Assistant Principals
From Mrs Stathatos
Welcome to Term 2. We have begun the term energetically with a variety of engaging activities for students, staff and parents.
Our Curriculum Day on the first day of the term concentrated our efforts in two main areas-examining our work culture, which is good professional practice for any organisation that seeks to constantly grow and improve, and the element of reflection and discussion helps support our growth. The other area focussed our attention on curriculum priorities which directly affect classroom practice: differentiation and reading strategies. With a range of data showing us that schools need to target students at their point of need, our focus on differentiated classroom practice and targeted reading skills is generating productive discussions and lesson designs, sharing and collaborating in order to further support student learning.
It was enjoyable to meet the parents of Year 9 students at the Year 9 InterGREAT Personal Project Parent Expo on Tuesday evening. Thank you to the students for engaging in and promoting their eclectic work and to all the Year 9 InterGREAT staff involved in preparing, nurturing, developing our students’ passions. The 500s were buzzing with excitement and it was a full house- everyone’s feedback was overwhelmingly positive.
It was equally enjoyable to meet with parents, and particularly new parents at their first secondary school Parent Teacher Student Interviews at the end of last term. The discussions around Learning Behaviours on the progress reports helps support the expectations we have of our learners in the classroom and these behaviours can easily be extended outside the classroom too. We hope that students apply perseverance not only to a maths problems or a science experiment but equally to life if they are to embrace the concept of 21st century learning. Our BOUNCE program encourages a study in character traits, the growth mind set and wellbeing to support living and learning. It also encourages student voice and one aspect of student voice is asking students explicitly how they have found new concepts, skills during the course of a unit of work. Acquiring this feedback from students is powerful as teachers can then sharpen their lessons to suit student need. Here is one example of Year 7 student feedback which provides a rich platform of information to the teacher.
What strategies did the teacher use to help you learn the material?
The teacher used songs to help us remember important concepts easily and let us ask questions to each other in French to give us the opportunity to use the information ourselves.
What strategies do you use to remember and apply the information?
I used an app that you make flashcard on, listened to the songs and got mum to ask me some questions because she knows some French.
What did you enjoy most about this subject?
The fun and enjoyable environment where it's not all writing stuff down and sitting in our seats without talking the whole lesson but interacting and moving around.
What would you like more of?
Listening to songs to help with groups of words, the occasional news article and debating.
Compass provides detailed information about student progress. Ms Agatha Fedrizzi, one of our Teaching and Learning Leaders, has summarised some of the key information that supports parent understanding of their child’s learning. Further details are in this newsletter.
Eleni Stathatos
Assistant Principal
From Mr Barut
FROM THE SUB SCHOOLS
Welcome to term two to all our parents, carers and students.
This term gives all students an opportunity to reflect on last term and think about the ways that they can improve their efforts in class, and indeed, get involved in all the opportunities the College offers. This personal self reflection allows learning growth to occur, if students are honest and aware of where they are at. I speak daily to most of our teachers, our Heads of Sub Schools and our House Co-ordinators and the overwhelming message that is coming through is that our students love coming to school, really enjoy their classes and have built strong relationships with their teachers. As always, to maintain the focus on positive relationships, we ask you, the parents to support the College in maintaining the positivity that your son/daughter has created and is thriving in.
If you ever need to contact one of the co-ordinators to discuss the best way we can support your son/daughter, here is a list of the relevant personnel of each sub school:
Junior Sub School Leader:
Ms Anna Urbano – Years 7 and 8
House Co-ordinators: Ms Marissa Lee, Ms Jessica Friend, Ms Kim Watson and Ms Faith Stepniewski
Middle Sub School Leader:
Mr Matthew Tucker – Years 9 and 10
House Co-ordinators: Mr Peter Vlahos, Mr Benn Jamieson, Ms Alyce Bailey and Ms Kristina Friedli
Senior Sub School Leader:
Mrs Cathy Menz – Years 11 and 12
House Co-ordinators: Ms Caitlin May, Ms Lucy Moore, Mr Matthew Saunders and Ms Emma Lim
These caring, consummate professionals will answer any queries you may have and they are happy to take your call or email.
