KCC Publication

Welcome back

Hello everyone,

 

Welcome to the 2017 school year!

 

883 students and 102 staff begin a year full of promise and potential. I particularly welcome our 157 Year 7 students. They have made an excellent start, with a great deal more to come including the Year 7 Community Day at Borambola on Monday.

 

I want to point out Year group numbers to you and identify some trends. Our current Year 8 was an historically  small Year 6 cohort in Wagga Wagga primary schools and is smaller than the others. Apart from this group, there are big numbers of students in each year, with significant increases in Year 11 and Year 12. There are 62 more students this year, with 57 of these students in the Senior School. Particularly in the Senior School we will continue to work to ensure all students are in appropriate classes and courses, contributing their best at all times. We do not have any desire to become a bigger school. 800-900 is a size that allows us to care for, room and support all students. We start planning for next year’s Year 7 intake soon and I will keep you posted about this question of numbers and size of the College. We want to be welcoming and inclusive, and at the same time we want to stay around our current size.

At an assembly on Friday we recognised our High Achievers from 2016. This group included students who received Band 6 results which placed them on the Distinguished Achiever List, those who received an ATAR greater than 90 and our Dux, the individual with the highest academic performance in the HSC as measured by ATAR calculation.

 

The 2016  HSC class was the 4th highest achieving cohort in the history of the College, with 34 Band 6 results and 10 students with an ATAR over 90. Veronica Kopecny was Dux with an ATAR of 98.15.  Coen Brand was first in the State in VET IDT and five students from the Year 11 Accelerated SOR class achieved Band 6 results.

 

While individuals at the high performing end of the cohort did particularly well, I have made clear to students and teachers that we still have a lot of work to do to ensure that all students, or even the majority of students, do as well, or close to as well,  as they possibly can in the HSC. It’s not about marks and numbers as much as it is about taking and increasing life opportunities, working collaboratively, and appreciating the efforts of those who work with and for you.

 

All students were reminded:

  • Your ability is not fixed. Acknowledge that learning is sequential and developmental and expect to get better at it!
  • Get aboard the push to improve writing, reading and vocabulary. We have indisputable evidence that our intensive focus on improving teacher capability to assist each student in the subject areas to become a more sophisticated and coherent writer is working. Don’t miss out!
  • Never interrupt the learning of others or the work of a teacher, and join and contribute to the team that is each of your classes.
  • Our promise is that you will be given every opportunity and all the support needed to go as far as you possibly can with your learning in 2017 and beyond.

Welcome to new staff:

Tom Pulver joins us as a TAS and VET teacher. He will also work in the area of Technology and Innovation.

 

 

 

 

Tara McCarthy is an Art teacher with additional recent experience as a primary school teacher. She teaches Art and has time to assist Year 7 and 8 students with their learning and their planning for improved learning.

 

 

Jacqui Galvin is an English and Literacy teacher. She will work mainly as a literacy and writing coach for students and teachers.

 

 

 

Grace Howard is a PDHPE, CAFS and Science teacher who is job-sharing with Mrs Byrne, teaching PDHPE and CAFS.

 

 

 

Rachel Posselt is a full-time Art teacher teaching junior and senior Art and Visual Art classes, including co-teaching with Ms Sutton.

 

 

 

Angie Cooper is a PDHPE and Studies of Religion teacher. A significant part of her time will be used to support the coaching of students for improved learning and wellbeing.

 

 

Bindi Belling is a member of the Inclusive Education team, providing support to a new and very excited student who is joining a mainstream school for the first time.

 

 

Matt Ward joins us permanently after various blocks last year. He is a member of the Inclusive Education Team in addition to his invaluable work as a general problem solver, attending and supporting a wide range of College activities.

 

Jennifer Gray is a trained mathematics teacher who joins us as a numeracy coach and tutor for individual students and groups of students. She will work with a team of mathematics teachers who have a reduced teaching load to allow for an improved whole-school approach to numeracy learning support.

 

Monique Jones worked in a job-share position in 2016 and joins us fulltime as a teacher of PDHPE, RE and HSIE.

 

 

 

 

Clinton Lough worked for us last year in technology support while completing his TAS teaching qualification. Clinton joins us as a TAS, VET and STEM teacher.

 

 

 

 

As we focus on better building individual learning pathways for students it is important to make best use of coaching time and class time. Expect students to be consistently asking the questions:

 

What am I learning?

How am I going?

How do I know?

How can I improve?

Who do I ask for help?

 

Please note that help and support begins with a skilled teacher but extends way beyond, including some of the newly created positions described above.

 

All the best for a great year.