Intermediate Squash Team

On Thursday, 1 August, the boys and girls intermediate squash teams attended the State Finals competition at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre. Both teams performed well however they were unable to move past the pool stage. All of the students are to be commended on their effort and respect throughout the day. Team members included: James I-P, Jessica M, Emily P, Ethan J, Jordan L, Sienna M.

Glen Morris

Assistant Principal

Participation creates positive and resilient students

Students at Doncaster Secondary College have opportunities to be involved in many aspects of school life. As parents and carers, I encourage you to talk with your child about what they are participating in from their learning in the classroom through to their involvement in clubs, activities, sports and music programs. We are a school that values individuality, diversity and excellence. This means that we strive to give every child an environment where they can become the person they wish to be. Participation is the key to finding out where interests and passions lie.

These conversations can then help you to work with your child when they are making decisions in preparation for the world of work and their future career, including subject selections, further study, and training in a workplace or at a tertiary institution.

The Senior Years Career Expo was a great success last Wednesday, with an array of opportunities available to students from Years 9 through to Year 12. This is a major careers and pathways event coordinated by Vanessa Ramsay (Careers Development Coordinator) that springboards students into working through some of those difficult career and pathways decisions.

Now is such an important time for our students to reflect on their learning and make informed decisions about next steps. The Career Centre is a dedicated space in the Senior Centre where careers and course information is displayed. Students are welcome to visit the centre during recess, lunchtime, after school and during study periods.

In addition to material kept on-site for students, there are resources and information disseminated to students and parents including:

The Doncaster Careers website – www.doncastercareers.com
Weekly “Career News” available on www.doncastercareers.com
Senior School Handbook part 1 (rules, processes, procedures and general information regarding VCE and VCAL)
The Senior Pathway Course Selection Handbook part 2 (for Year 11 and 12 students) available on College website
Compass NewsFeed

Belinda McGee

Assistant Principal

Student Led Conferences

In the coming weeks, your child will be preparing for their upcoming Student Led Conferences (SLCs). Your child has been collecting information about their learning and preparing to present to you these efforts and achievements. The purpose of these conferences is for your child to celebrate their learning successes and identify areas of growth guided by a conversation with their subject teacher.

There will be no classes at school on Tuesday, 27 August. Students from year 7 to 12 are expected to attend conferences with parents.

Booking information will be published via a compass newsfeed in the coming week. Families are encouraged to regularly access and read the newsfeeds.

Assessment Reporting

Instead of one summary report at the end of a term or semester, you will be able to see Learning Tasks with comments and grades on the following dates: Tuesday, 20 August, 15 October and 10 December

Student Led Conference - Tuesday, 27 August

Semester Report - Tuesday, 15 December

These tasks will be flagged to show there is an indication of the Grade and Effort as well as a Comment.

The end of semester reports which are a summary of each subject with Victorian Curriculum levels and grades for key tasks displayed will be published on Compass by Tuesday, 15 December. There will be no comments on the end of semester reports. You will see comments in Learning Tasks on Tuesday, 20 August, 15 October and 10 December by following the instructions attached.

What this means for Parents:

Parents will need to log into Compass and look at flagged Learning Tasks on or just after the dates published above. You will be able to regularly monitor student progress and see feedback about specific tasks and how students can improve. There is a file attached which will help you navigate Compass to find this great feedback provided by teachers.

What this means for Students:

Students will need to ensure Learning Tasks are submitted on time with maximum effort applied. You will be able to read comments and analyse rubrics to see feedback about specific tasks and how to improve. This allows you the opportunity to regularly monitor progress towards your goals.

Sarah Emanuel

Acting Assistant Principal

College Newsletter

Issue 32 · 09 Aug 2019

In this issue