SCHOOL LEADERSHIP MESSAGE
PRINCIPAL'S REPORT
Parent/Teacher/Student Interviews
Next Monday, GPA reports will be available for all students. GPA reports are an opportunity for all teachers to provide students with feedback on their work habits in class for Term One. These reports will also include a statement of whether students are ‘Up to Date’ with their classwork. These will be available on Compass at 4:30 next Monday.
Parent/Teacher/Student interviews will be held on-site next Wednesday, 31st March between 4-7pm. These are held twice yearly, one in Term 1, and once in Term 3. These interviews are most relevant for senior students due to the specific requirements of senior courses. For example, VCE is broken into units, students cannot progress easily from one unit to the next if they are behind, therefore, feedback in Term 1 and Term 3 is crucial for success. However, parents of Year 7 – 9 students are also welcome to attend. All students and parents will be invited to attend our Student 360s (see below early next term).
Bookings for next Wednesday’s Parent/Teacher/Student interviews are now available on Compass or through ringing the General Office (5655 1566).
Student 360 conversations
The Student 360 conversations are designed to be conducted at the start of each term so that students can reflect and plan with their mentor and a parent or carer for the coming term. These are held in Term 1, Term 2, and Term 3. It is our intention to hold the Term 2 interviews via Microsoft Teams with students being rung through this platform whilst as home. The feedback from students during Remote Learning was that they found these interviews more beneficial online and that they felt more comfortable (without fear of being overheard in the larger school space). Teachers too felt that students shared more and reflected more on their progress. It also allowed for parents to join the meeting more readily from home. On the Mentor 360 day, students will work from home and access their work via Compass. This will also be an opportunity for students and staff to continue to use and practice Microsoft Teams in the rare case that schools need to go into lockdown again.
End of Term Advice for Parents
The end of term is always very busy. Students tend to have multiple Common Assessment Tasks (CATs) or Student Assessed Course work (SACs). Bear in mind that your child/ren may have a lot of work due or occurring at this time. Please check their Compass for details under ‘Learning Tasks.’
NAPLAN Practice Tests
Year 7 and 9s completed the NAPLAN practice tests this Thursday, 25.3.21. In 2019 the school trialled the new online tests. This was challenging and the system did not work as well as we would have liked. It was fantastic on Thursday when it all went to plan and the problems from 2019 had clearly been ‘ironed out.’ The online tests are much more engaging and ‘adaptive’ than the hard copy tests. The online tests are adaptive, which means the questions change depending on how the student is performing. This reduces stress for students.
Despite some media attention over the past few years, we use the NAPLAN tests to inform our teaching and to do something called ‘triangulation.’ Any test for any student on any given day, is just that – their performance on that day. Triangulating data means that we have multiple data points which paint a much more holistic view of student performance. Other uses are, if student performance is high on NAPLAN but weaker in the classroom, that requires further investigation and vice versa. In the absence of NAPLAN and other testing, we often have an incomplete picture of student performance.
I urge parents to encourage students to do their best. We would never tell students to perform less than their best at school because of individuals’ opinions. We are all about everyone doing their best no matter the task. The school is planning to implement exams and formal assessments across the school. Why? Because we know that our students in Year 12 struggle with exams. Why? Because they haven’t had enough practice. Practising in low stake environments is critical in developing the skills of working under pressure – something that we all will experience throughout our lifetime. The NAPLAN tests are simply an opportunity to practice demonstrating knowledge and skills within a designated time frame. They are nothing to be afraid of.
Principal - Vaya Dauphin
Assistant Principal - John Wilson