DEPUTY PRINCIPAL LEARNING AND TEACHING

PARENT STUDENT TEACHER CONFERENCES

Parent Student Teacher Conferences were held on Tuesday 9 May at the Enright Campus. We value and encourage parents' input and support for their child and their education. 

I would like to take the time to reflect on the value of communication and information sharing. One of the key components for achieving good learning outcomes for our students is to have good lines of communication between the college, the teacher and our families. When teachers and parents work together with mutual respect and caring, children achieve more at school and are happier to be there. Teachers acknowledge that parents are a primary partner in education. They have much to contribute and are important in achieving the best learning outcomes for the students. 

A recent University of Sydney study, titled 'Young People's Interpersonal Relationships and Academic and Non-Academic Outcomes' by Andrew Martin, Herbert Marsh, Dennis McInerney and Jasmine Green, indicates that parents have more influence on academic outcomes than they realise. The study looked at 3,450 Australian Secondary Students in Years 7–12. This study found that parents and teachers who instil academic discipline and motivation and fear their good work is ruined by a child’s peer group can take heart. The study found that getting on well with your parents and teachers has a strong positive influence on an adolescent’s academic outcomes and a bigger influence than peers.  Andrew Martin, an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Education and Social Work, says that 'parents and teachers who might feel powerless during adolescence have a bigger influence on academic motivation than they think – up to three times the impact of peers. If you think you have no or little impact, stick with it. Because you do, and not just in the early years – at all stages of secondary school, teachers and parents have a significant impact'.

Interestingly, when the study looked at non-academic outcomes, for example physical self-concept, honesty, and emotional stability, peers had a bigger influence than parents and teachers. Martin concludes that the findings highlight the need for young people to have a range of positive relationships in their academic, home/family and social lives.

St Joseph’s College recognises the value of a strong partnership with parents and the role this has in the learning undertaken by each student. Parent Student Teacher Conferences and reports are two high profile information-sharing processes that can provide the basis for valuable communication. 

By being informed and involved in the feedback processes, you are showing your child that you value their schoolwork and are interested in what they do. You are also showing your child’s teacher that you are interested and prepared to participate in and support that child’s learning. 

SCHOLARSHIPS

In 2017, the college introduced a scholarship program to encourage and support the continued education of dedicated and hard-working students. This has been a fantastic success, and it is great to be able to recognise and support the students in this manner.

To encourage excellence and to acknowledge our diverse student population, the college is excited to offer a number of scholarship opportunities for our students as they move into Years 11 and 12. Scholarship applications will open late in Term 2, with the process concluding during Term 3. 

Year 11 Founding Sisters of Mercy Scholarships

As in previous years, we are offering the Year 11 Founding Sisters of Mercy Scholarships. The college presents nine $1,500 scholarships annually to Year 10 students transitioning into Year 11 at the college who respect and display our Mercy Core Values and who have shown excellence both in their academic and personal school life.  

Mercy Academic Internal Scholarships

The college has introduced the Mercy Academic Internal Scholarships, which are offered on the basis of academic merit, to students continuing Years 11 and 12 at the college in 2024 and 2025. These scholarships have a tenure of two years. The scholarships are for the remission of 50% of the global fee each year of the scholarship and are offered to a limited number of Year 10 students ranked in the top ten percent of the Year 10 cohort. 

Continuing from previous traditions, the VCE VM Excellence Scholarship and the Postgraduate Year 12 Award Scholarships will be awarded to the most successful graduating students of 2023. 

Please click on the link below to view our 2024 Scholarship Information Booklet.

AI IN EDUCATION

I will be attending the Artificial Intelligence in Education Conference later in May. This has very quickly become a significant area of discussion given recent developments including that of ChatGPT.

We are keen to keep abreast of this new development, and I am looking forward to seeing how others identify best practices in managing artificial intelligence in educational settings. 

DATA STORY TELLING

Several staff have attended a Professional Learning session, sponsored by Catholic Education Ballarat (DOBCEL) and presented by Selena Fisk, that looked at Data Storytelling in Term 1.

As a school, we continue to see an increase in the amount of data available for staff to assist them with designing programs that are appropriate for the students in their classes. The session was very valuable in helping us to understand not only the importance of data, but how to best use it. We strive to be a school that is evidence-driven, and data interpretation and analysis forms a major part of this.

Mr Greg Kluske

Deputy Principal Learning and Teaching