Principal's Report

Term 2

Students have made an excellent start to term 2 and seem very much back in the rhythm of day-to-day school life again. As I always say to students, one of the best things about Thornbury High is the chance to get involved in everything that’s on offer. If you haven’t signed up or tried out for something extra-curricular so far in 2021, make sure you do so in term 2.

Athletics carnival

This annual event was another we had to cancel in 2020 so it was great to have it back in 2021. You can see a full account of the day in this newsletter but I wanted to congratulate all students on their exemplary behaviour and enthusiastic participation across the day. Well done to Onus - and better luck to my House, Nicholls, next time!

NAPLAN

Good luck to all students in years 7 and 9 who are participating in NAPLAN at the moment. We have not encouraged any increase in emphasis on this testing, besides the usual familiarisation for students with the online testing process. The data NAPLAN generates is a useful snapshot of progress, but is also only one of multiple sources of data and evidence we use to help guide our curriculum and teaching practice.

Surveys

During the NAPLAN period we also take the opportunity to conduct the Department of Education’s annual Attitudes to School Survey for students. We add to this our own Thornbury High bullying survey, an opportunity for students to provide anonymous feedback on any experience they have had or witnessed. Our experience is that the more we openly discuss, respond and monitor any issues that arise in the data, the better we can keep our school safe and orderly, the fundamental foundation for a healthy learning and social environment.

Michael Keenan

Principal