Principal's Report

Principal -

 

Mr. Tristan Lanarus

Dear Westall Secondary College Community,

 

Course and Subject Selection for 2020 has just been completed by all students. There has been significant information and counselling for all students in making these important decisions. I want to thank staff for their work in this space and to parents and carers for your important role. This is such an important process for students in supporting their future career paths and aspirations. Student choice includes iCreate electives, the suite of subjects across all year levels at Westall, TAFE and VET (Vocational Education and Training) options and other programs. Student subject selections drive the timetable for 2020 and in turn determine staffing requirements. We hope to have the draft timetable completed by the end of Term 3 and to have informed students early Term 4 about their program for next year.

 

Semester One was the first time we undertook Real Time Reporting through Compass. Whilst there is still an end of Semester Report for every student, one of the key elements of the new system is that students receive feedback on their CATs (Common Assessment Tasks) within 2 weeks of submission. This will be our big focus in Semester Two in ensuring all students (and parents) receive feedback and results on CATs within 2 weeks of student submission.

 

ICT (Information Communication Technology) is another big area of the College we strive to continually improve and we are working toward a level of consistency within every classroom by the end of 2019. This will include a suite of new projectors and screens across the College. We also need to keep pushing that all students access their school emails and compass portal at least once per day. We seek your support in this, ensuring your son/daughter brings a charged device (laptop/tablet) to school each and every day.

 

We are very proud of our new Koorie themed learning and gathering place at the front of our Balook Building. We recently presented to other schools on this initiative and are working with some of our feeder Primary Schools to extend our Koorie themes and connection. Our multiculturalism is a huge strength at Westall and acknowledgement of our traditional land owners plays an important part in this.

 

We are currently running interviews for a new shared canteen provider with Westall Primary School. We will have access to a new canteen later this year as part of the new Gymnasium soon to open between the two schools and next to our current Gymnasium.

 

Thank you to all parents and carers who recently completed the Education Department’s Parent Opinion Survey. This provides us with important information on areas that are going well at Westall and also areas for us to direct more time and energy.

 

Until next time,

Mr Tristan Lanarus