Hello Everyone,

I would like to begin by thanking our families who participated in our Learning and Wellbeing Conferences. We hope the experience was constructive and meaningful and that our young people did receive positive and useful feedback on how to improve their learning. We

are carefully tracking the learning behaviours so that we can more effectively identify how students are self-regulating and progressing in their individual subjects. Please continue to monitor Compass for teacher feedback. If you have any concerns that feedback is not being posted, please contact the teacher as your first point of call. The Semester One report will have the summative results for all the Assessments Tasks undertaken over the semester as well as the Learning Behaviours and Victorian Curriculum Teacher Judgements for the eight Learning Areas and the General Capabilities, which are spread across the subjects:

English
Mathematics
Science
Humanities
The Arts
The Technologies
Physical Education and Health
Languages

This year we are also introducing a rubric in the preamble of the report which sets out what we can do as a College and as families to support the learning and wellbeing of our young people:

WHSC Creating Futures Together Rubric

What Wheelers Hill Secondary College will do to support Student Learning and Wellbeing:

Provide a safe and supportive learning environment
Provide a curriculum that is rigorous and differentiated
Have high but realistic expectations of performance and behaviour
Provide regular and meaningful feedback on student learning
Encourage 21st Century teaching and learning practices to foster self-actualised learners
Implement the WHSC Teaching and Learning Model
Encourage students to seek support when assistance is required
Encourage students to embrace the College values of Respect, Excellence and Creativity
Communicate with parents/guardians when we have concerns about a student’s wellbeing and/or learning

What you can do to support your Student’s Learning and Wellbeing:

Encourage students to bring correct resources to class
Support students to complete independent learning and regularly revise learning
Communicate with College using the Compass platform
Ensure students are correctly attired
Communicate with teachers if you have any concerns about learning and / or wellbeing
Discuss learning with your students and encourage them to participate in extra-curricular, community and leadership opportunities

I was also delighted in our Middle School Assembly to see the number of students who were acknowledged and the ones who received certificates for outstanding Learning Behaviours.

Regarding student attendance, please ensure that you do notify the school of any absences so that the student approved attendance is accurate.

Work Experience for Year 10 is coming up at the end of term. It is crucial that the Work Experience documentation has been completed and submitted.

Sport

Congratulations to our Junior Girls AFL team and our Junior Boys netball teams who won their division competition last Friday and will now progress to the EMR competitions.

Music

I would like to acknowledge the efforts of the Choir during the recent Choir Incursion. Annie Stone, our singing teacher, and Kirsty Mechielsen, our Head of Music, worked with them from 11:15am right up until 5pm and were so impressed with how focussed and engaged our students were for the entire event. They rehearsed a range of songs, two of which were recorded. Please access the link. It is wonderful to see our Music Program flourishing and the dedication, passion and focus that our students bring to it. We should all be very proud of what they have achieved. Abigail Butcher, Chloe Burley and Milan Stefanović all performed solos as part of the recordings.

Master Planning

Our goal as a College is to provide a safe and supportive learning environment for our students and excellent learning spaces to deliver Learning and Wellbeing. To achieve this goal, I will be supporting School Council to prepare a funding submission for Master Planning. This must be secured before we can be allocated funds in the 2024 State budget. Our focus will be the creation of a purpose-built STEAM Centre and the upgrading of outdated buildings and spaces. I hope that you will support School Council in our efforts to create a Wheelers Hill Secondary College that can deliver the best opportunities for our young people.

Staffing

Along with many other secondary schools in our Region, we are still in the process of securing additional staff for permanent

coverage for all classes. We would like to wish Megan Hodgkinson all the best as she begins her Family Leave and welcome Natasha Simpson, her replacement. Natasha is a highly skilled educator, and we know that her skillset will be a wonderful asset to our School Community.

Although it seems the year has just begun, we are quickly approaching Course Counselling time. Handbooks will be ready soon so that you can work with your child with the support of our counselling team to select subjects and pathways that are best for their futures.

Take care,

Fern Brisbane

College Principal

Homestay Families WANTED!

'Creating Futures Together'