Keysborough College Newsletter

Improvement Team Reports

Pathways and Community Improvement Team

For 2023 there have been a number of changes to the Pathways and Community Improvement Team.  The team welcomes Melissa Hoskin (Banksia Year 7 Teaching Team Leader), Keenan Synnott (Banksia Year 9 Teaching Team Leader), Nichole Wilson (Acacia Year 12 Teaching Team Leader) and Lynda Portelli (College Leadership Development Leader). Continuing in the team is Jonathon Boyd (Banksia Senior School Assistant Principal), Natalie Fode (Acacia Campus Principal) and Andrea Thanos (Acacia Year 10 Teaching Team Leader).

As a team we acknowledge that education is made up of the school, the student, their family and the broader community. Our aim is to connect these four elements and improve communication and connection with our student’s families and the community to make best use of resources available that will help the student develop. We build and support pathway options for students into, through and beyond Keysborough College.

The structure of the team is to ensure there is representation from Year 7 to support the “into” component of our objectives.  Years 9 and 10 to oversee the “through” and from Year 12 to work with the “beyond Keysborough College” component. 

This year the team will continue much of the work that begun in 2022 and strengthen the foundations that were established last year.  Our goals and objectives for 2023 are:

  • To further strengthen the relationships with our associated local Primary Schools through school visits, out-reach support and programs run at Keysborough College.  The aim of this work is to maintain Keysborough College’s strong enrolment numbers.  We want to work with our associated Primary Schools to build the capacity of the students that attend these schools so the students who make the choice to attend Keysborough College in the future are working to and beyond standard and that students continue to see Keysborough College as the school of choice in the local area. 
  • To improve communication with prospective, current and former students and families of Keysborough College.  We aim to do this through improving our social media and online presence.  In 2023 we aim to update the school website and utilise Instagram and Facebook as tools for connecting with our community. 
  • To continue to develop programs that support student’s transition between Junior and Senior School at Keysborough College.  The step up from Year 9 into 10 was identified as a significant transition point in a student’s time at our school and we have
  •  developed programs to assist with that change.  The Improvement Team will continue to take feedback on, refine and improve the Year 9 into 10 transition program.
  • To improve pathways and career education and support to assist students to make positive transitions through to the next stage of their lives once they finish their time at Keysborough College.  We have invested in a new online program called Career Tools that will be rolled out across the school to assist students to reflect and learn about career and pathway options. 
  • To continue to oversee the roll out of the VCE-Vocational Major into Units 3&4 for 2024.  This year saw the implementation of Units 1&2 of the new certificate for students undertaking an applied learning pathway.  The Pathways and Community Improvement Team will continue to oversee the development and implementation of this certificate across the college as it expands into Units 3&4 next year.

This is going to be a very big year for the Pathways and Community Improvement Team, however we have a very experienced and very capable team, and as a team we look forward to the challenge ahead.

 

Curriculum, Assessment & Reporting Improvement Team report

I would like to welcome the 2023 Curriculum, Assessment & Reporting Improvement Team Leader: Melissa Williams (Banksia campus Junior School Assistant Principal) and Team members: Natalie Fode (Acacia campus Principal), Danielle Dalton (Curriculum Leader), Courtney Richmond (English Leader), Ashleigh Phillips (Yr 8 TTL), Kiara Kearney (Yr 8 TTL) and Lauran Walters (Yr 12 TTL).

 The College Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Improvement team is essential for providing our school with alignment in curriculum processes, particularly within our large, multi-campus setting. We do this by establishing and embedding continuous curriculum, assessment & reporting practices within the college. The ‘Curriculum Action Team’ is led by The College Curriculum Leader and involves all the Learning Area Leaders, ensuring that Keysborough College is able to provide a contemporary and viable educational program that caters to the needs of all our students.

The main focus of our work this year will centre around updating the College Assessment Policy. With an aim to provide a more comprehensive guide to teachers and students, supporting both to achieve their highest standards. The new policy will also provide guidance on differentiation, inclusion and guidance on the demonstration of capabilities within assessments.

With the welcome addition of increased collaborative curriculum planning time this year, we also expect to see great progress being made in developing innovative and engaging curriculum programs. Our team will oversee the development of curriculum programs to ensure the college is meeting department expectations for curriculum delivery and documentation.

