Assistant Principal's Report 

Hi everyone. I am writing this report at the end of six long weeks of term 1, 2022. In those six weeks, we have continued to battle the impacts of Covid. Despite a significant number of students, staff and families having to isolate for a week, we have remained open to onsite learning, learnt how to manage with masks, purifiers, RAT tests and even fitted in some camps and excursions on top of our learning program. Overall, it has been a positive (although tiring) start to our new four-year strategic plan. I hope everyone used the Labour Day log weekend to rest and re-energise for the remaining four weeks of term 1.

Reporting 

Progress Reports were published on last week and should be used to celebrate achievement and create conversations about how to plan for future improvement. These conversations started in Learn-to-Learn classes last week and should continue in other classes with subject teachers and at home with parents. The Progress Report rubric identifies the learning characteristics that students should display to be successful with their learning. Please use the rubric as a guide for conversations with your child about how they are going. Progress Report results are located on Compass and are completed by subject teachers every five weeks. The next cycle will be published in week 10 just prior to Parent Student Teacher (PST) Conferences (Thursday 7th April and Friday 8th April). Bookings for PST Conferences will be available on Compass soon- stay tuned! 

Assessment

On Thursday 24th March, year 7 & 9 students will be participating in the NAPLAN coordinated practice test (CPT) along with 400,000 other students across the country. The CPT serves dual purposes: the first to stress the NAPLAN online testing system, and the second to familiarise our students with the NAPLAN online testing system. Both cohorts missed NAPLAN in 2020 due to Covid, so this will be their first time doing NAPLAN online. Please ensure your child’s netbook/ laptop is charged and has been configured to the school network prior to the key dates.

The actual NAPLAN testing takes place in term 2 (Tuesday 10th- Friday 13th May). 

Curriculum 

With a growth mindset towards improvement, this year we are reviewing how we can improve our reporting processes and the year 9 program. Students, staff and parents will be invited to provide feedback about both. Surveys and focus groups will be part of the review process throughout the year. Further information will be provided in upcoming newsletters. 

Nathan Wallace

Assistant Principal