Delahey Campus Principal Message 

Campus Principal’s Report 

A big welcome back to Term 2 for all members of the Delahey community. Suddenly, what felt like the beginning of a new year has us now focusing our attention on the end of Semester 1 and this edition of the campus principal’s report may well be the “calm before the storm” as they say, in terms of the hectic schedule we will immerse ourselves in over the next 7 weeks or so. 

With Parent-Student-Teacher night over and the publishing of Interim Reports, students we hope are proactively making plans for how to address gaps in their learning or better still, have received feedback from their teacher on how to really elevate their pre-existing learning to a higher level. Our Student Management Tea are also working with class teachers ensuring that as many students as possible are on track to meet VCE and VCAL outcomes, particularly those whose teachers flagged as a ‘Concern’ on their Interim report. 

Exams

Students are now busily preparing for the examination period in mid-June. Year 12 mid-year exams are scheduled to provide students with an opportunity to practice the experience in preparation for the VCAA examination period in November. Year 11 exams are the ‘real-deal’ for students and while they are in-house, they are reported on, but most importantly, provide Year 11s with their first taste of a high stakes common assessment in a VCE unit. We need to remember that because of Covid, our Year 11 students have been denied the opportunity to undertake end of semester exams while at the Junior campuses. Of course, we need to be mindful of this, but we also can’t use it as an excuse to dilute our expectations and the student’s aspirations. 

Edrolo

The College has invested heavily in the Edrolo platform; an online teaching and assessment tool that provides nothing short of invaluable support to students if they proactively seek to unlock the key to all its features. The Delahey staff met last Monday to hear a representative from Edrolo who went through those excellent features. In particular, things like practice exams, instant feedback with multiple choice questions, short videos showing students the solution process for more extended questions etc. If only some of us ‘more experienced’ members of the Delahey community could’ve accessed these resources, they err we err me could’ve obtained even higher grades when doing HSC (VCE before it was called VCE) 

Another tool that we use during exam time is to provide students with a Study Planner for each class so that students can work with their teacher to map out a plan (including strategies) for how to maximise their chances of obtaining the best exam score possible. 

Pathways

Last week, Year 12 VCAL students completed their mini-pathways presentation to several of their teachers. While this was only a practice, it gave students exposure at speaking publicly about how their VET program., their Work placement and their VCAL Personal Development Skills project were combining to provide a clearer picture of career pathways next year. Of course, there is variation in the quality of the presentations, but I must say, watching students present to their teachers is an inspirational activity to attend and testament to our wonderful VCAL team who help students pool it all together. Well done to all Year 12 VCE students last Wednesday participated in another study skills session which focused on success strategies. Again, this is another way in which the school works with the student to unlock their potential and move them from extrinsic motivation to intrinsic motivation as they prepare themselves for a future beyond Copperfield College. Key areas addressed last Wednesday included Time Management, Positive Self Talk, Knowledge Consolidation and Study Group Strategies. 

VCE-Vocational Major

A new senior secondary certificate (VCE-Vocational Major) begins next year which will replace VCAL. Our VCAL program has very few peers and was developed with fidelity with the student at the forefront. There will no doubt be some changes next year, but I have no doubt that Copperfield College is in a very strong position to make the transition more seamlessly than many other schools; in fact, we would argue that we are already running our VCAL program in a similar way to the way in which VCE-VM is envisaged to run. Teachers will be attending Professional Development and given time to make the necessary changes to curriculum, structures and requirements over the next few months.

That’s all for now. It's going to be a busy next 7 weeks or so.

Stay safe, happy and healthy!

Mr Renato Carinci and  Mr Dan Sullivan

Campus Principals