ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL'S 

NAPLAN Readiness Practice Test- 31st March 

Year 7 and Year 9 students will be completing a practice NAPLAN on 31st March. The Year 7s will be doing this at 9am and the Year 9s will be doing this at 11am. Both these sessions will take place in the Red Building. These sessions are really important to prepare the students for the actual NAPLAN tests in May. It allows students to familiarise themselves with the online set up of the testing software and responding to questions. From a technical perspective, it allows the school to ensure that the network will sustain over 200 students completing these tests on any one day. It is essential that students bring their devices. If students do not have a device that works, they are asked to please contact their Learning Community Leaders (Year 7: Marli McCarthy and year 9: Ben Cook), to allow the school plan to source an alternative device. We encourage all students to participate in NAPLAN. It is an essential way of evaluating student progress, identifying key focus areas for students and for improving the quality of programs offered by the school. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Warwick Lamb on 52771177.  

Berry Street Education Model

Our first professional learning day for 2022 has seen the commencement of our work on the Berry Street Educational Model.  The Berry Street Education Model brings curriculum and classroom strategies together through supporting student wellbeing and building student capacity to engage and learn. The model aligns with our recent and current work on ‘WHC Learns’ and ‘SWPB’ where we focus on the development and implementation of consistent and predictable routines across all areas of the college.

The program has 5 elements: Body, Stamina, Engagement, Character and Relationship. Our work in the first day was to collectively work through an understanding of the characteristics and the processes we can use to ensure that all students are in the optimum space for learning. Key foci areas of the work last week were around Body and included: developing and using strategies for self-regulation, de-escalation, mindfulness and being present and ready to learn. All staff will be working together to apply our learning to our classes with opportunities in our Wellbeing and Learning Community meetings to reflect on the outcomes of our work. In term 2 our second day will focus on Stamina.

Should you require more information on this work, please do not hesitate to contact us as the college or explore the Berry Street Education Model site.

School Photographs – Catch-up session

A catch-up session is scheduled for this Wednesday March 30th for all students who missed out on their 2022 photograph earlier this month.

The catch-up sessions will be held in the library. Students requiring a photograph will need to attend their mentor meeting, advise their mentor that they are going to have their photograph taken and, attend the library.

Families who have previously requested and paid for family photographs are advised that these will also be taken at this time. 

School Wide Positive Behaviour (SWPB)

Thank you to families for the feedback on our SWPB focus for the previous two weeks. There has been an active focus on ‘Respecting all learning spaces’ and ‘Being an active and courageous learner’. Students explored these behaviours and were able to hear back from students the importance of having the courage to ask questions or ask to explain something in different ways when they may be unsure in their learning.

Our focus for the next 3 weeks is outlined below. The focus for the coming weeks is on ‘Demonstrating Community in the Learning Spaces.

Student Attendance

Thank you to families who use the attendance line to notify the college of any absences. We are aware that there are some remaining discrepancies in the attendance data- this could be as a result of course changes, activities, etc. I encourage families to check your child’s attendance regularly and advise the college of any errors/concerns you may pick up. Parents and carers are able to monitor attendance through your Compass app. Rolls are marked by staff within the first 10 minutes of each session.