From the Principal
Principal's Message
As we approach the end of Term 3, I want to congratulate all our students, their teachers and our support staff for their dedication and resilience during this term. It has at times been challenging for everyone, and we are and will continue to be impacted differently. The college wellbeing team is currently reviewing plans and programs to support students as they transition back to onsite learning at some point in Term 4.
The return to classes for students in Term 4, will be important and some will find this more challenging than others. When we are given the approval to return to onsite Teaching & Learning, the most important step is to ensure your young person reengages as quickly as possible, what we don’t want is students who avoid coming to school. It will be challenging for some, but this is to be expected.
Our wellbeing team is available to support you and our students. If you have questions, please contact Lorraine East (Director of Wellbeing): eas@cheltsec.voc.edu.au
AFL Grand Final - Melbourne v Western Bulldogs
After another solid performance last Friday night, our own Jake Bowey (Year 12, 2020) is likely to be playing in this years AFL Grand Final. Jake has achieved in one year what some players never achieve in their careers. If Jake is selected to play in this year's Grand Final it will his be 7 AFL games playing for the Dees. What an amazing journey Jake has been on this year. We wish him all the best. I invite all our non-Western Bulldogs supporters to cross their fingers and cheers on Jake as he potentially lives out a childhood dream.
So, what does the start of term 4 look like?
At this stage the College has not received any further guidance or advice regarding a return to onsite Teaching & Learning. When this information is provided, I will communicate immediately with the community to provide ample preparation time.
The Department of Education and Training (DET) priority is to ensure our current year 12 students are well supported and return to classes as soon as possible, this will include any student studying a unit 3 / 4 subject. It is expected that the end of year exam schedule will commence as planned, the schedule can be accessed via the VCAA website: www.vcaa.vic.edu.au
GAT
At this stage, the GAT is scheduled for Tuesday 5th October. All students completing a scored VCE will be required to complete the GAT from 10 am - 1.15 pm; the government will release further information about COVID safe processes before the day.
Dedicated Vaccination booking hotline
The Victorian Government announced a vaccination blitz for final year students (Units 3/4 students), their teachers, and exam supervisors and assessors.
From Tuesday 7 September and until Friday 17 September, these students, their teachers and VC Eexam supervisors and assessors will have priority access to timeslots to attend their vaccination appointment at a vaccination centre.
The hotline number is 1800 434 144. The hotline will operate from 8 am to 8 pm.
From Monday 13 September, all Victorians aged 12 and older are eligible to book and receive a COVID-19 vaccine at a state vaccination centre, a Commonwealth vaccination centre, or through a GP clinic, pharmacy, or community health service.
NAPLAN
NAPLAN results allow parents/carers and educators to see how students are progressing in literacy and numeracy over time – individually, as part of their school community, and against national standards.
The tests provide an important contribution to monitoring and evaluating the performance of schools and school systems in these fundamental capabilities. They also provide schools, states, and territories with information about how education approaches are working, the areas to be prioritised for improvement, and those schools requiring support in the teaching and learning of literacy and numeracy.
The results can assist teachers by providing additional information to support their professional judgement about students’ levels of literacy and numeracy attainment and progress. NAPLAN tests are only one aspect of each school’s assessment and reporting process and do not replace the extensive, ongoing assessments made by teachers about each student’s performance. Each teacher will have the best insight into their students’ educational progress. Parents/carers can use NAPLAN reports, along with other school assessment reports, to discuss their child’s strengths and areas for improvement.
Our year 7 & 9 students have performed very well this year given the impact of COVID – 19 on their studies in 2020. There has been a significant decrease in the percentage of students within the bottom two bands and an increased percentage of students in the top two bands for both Reading & Writing in particular. This can be attributed to the work of teachers and support staff in better supporting Literacy & Numeracy strategies within the classroom. Additionally, the use of Learning Intentions & Success Criteria has provided greater clarity for students and their learning and much better guidance for teachers to identify areas for immediate improvement.
During term 4, Years 7 – 9 will complete assessments that will allow the College to identify students needing immediate support and to ensure we are addressing the needs of all our students as we transition into 2022.
Parent, Student, Teacher Interviews
The College held Semester 2, Parent, Student, Teacher Interviews online via google meet this week, with more than 2000 individual interviews. The college will now take the opportunity to survey parents regarding the online interviews, booking process and what the Parents, Student & Teacher Interview process might resemble in 2022.
I would like to acknowledge the hard work of our teachers in being able to conduct so many interviews back-to-back and for the many hours of preparation in the lead up to Monday’s interviews.
Avenues Exchange Cancelled
Unfortunately, we have made the decision to cancel the Avenues Exchange due to COVID – 19, Lockdown and boarder closures, there were just too many barriers to overcome. I would like to acknowledge the enormous workload taken on by Miss Farrington-Williams, Mr Royall, Mr Collings, and Mrs. Hargreaves. Thank you, we are fortunate to have you as members of our community.
Message from School Council and School Leadership Team
Andrew Hall (School Council President) and I released a newsfeed item last week to express our gratitude to all the wonderful staff at Chelt Sec. Acknowledging their dedication and the amazing role staff play daily, continually looking for ways to engage students, support wellbeing, and celebrate student success.
We invited parents to share with us a message of thanks, gratitude, resilience, and success to help us further recognise and celebrate the wide range of activities that are occurring throughout the college in support of our WONDERFUL students. I would like to share a few of these messages.
“Thanks to all the teachers and staff who are doing so much extra (on top of already busy loads) to keep it together for our kids. Naomi O'B-D'A has been particularly supportive for our family. Take care everyone”.“Thanks to every teacher that helped and encouraged my daughter who struggles to connect with remote learning. Your understanding has made it so much easier xx”.“Thanks to all the staff at Chelt Sec for their continued dedication to keeping our kids engaged, educated and motivated. It’s a great relief to know that they are in good hands and its one less thing for us to have to worry about. Thank you everyone!”
Thank you Parent & Carers
I want to finish by thanking all our wonderful parents and carers for their continued support during 2021. The balancing act of managing your own work requirements and monitoring the home learning is challenging, frustrating and exhausting. You have done such a great job, Thank you!
Take care, and I hope our students have a relaxing holiday break. I look forward to seeing them return asap.
Karl Russell