Assistant Principals' Report
The 2017 Attitudes to Schools Survey
We want our student to tell us what they think
Our school is conducting a survey to find out what your child thinks of our school. The Attitudes to School survey is an annual student survey offered by the Department of Education and Training. The survey assists schools in gaining an understanding of students' perceptions and experience of school.
Our school will use the survey results to plan programs and activities to improve your child's schooling experience.
This year the Attitudes to School survey will be conducted at our school between Monday 22 May to Friday 23 June. The survey only takes 20-30 minutes to complete and occurs during your child's class time.
Students from Year 7 to Year 12 participate in the survey. Your child will complete the survey online using a purpose-built secure online survey tool.
The survey results will be reported back to the school in Term 3.
The Department has updated the survey for 2017 to include important new measures that are known to influence student engagement and performance.
Students privacy is our priority
Your child will be provided with a unique login to complete the survey. The student login is an assigned identifier that may be used by the Department to combine data for research purposes only. Your child’s privacy and the confidentiality of your child’s survey responses will be protected at all times. No identifiable personal data is included in the survey response file.
This survey is not a test and your child has the right to refuse or withdraw from the survey at any point before, during, or after completion.
Please speak to your child’s teacher if you would like more information or see:
Athletics Sports - Friday 5 May
Our Athletics Sports will take place on Friday 5th May at the Melton Athletics Track, 82 Bridge Road, Melton South, 3338.
Attendance:
The Athletics Sports is a compulsory part of the school’s curriculum and it is therefore necessary that all students in Years 7 – 12 attend. Absence notes are essential for students not in attendance at the Athletics.
Organisation of the day:
All students are required to attend Homegroup or Year Level Assembly at 8.51am where attendance will be marked. Years 10, 11 and 12 will be required to meet in their designated assembly areas. Students will be briefed on events and the organisation of the day. Once this process is complete, students will be transported by bus to the venue.
At approximately 2:30pm, students will be transported to Melton Secondary College via buses and will be dismissed on arrival at school, approximately at 2.45pm.
If weather conditions are poor (rain, extreme cold), regular classes will run for the day. Students will be expected to attend school with their Student Kit and be ready to complete scheduled periods.
Unfortunately, students who have not returned a consent form will be unable to attend the Athletics day. An alternative program will run for students not attending, as all normal classes will be cancelled. Students who attend school will be dismissed at 2.45pm
Clothing:
Students do not have to wear school uniform to the Athletics Sports but are expected to wear clothing or costumes in appropriate House colours. Clothing should be “Sun Smart”. We encourage students to “SLIP, SLOP, SLAP” so caps and hats other than the school uniform cap may be worn. Clothing displaying inappropriate words or images is not to be worn. Competitors are especially recommended to compete in House colours. Students are expected to encourage and support all students in their events.
HOUSE COLOURS
Djerriwarrh - Green
Kororoit - Blue
Pywheitjorrk - Yellow
Yangardook - Red
Food:
The Melton Hockey Club will provide food at the venue, at a cost, and it is suggested students bring a small amount of money to purchase any food and drink. However, students are encouraged to bring other food or drink that they may require.
We welcome parents to the venue to attend the athletic Sports. The address of the venue is:
Melton Athletics Track, 82 Bridge Road, Melton South, 3338. There is no cost for students or parents. On arrival, please inform a member of staff of your attendance.
Mr A Devine
Assistant Principal
NAPLAN: Year 7 & 9
Every year in May students in Years 3, 5, 7 & 9 throughout Australia undertake a series of tests known as NAPLAN. There are actually five tests – Reading, Writing, Language Conventions (spelling, grammar & punctuation), Numeracy (without calculator), Numeracy (with calculator).
This year the test will be conducted on the 9th, 10th and 11th May.
The purpose of the tests is to give parents and the school information about student learning. It gives us additional information to that which we gather from our own assessments about how individual students and groups of students are progressing. We use this information to provide extra challenge or support to students who may need it. Parents can use the information to help them guide their children with homework and encourage them to do extra reading or Maths if it seems necessary.
It must be remembered that NAPLAN only measures some of the skills and knowledge taught by schools and that are important for success in life. There are many important skills – the ability to think creatively, the ability to work productively with other people, the ability to persevere when an answer is not immediately obvious, etc that NAPLAN cannot measure.
Some families welcome the extra information provided by NAPLAN. However, there are other families who believe the pressure the tests place on young people or the self-esteem issues that may arise from below expected results are not beneficial to their child. If you would like to withdraw your child from one or more of the tests, please contact me, Kate Nye-Butler (Yr 7 students), Eddy Hill (Yr 9 students) or your child’s Homegroup teacher as soon as possible.
Andrée Poulter
Assistant Principal