Senior School Report

Message from the 

Director of  Learning - 

Mr Jason Tickner

In what has been a very busy term, the staff and students in Senior School have continued to work together to create a learner-focused environment within our classes. Overall, most of our students are maintaining a high level of attendance and are working hard to achieve success in their academic programs. For others, attendance and staying up-to-date with work submission is still an issue. Moving into Term 4, it is crucial that students apply themselves in all aspects of their learning as VCE exams and VCAL final assessments approach.

As discussed previously, staying up-to-date with your son/daughter’s progress in school will assist them to achieve academic progress. Parents can do this by accessing the information on Compass, tracking Progress Report feedback and assessment feedback. Taking time to discuss this information with your son/daughter is a powerful way to show interest and identify areas for growth and improvement. I trust that all parents are aware of their sons'/daughters’ academic achievements and/or areas of improvement. The school holiday period provides a great opportunity for parents to check in with their son/daughter to discuss exactly how they are progressing to this point in the academic year.

On Wednesday 7th September, our senior students successfully completed the General Achievement Test (GAT). The new structure of the GAT required our senior VCAL students to take part and complete Section A of the GAT this year. The GAT was split into two sections Section A: Literacy and Numeracy andSection B: General Knowledge and Skills with a break in between. Congratulations to all senior students that completed the GAT this year. The feedback from external supervisors was positive in the way our students approached this assessment.

For our VCE students, the VCAA Examination period looms ever closer and from this point on, effective exam revision and preparation are keys to achieving exam success. The main VCE exam period commences with the English & EAL exams on Wednesday 26th October. The focus for our Yr12s moving ahead is completing any outstanding coursework this term and continuing to prepare and revise for final examinations (VCE) and final work submissions (VCAL). Over the school holiday period, some Yr12 VCE teachers will be running revision workshops in their subjects. Although these sessions are not mandatory for our Yr12 students’ attendance is highly recommended. A Holiday Workshop Timetable has already been published and distributed to students via Teams and to the broader Westall community via Compass. Additionally, we will be running a Trial Exam Period for all Unit 3/4 subjects at Westall during the first week back of Term 4. During this week, normal Yr12 VCE classes will be cancelled and students only need to attend and complete their trial exams. 

Yr11 VCE classes will run as normal, with students completing Unit 3/4 subjects coming out of their regular classes to complete their assigned trial exams as required. In Term 4, there is no alteration to Senior VCAL classes, which will run as normal for the first 3 weeks of term. In addition to the trial exams and internal holiday workshops, students have been provided with the opportunity to engage in exam preparation programs run by ACU, Skyline and Monash University. These programs are a highly effective way to prepare well for VCAA exams. 

Finally, just a word of thanks to all staff and students within the senior sub-school for their hard work this term. Collectively, staff and students have worked hard throughout the term to ensure that effective and meaningful learning has been occurring at a subject level. As a senior school, we also work on our student’s ability to be proactive and responsible for their own learning both in class and at home when revising and reviewing their learning. Building capacity in this area and supporting students to be accountable for their own learning assists them to achieve success in assessments which is critical at a senior level. Continued effort by staff and students heading into Term 4, will ensure the best outcomes are achieved for our students in their VCE and VCAL programs

Mr. Jason Tickner

Director of Learning - Senior School

Year 12 Biology GTAC Excursion

The Year 12 Biology students had the opportunity to practice what they have learnt about immunology at GTAC! We attended the 'Outbreak! Identify Pathogens and Controlling the Spread of Disease' workshop on Tuesday 13th September. They used multiple scientific techniques such as polymerase chain reactions, gel electrophoresis, and ELISA test to observe pathogens and their infectious period until antibodies have been developed.  

Ms Loan Luong-Nguyen

Numeracy/STEM Learning Specialist

Excursion to VSSEC

During Term 3, our VCE Chemistry class went on an excursion with Ms Buyya to the Victorian Space Science Education Centre (VSSEC) for the Medicinal Chemistry program. To supplement our knowledge of chemical analysis, we had the chance to use a wide array of instruments and techniques to analyse a sample of aspirin. Some of the techniques we used were IR spectroscopy, UV-visible spectroscopy and HPLC, through which we were able to find out the concentration of the pure chemical aspirin within commercial tablets you’d get at the chemist! We had heaps of fun putting into practice the theory we had learnt in class, and at the same time gained a much more comprehensive understanding of the fascinating world of analytical chemistry!!!

Kaif. M. Qais  & Thalia Wong

Year 12 Chemistry Students