From the Assistant Principal

Junior School

NAPLAN

Year 7 and 9 students participated in this year’s NAPLAN testing over the past fortnight.  They conducted themselves admirably, demonstrating our school values of Diversity, Aspiration, Respect and Excellence.  This was evident in that students took the testing process seriously, each concentrating and doing their best throughout the four different assessments; Reading, Writing, Language Conventions and Numeracy.  Students were patient and quiet once they’d completed their own test, respecting that other students were not finished and still needing to focus.

We are always very proud of our school’s NAPLAN growth data.  This is the “value-add” that is achieved when students can demonstrate progress above and beyond the expected 12 months learning growth in one school year.  The emphasis that our teachers place on maintaining high expectations, differentiating tasks based on data to ensure all students are appropriately challenged in their learning and our common instructional model are just a few of the key elements that contribute to the progress our students are making in their acquisition of literacy and numeracy skills.  At AHS, we look at NAPLAN as a ‘moment in time’ and just one useful way to track our progress in improving student learning outcomes.  NAPLAN results are also used to help teachers to support their classes and individual students, not only in English and Maths, but in literacy and numeracy across all learning areas.

Congratulations to all Year 7 and 9 students for the maturity and focus they demonstrated throughout the process.  Thank you to our Junior School Curriculum Learning Specialist, Cassandra Mahony, ably assisted by Oliver Lamb, in ensuring the process ran seamlessly. 

There are lots of moving parts and work behind the scenes to administer the 1028 tests across 257 students across two year levels!  99% of tests have now been completed, which is a fantastic achievement.

PEER SUPPORT

Our 2023 Peer Support program commenced last week, with our wonderful team of Year 10 student Peer Support Leaders putting their training into practice with their Year 7 groups for the first time.  Feedback was really positive from participants and staff alike.  The Year 10s did a great job running a range of fun and engaging activities, which were enthusiastically received by the Year 7 groups.  There will be a series of five Peer Support sessions conducted throughout Semester 1, and some special catch-up sessions taking place in Semester 2 to keep the connections going strong.  Thank you to Charlotte Dibben, our Assistant Year 7 Leader, who has taken on the program as part of her Transition Coordination work for the first time this year.  Well done to all involved!

NASA STEM TRIP 2024

I am excited to announce that AHS will be offering students in Years 8-11 the opportunity to attend a NASA STEM trip to the United States in the September 2024 school holidays! This will be the first time we've been able to offer this amazing experience to our students since 2019. Representatives from Global Learning Expeditions will join our upcoming year level assemblies to provide an overview to students, before a Parent Information Session at school on Thursday 27th April at 6pm - save the date! More info coming soon! Please note, priority will be given to Year 9-11 students.