Further, in the International Student Office, Mrs Leah Pritchard, Director of Marketing and Admissions is happy to receive enrolment queries and Ms Evelyn Boldt, Homestay Co-ordinator is available to facilitate any homestay applications for our international students. As part of this team, our language assistant, Ms Shirley Luong supports our international cohort.
OPEN NIGHT
Many, many thanks to Mrs Leah Pritchard and the Junior School team for putting together such a wonderful Open Night that showcased all aspects of Ringwood Secondary College as a school, as a community, as a leader in contemporary education. Families were led on guided tours from Science to Auto to Food Tech to PE to Humanities to Music to Performing Arts to Duke of Ed to…..the list goes on and on. Huge thanks to the staff who gave up their time to be available to discuss all our programs with the families, thanks to our wonderful student ambassadors who led most of the tours and thank you to the parents who had to do the pick up afterwards! Such a team community effort from all who are proud of our college and work hard for its ongoing success in all aspects of operations. It would be remiss not to mention the efforts of the Senior Stage Band, ably led by Ms Janine Pero, Director of Music – thank you to all.
UNIFORM
Ringwood Secondary College is a uniform school and our Uniform Policy and Dress Code is available on the website. As a community whose focus is on respectful relationships, we ask for your support and assistance in maintaining the uniform dress code. Link available here:
http://www.ringwoodsc.vic.edu.au/files/file/Student_dress_codeJAN2018.pdf
EDROLO
I am writing to provide you with information about Edrolo, a study program and exam resource that will be utilised across a range of VCE subjects in 2018.
Edrolo is the only comprehensive, premium, online, interactive video and exam simulation resource for the VCE and has been assessed as a fantastic resource for our VCE students. Edrolo is currently used by over 50,000 students across 250 schools, and we are confident it is an extremely valuable investment, providing our students with a differentiated and targeted level of support as they prepare for their most important examinations.
What exactly is Edrolo?
Edrolo is an extensive study and exam revision resource crafted by outstanding VCE teachers (including exam assessors, textbook authors, and department heads). Edrolo is built in accordance with the VCAA Study Designs to guide through their coursework during the year and final exam preparation.
Edrolo is broken up into two key elements:
- Theory Master: Interactive video courses mapped to each subject’s Study Design and presented by proven expert teachers. Each subject’s Theory Master has 100s of videos and interactive quiz questions for students to learn from and test themselves on.
- Exam Master: Online simulated practice exams offering video solutions for every single exam question, incorporating unique insights and diagnostic study tools enabling students to identify and target their individual areas of weakness.
Sitting behind Edrolo are rich analytics that our teachers will use to understand, in greater detail, the learning needs of students, and thereby be able to provide more targeted support than has ever been possible with traditional resources.
The resource is available on any device, 24/7
How will students use Edrolo?
Our teachers will guide students to make full use of Edrolo in a range of ways across the year, including:
- holiday homework;
- pre-class work;
- post-class consolidation;
- assessment preparation; and,
- exam revision.
What does Edrolo cost?
As a school subscribing to Edrolo we are able to secure preferred pricing of $30 per subject, on a sliding scale. Thus:
One subject - $30
Two subjects - $60
Three subjects - $85
Four subjects - $115
Five subjects - $140
This compares very favourably with other resources, such as study guides (~$30-$40/subject), revision lectures (~$50-$120/subject) and private tuition (~$40-$100/hour). Edrolo has been deemed an outstanding support resource, providing our students with the best opportunity to perform to their potential on their SACs and final examinations.
What you need to do
Please log on to Compass and payments can be made online. Students in Year 12 and those students in Year 11 doing a Year 12 subject have been allocated into groups of how many subjects each student is doing. Please note that not all subjects are covered by Edrolo.
We kindly request that payments be made by the end of May. If you have any queries, or need support in finalising payment, please contact Mrs Linda Wheeler in the office.
James Barut
Assistant Principal, Sub Schools
From Mrs Allison
Welcome back to term 2! It is important time of the year for students as they consolidate their learning and focus in a positive way. By improving time management and organizational skills, students can work towards building their strengths, reflecting on their performance and planning for improvements.
