Assistant Principal 

Last week we held the senior school semester one awards assemblies. The team were filled with pride that so many of our students obtained honors certificates, a true indication of the hard work and effort that these students are placing on their studies in an effort to achieve their best. Congratulations to all who were presented with an award.

The GAT (General Achievement Test) this year will be held on Wednesday 7 th September. All students completing VCE and VCAL are required to sit the GAT this year. Students were presented with information regarding the structure of the GAT this week by Ms. Carmody and I refer you to her compass and Teams posts for the presentation delivered on this topic. The GAT will be held in two parts, all students need to be familiar with the rules and requirements for each. Next Thursday students in their assembly sessions will have the opportunity to unpack the likely nature of questions for the numeracy, literacy and writing sections. I also encourage all students to check the VCAA website for further examples and past questions included in previous GATS.

Last Wednesday the College held a Curriculum Day where staff were able to look closely at the assessment tasks for each subject and to scrutinize the accuracy of the student skills measured I these tasks as indicated in the Victorian Curriculum documentation and make adjustments where necessary. They also worked in teams to ensure the skills required in each year level matched with the recommendations to ensure maximum progression in student achievement. This work has been  a continuation of a larger Curriculum audit that occurs along side the school review process, and goes a long way in ensuring that as a College we continue to provide a rigorous and robust learning program for all of our students in the coming years.

As is the process in all of our classes and with our students, staff work during this day was supplemented with “Brain Breaks “to provide moments to “kick start” the thinking process and maintain momentum in learning. One such activity staff were rallied into a competition to produce the longest continuous Minties Wrapper.