SCHOOL LEADERSHIP MESSAGE

PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

A reminder to stay home if unwell.

We are noticing a significant increase in coughs, colds, and other flu like symptoms at school compared with 2020. When staff get sick, the Department of Education require them to stay home and if they have cold and flu symptoms, to get tested. This is resulting in staff being absent from work for a number of days until they are well again and have received a negative COVID test. If anyone in our community is unwell, staff, students, or parents, please do not attend the school. Please stay home and prevent the spread of illness. Currently the supply of contract replacement teachers is limited in our area; we are conscious that we may have difficulty staffing the school over winter if this trend of illness continues.

 

The latest information on what to do if unwell can be found at:

https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/getting-tested

 

Anzac Day

Earlier this week our School Captains Alex Blackmore, Ellie Stewart, Jade Butler and Pat Boys did an outstanding job representing our community at a number of ANZAC Day services. It started at 5:45am on Sunday morning where Ellie and Alex laid a wreath at the Cenotaph at a cold and wet Korumburra RSL Dawn Service.  On Monday morning I had the pleasure of attending a fantastic service at Korumburra Primary School with Jade, Ellie and Alex as they unveiled honour boards for locals who had attended active service for Australia.  Finally, all four school captains conducted an ANZAC Day Remembrance Service at a whole school assembly at our school later that morning. Speaking with some members from the Korumburra RSL who attended our school assembly, they said that this had been the busiest ANZAC Day period for many years.  They also said it made them so proud that schools and students today were still taking the time to remember our service men and women who fought to protect our country.

 

NAPLAN Year 7 and 9

Students will be completing this testing online between Tuesday 11th May and Friday 21st May. The online tests are much more engaging and ‘adaptive’ than the hard copy tests. Adaptive testing is where the questions change depending on how the student is performing. This reduces stress for students. Parents cannot withdraw students on the day of testing, any request for withdrawal must be submitted in writing to the Principal no later than Friday 7th May. We are really proud of our students, we think they work hard in their Like Ability Groups. NAPLAN is an opportunity for them and us to celebrate their growth, no matter where their starting point was.

 

Despite some media attention over the past few years, Korumburra Secondary College use the NAPLAN tests to inform our teaching and to do something called ‘triangulation.’ Any test for any student, on any given day, is just that – their performance on that day. When we triangulate data, we have multiple data sets which paint a more realistic picture of each student’s performance. If performance is high on NAPLAN but weaker in the classroom, that requires further investigation and vice versa. In the absence of NAPLAN and other testing, we often have an incomplete picture of your child’s performance.

 

I urge parents to encourage students to do their best. We would never tell students to perform less than their best because, “It doesn’t matter.” The school is planning to implement exams and formal assessment across the school. Why? Because we know that our students in Year 12 struggle with exams. Why? Because they haven’t had enough practice. Practising in low stakes environments is critical in developing the skills of working under pressure – something that we all experience throughout our lifetime. The NAPLAN tests are simply an opportunity to practice demonstrating knowledge and skills within a designated time frame.

 

Vaya Dauphin
John Wilson
Vaya Dauphin
John Wilson

 

Principal - Vaya Dauphin

Assistant Principal  -  John Wilson