Maroondah City Council Youth Awards
The Maroondah City Council Youth Awards is an annual event that allows young people to be recognised and celebrated for their achievements, commitment and outstanding work in our local community. Local schools nominate their students for their work under several categories. This year Ringwood Secondary College students were awarded for their excellent commitment. I am very proud of our students and honoured to be involved in their leadership practices and development. Congratulations to these students who are active role models, keen to make positive change within the local community. Hopefully, more students from our College will inspired and motivated by this year’s award winners.
ANZAC Day Ceremony
On Tuesday, the College community paid homage to our fallen war heroes with our College leaders reciting poems and traditional readings in a solemn and respectful manner. Again this year our Heritage Group, a group of ex Ringwood High School/Secondary College students, attended the event. These dedicated individuals have spent many years recording the College’s history and their perseverance in researching past staff and students resulted in, this year, with Gavin Fry being inducted into the Heritage Hall of Fame, being recognised for his professional work as an author, artist and curator for the National War Museum.
Mental Health Carnival
Each year our wellbeing team, in collaboration with Maroondah City Council Youth Services, organise’ a ‘Mental Health Day’ for the College community. This year, it was another successful day full of activities and fun, and provided a great opportunity to create a positive environment in which the emotional health of young people could grow and flourish. Thank you to all students, staff and parents for their hard work and commitment. To encourage increased positive emotion and communication, you could regularly ask your son or daughter ‘What went well today’. Be surprised by their candid responses, focus on listening to their story, and enjoy their enthusiasm behind the ‘telling of the story’.
Next month’s wellbeing focus is: Mindfulness.
The information below is sourced from the Kids Matter website, a wonderful resource that provides interesting and helpful information. www.kidsmatter.com.au
Mindfulness is a whole body-mind state of awareness that involves ‘tuning in’ to the present moment, with openness and curiosity, instead of ‘tuning out’ from experience. Mindfulness is a state of being fully awake to life – being aware and undistracted in the present moment. It is about focusing attention on the present, rather than thinking about the past or worrying about the future- which is often our brain’s default mode.
Mindful awareness is something that we all possess and that can be strengthened through practice. Mindfulness can be developed through formal sitting meditation practices, or through informal everyday mindfulness activities that use the senses to anchor the attention: such as mindful walking, listening to music, eating or conversation. Mindfulness is a clinically proven tool to support wellbeing and mental health by reducing stress and allowing life to be experienced more fully.
Why practise being mindful?
The way we interact with our kids has a huge impact on the way they think about themselves and their levels of personal resilience.
The benefits of mindfulness with children
- Research shows that mindfulness training increases connectivity in the frontal lobe of the brain, which is linked to improved attention, memory processing and decision making abilities.
- Mindfulness training involves tuning in to internal and external experiences with curiosity resulting in increased self-awareness, social awareness, and self-confidence.
- Mindfulness training increases children’s ability to self-regulate their emotions, especially difficult emotions such as fear and anger, through breathing and other grounding techniques.
- Mindfulness has been shown to improve empathy or the ability to understand what another person is thinking or feeling, which improves children’s awareness of others and helps them to build positive relationships.
Mindfulness for parents
The best thing parents can do to help their children become more mindful is to commit to some regular mindfulness practises themselves! The more present and mindful you are with your children, the more happy, mindful and resilient they will be. Mindfulness training can assist parents to remain in the present moment and engage more fully when interacting with their children. Research shows that parents and carers who practice being mindful around their children contribute to improving their child’s sense of self-worth and self-esteem.
- Mindful time: Dedicate a window of time each week to mindfully connect with your child or children. Turn off all other distractions such as TV, and put your mobile away and on silent. Try to give them your full attention during this time and if your mind wanders off to all the things you should be doing, that’s fine – that’s just what minds do! Use your child as an anchor to come back to every time your mind wanders away.
- Mindful dinnertime: Create a time for your family to appreciate and savour their food at the start of a meal by spending the first few minutes of dinner in silence, just eating and enjoying the food. It’s a surprisingly nice activity to do with the whole family, and done regularly, can become a lovely ritual.
Smiling Mind is another resource worthwhile accessing that provides usable ‘apps’ for mindfulness.
Maria Allison
Assistant Principal