Keysborough College Newsletter

Improvement Team Report

Student Engagement & Wellbeing Improvement Team

 

The Student Engagement & Wellbeing Improvement Team has spent a great deal of time focusing on embedding the 5Ps Student Learning Behaviours across the College as an accepted part of the school culture. Students are explicitly taught how each of the learning behaviours lead to improved learning outcomes and teachers challenge students to demonstrate and extend their use of the learning behaviours through personal learning goals they encourage students to set for themselves. We now recognise the 5Ps at RED awards ceremonies, in the College Newsletter and in Compass Lesson Plans and Green posts. This term we are developing the infrastructure to include the 5Ps Student Learning Behaviours in the College reporting process for Semester Two. Students and families will receive specific assessment feedback about those learning behaviours the student is demonstrating and those that need further focus. The Student Engagement & Wellbeing Improvement Team will work with the Curriculum, Assessment & Reporting Team to develop resources for teachers to be able to assess and report on specific student learning behaviours. The team will be sending out a survey for students, staff and parents to gain further insight about their understanding of the 5Ps and the ways they can be assessed. In addition to encouraging good learning behaviours in our students, we are also focusing on building student resilience. The Resilience Project has been launched across the College in Junior School and students participate in activities and discussions on a regular basis during Making Connections class time. The focus in Term One has been on ‘emotional literacy’ to encourage students to identify and express how they and others are feeling. The Resilience Project complements the 5Ps Student Learning Behaviours because students are learning about how to learn effectively and how to accept responsibility for and regulate their behaviour to be open and positive about their learning.

 

Robyn Hughes

 

The Pathways and Community Team

 

The Pathways and Community Team has begun work on a number of projects this year.  Firstly, we are working on implementing the new Year 11 and 12 Certificate which creates a new certificate and makes substantial changes to VCAL.  The new VCE-VM study designs outlining the changes have been released and we have consulted with relevant staff to start developing our response and implement plan.  The next stage will be to introduce these to all senior staff at the next Senior School Teacher Team meetings.  Working parties will be established in Term 2 with Professional Learning provided by VCAA throughout Term 2 and into Term 3.

 

The Transitions and Promotions Team within the Improvement Team has also been busy.  We have Updated the school’s promotional material, hosted Open Nights with attendance high on both campuses, visited our associated primary schools to present to the Grade 5 & 6’s about KSC, hosted two writers success workshops at two of our associated primary schools to share our expertise, developing positive connections with the broader community.

 

A major task has been to update the school’s enrolment process to better manage enrolments across the college.  Grade 6 students once would apply to a campus, but now apply to the college. Based on their home address they will be assigned to a campus. This will better manage numbers across the college.  The new system includes an appeal process if parents have a particular reason for choosing one campus over another, such as sibling enrolments.

 

Lastly, the Community Partnerships Program is glad to be back and running face to face programs.  So far, we have run three ABCN programs with one of them face to face at the Mondelez (Cadbury) factory. Monash University and RMIT are offering face to face Faculty Experiences which are currently being planned, and we are looking to organise visits from Monash to present to the year 11s and 12s later in Term 2 or early term 3.  City of Greater Dandenong Youth Services ran a program with selected Acacia Year 8 students to assist those struggling with transition back to school after extended Covid absences and this will be extended to Year 7s later this term.  There is a number of other projects currently being organised – too many to mention here!  There’s no doubt everyone is grateful for the opportunity of an excursion!

 

Jonathon Boyd & David Pfeiffer

 

Curriculum, Assessment & Reporting team

 

Semester exams are scheduled to take place in the coming weeks. At Keysborough College we strive to set a culture of high expectations, build our students learning stamina and develop their ability to progressively demonstrate knowledge and skills through this examination process. 

Year 10 & 11 exams: 2nd – 10th June

Year 7-9 exams: 7th- 10th June 

*see Compass for your child’s individual exam schedule

For many of our students it has been a while since they have completed exams due to remote learning disruptions over the past few years.  This may even be their first exposure to Semester exams. As a result, it will be important for parents and guardians to support their child in the lead up to Semester exams.

Some tips to assist your child may include:

  • Provide a quiet study space
  • Allow time each day to study
  • Ensure they are getting adequate sleep
  • Encourage them to take breaks and exercise
  • Provide good nutrition
  • Reduce their distractions in the lead up to exams (cut back on extracurricular activities, home duties, part-time work)
  • Discuss with your child how they are feeling 

We hope that all students have begun their preparations by developing a study timetable and utilising a variety of revision techniques. All students have been receiving support in preparation for the exams in Making Connections and Pathways classes.  They have been exploring revision techniques as well as the use of self-care and stress management strategies. If you have any concerns about your child’s preparations please contact your child’s TTL.

 

Melissa Williams-Davis

 

Pedagogy Reporting team Report

The Pedagogy Improvement Team has continued to work on the redevelopment of the pedagogical model used at the College and monitor the use of the EDAPT data platform.

 

Feedback gathered from the whole College teaching staff on the current use of the Keysborough Learning Framework was collected at the end of Term 1. This feedback has shown that staff value the consistent framework employed at the College for both planning learning programs, and structuring lessons.  The feedback provided some suggestions of more current pedagogical models that the improvement team will consider.  A key takeaway from the feedback is the confusion amongst staff of the difference between a lesson structure and a pedagogical model.  The Improvement Team will continue to unpack this feedback, and consider suggestions made by staff when developing the new framework.

 

With Semester 1 reports due towards the end of the term, members of the team have been working to ensure that all assessment data is uploaded to the EDAPT data management platform to assist staff with the writing of their reports.  With a number of new staff joining the College at the start of Term 2, members of the team will ensure that they are up to speed with the use of the platform in preparation for report writing.

 

Matthew Sloan

 

                                                  Intervention and Initiatives team report

 

All staff have resumed face to face professional learning team meetings providing the learning specialists opportunities to engage staff in targeted professional learning and coaching in regard to their team’s improvement cycle initiatives. Running in conjunction with this is the 2022 VIT Professional learning program for 18 of our new staff, who are mentored in the use of the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model by the learning specialists. 

 

MYLNS /TUTOR Initiative

The MYLNS and TLI initiative sees us currently supporting 165 students from 8-10 in both literacy and numeracy. The tutor program currently supports 140 students across 7-12. Our reading intervention program is a timetabled class on its own in 7-9. The program is currently integrating a greater focus on Corrective Reading and the decoding of words to support student comprehension.  We are in the process of testing students to set the term two focus for each year's reading level and buying more resources for the literacy library collection. 

 

STEM

There are a number of programs occurring at Keysborough College to promote STEM across the school. Keysborough students have been provided with many opportunities to be exposed to STEM related industries and experiences through excursions and incursions. Year 9 into Year 10 STEM student selection will begin at the end of term 2 to form the 2023 STEM class. Plans underway for STEM camp, primary outreach programs, STEM stars and STEM girls. To support senior students, STEM alumni at lunch time have been planned to run through term 3.

 

Victorian High Ability Program 

After a successful Term 1, Victorian High Ability Program is in full swing again in Term 2, offered across both Acacia and Banksia to selected students.  The next steps is to create a broader inquiry-based learning syllabus, to enrich other competencies of high ability in Arts, Humanities, Music and technology. We are hoping to introduce a “Passion Project” program where students with a strong passion for something, could explore that further and come up with their own inquiry question and research and create a project/product on it, with a mentor. This forms part of the STEM and Digital Technologies Specialist work, in liaison with the High Abilities Practice Leaders of the college.

 

 Erin Robot