Principal message
Term 4 has certainly kicked off with quite a bang - in typical Macleod fashion, we have had four jam-packed weeks of amazing opportunities for our students, and of course our end-of-year 12 celebrations. It certainly is never boring at Macleod!
Progress Reports
This week our latest round of student progress reports will be made available to students and parents. An assessment of each student's Effort, Organisation, Classroom behaviour, Work Submission and of how regularly they seek teacher assistance gives a snapshot of a student's work habits across all their subjects for the past 6 weeks.
I encourage families to take advantage of these reports as a way of stimulating valuable conversations about learning, with an emphasis on growth rather than achievement.
Frontiers in Psychology noted "Growth mindset refers to our core belief that our talents can be developed through practice, which may influence our thoughts and behaviours. Growth mindset has been studied in a variety of fields, including education, sports, and management. However, few studies have explored whether differences in individuals’ growth mindsets influence college students’ self-reported mental health.
Using the Growth Mindset Scale, Adolescent Self-rating Life Events Checklist, and SCL-90 Scale, data was collected from 2,505 freshmen in a University in China. Findings revealed that the students within the growth mindset group scored significantly lower on “mental health issues” and “stress due to life events” than the students in the fixed mindset group. Our findings suggest that individuals with a growth mindset are less prone to mental health problems than individuals with a fixed mindset."
It is highly beneficial for students to monitor their learning processes and consider the effects on their individual growth - and families can support this through modelling growth mindset language, comparing previous reports and importantly, continuing to celebrate the wins.
End of Year 12 Celebrations
The end of high school is one of life's seminal moments - one I am sure Macleod parents remember fondly. For teachers, it is a time to not only reminisce about this cohort's time with us but also to think back fondly on the many, many cohorts that have come before them, not to mention memories of our own year 12.
The excitement of completion and trepidation about what comes next has been palpable these past few weeks. The whole school assembly was a brilliant celebration; the handing over to our 2023 school captains, the tree planting to symbolise the 2022 cohorts' legacy, and the presentation of leadership certificates by our preps and grade 1's made us all feel proud to be Macleod.
The valedictory evening was elegant and collegiate, and the end-of-year activities gave the year 12's and their teachers a chance to let their hair down before the seriousness of exams kicked in.
I would like to highlight the contribution of Ms Swati Julka in supporting the year 12 cohort of 2022 throughout every day of this year, and to the fabulous team here at Macleod for all they have done for these students throughout their time here. And of course, many thanks go out to the families of these amazing students for their ongoing support and passion for our School!
Prep Orientation
Although it is bittersweet to see this fabulous group of year 12's leave us, we are greatly excited to welcome our new prep class for 2023. We are very proud of our extensive orientation program for incoming preps, allowing the exuberant students to experience the college before their official start next year.
Thank you to Primary Leader Ms Butterworth and our fabulous Prep teacher Ms Ellis for all of their work in supporting our newest students.
We can't wait to get to know you all and see you flourish as students of Macleod College!
Have a great week
Andrew Arney
Acting Principal