learning environment, a focus on what matters most, shared leadership and high expectations for all in our College Community, 

Thank you and regards ,

Aaron Smith  

College Principal – Pakenham Secondary College