Additionally, our team also oversees and makes recommendations on the reporting process for the College. This year, our team will be reviewing the current reporting practices used within the college, with an aim to further align the reporting accuracy against the performance indicators of our students and increase parent engagement.

 

Pedagogy Improvement Team 

I would like to give my thanks to the 2022 Pedagogy Improvement Team members (Rob Barton, Lorraine Blyth, Alison Parkes, Steve Russell & Richard Hastings) for their energy and drive in the development of the Keysborough Learning Framework and the Team Teaching Handbook. As we move in to 2023 I would like to introduce the new team (with some familiar faces): 

● Matt Sloan - Assistant Principal Pedagogy Improvement Team Leader & Acacia Junior School 

● Joselle Bardwell - Acacia Year 9 Teacher Team Leader 

● Rob Barton - College eLearning Leader 

● Lorraine Blyth - College Pedagogy Leader 

● Richard Hastings - Banksia Campus Principal 

● Alison Parkes - Banksia Year 11 Teacher Team Leader 

● Jess Yuong - College Maths Leader 

 

We have started the year with an introduction of the new look improvement team to the whole school staff, and used time on the first day of term to officially launch the Keysborough Teaching and Learning Model and provide some professional learning around Team Teaching and the use of the newly developed Team Teaching Handbook. 

The first meeting of 2023 was spent reviewing the team goals from 2022, and ensuring alignment with the 2023 AIP was achieved. In 2023 the team will focus on developing staff understanding and implementation of the Keysborough Learning Framework, focussing on the pedagogical model and high impact teaching strategies. The team will also support those staff who team teach, to improve understanding of the range of strategies that can be used to support students in the class. 

 

Student Engagement & Wellbeing Improvement Team 

The 2023 Student Engagement & Wellbeing Improvement Team has had a staffing change. 

The team consists of continuing members; 

  • Senior School Assistant Principal Acacia Campus - Robyn Hughes 
  • Campus Principal Banksia - Richard Hastings 
  • College Student Voice & Alumni Leader - Vino Haluwadana 
  • Year 11 Teacher Team Leader Acacia Campus – Matthew Currie 

and we have welcomed new members to the team; 

  • College Inclusive Education Program Leader – Katina Dukellis 
  • Year 7 Teacher Team Leader Acacia Campus – Rebekah Vass 
  • Year 10 Teacher Team Leader Banksia Campus – Steven Russell 

The Framework for Improving Student Outcomes (FISO 2.0) is the continuous improvement framework for all Victorian government schools. It was redesigned in 2022 to place Student Learning and Wellbeing at the centre of school improvement. Our College has always placed Student Learning and Engagement and Wellbeing at the centre of planning and resource management. 

In 2023 the Student Engagement and Wellbeing Improvement Team will continue to; 

- identify areas, develop strategies and provide support and resources to address student engagement and wellbeing. 

- build the skills and knowledge and involve students in decision making, choices and behaviours that prioritise their wellbeing. 

- strengthen the skills and knowledge of staff to ensure student engagement and wellbeing is at the core of all teaching programs. 

- review school policies and directives and ensure these are updated, comprehensive, compliant and the school community is kept informed.

 

Teaching and Learning  Improvement Team Report 

VIT- program 

We have 18 new teachers commencing their VIT this year in our Teacher Induction support program. Each graduate teacher is assigned an experienced teacher in the school as a mentor. They provide support and guidance to the graduate teacher as they navigate their first year of teaching. 

 

PLT program 

To further support our staff in the development of their classroom practices. The college has implemented a new PLT/ curriculum planning structure, aimed at promoting more time to enhance a culture of continuous improvement and collaboration amongst teachers which has been well received by teachers and helps to ensure that students receive high quality education. 

 

Intervention Programs 

Intervention programs at Keysborough College are targeted at providing additional support to students that require it. All our new year 7’s have undertaken assessments, allowing the yr 7-11 tutor and year 10 MYLNS programs to be finalised with selected students. Parents of eligible students are currently being notified about their child's eligibility for inclusion in either program. These programs are run in several ways that suit the year level or class being supported, either through small group tutoring to assigning additional tutor teachers to classes.