School Development Day

On Monday, 29 April 2019, at our school development day, teachers received further training on the NSW Quality Teaching Framework, especially in relation to assessment. The model identifies 18 elements of teaching and learning which supports a quality education.

In particular, teachers are focusing on how our formal assessment tasks (tests, assignments, research tasks, projects) can increase in significance so that students see value in their work.

Tell Them From Me Survey

Almost every student in the school completed the ‘Tell Them From Me’ survey at the end of Term 1. This provides us with incredibly rich data from a student’s perspective and informs our future planning. As in previous years, there is much to celebrate when analysing this data. When compared with the rest of NSW:

our students are more likely to have a positive sense of belonging (7% higher)
our students are more likely to have positive homework behaviours (11% higher)
our students are more likely to be intellectually engaged at school (11% higher)
our students are half as likely to miss school without a valid reason

We will run the ‘Partners in Learning’ survey for parents later in the year to give us more food for thought from the perspective of parents.

Study at Home

I recently came across an interesting article in relation to home study. This article stresses the importance of:

regular routines
scheduled reading time
firm rules about technology
spaced practice (3 x 1 hour study sessions is better than 1 x 3 hour study session)
get your children to teach a topic to you to demonstrate they understand it

Year 12

In terms of my introductory quote, it isn’t quite “one day more”, but Year 12 have only 45 school days left until their trial HSC exams. They are now more than halfway through their HSC courses. At this time of the year, as Year 12 inch closer to their “destiny”, it is important that they do everything they can to get feedback from their teachers. In the past, there was a half-yearly exam for Year 12 around this time of the year but is now not permitted under NESA rules. This means that Year 12 students must seek out feedback from their teachers for advice and guidance. Research continually shows that feedback is one of the best ways for students to improve . Year 12 need to be proactive in order to maximise their marks:

show draft work to their teachers
complete past HSC exam questions
complete online multiple choice quizzes
write study notes and show them to teachers
ask lots of questions
seek feedback, more feedback and then even more feedback!

Edrolo

Year 12 students have access to Edrolo this year. This is an online learning platform which contains videos, quizzes, questions, worked examples, lectures, revision tutorials and more in relation to a number of HSC subjects. Most courses are written by senior markers of the HSC. All Year 12 students received training on the platform in Term 1 and relevant HSC teachers were also trained on the platform. A parent information video is available here. HSC students should use Edrolo regularly to supplement their teacher-directed school work. Edrolo will become available for Year 11 students later this term for selected subjects.

Staff Appointments

I am very pleased to announce that Ms Laura Cossetto has been appointed to a permanent position at Cecil Hills High School.

Ms Cossetto has taught at our school since 2013 and has fulfilled many roles during this time. She has had whole school responsibilities for our house leadership team and served as year adviser to our current Year 11 students. In addition to teaching Italian and English, Ms Cossetto previously co-chaired the school’s assessment and differentiation team. I know you will join me in congratulating both Ms Cossetto on her permanent appointment.

In other staffing news, I am pleased to welcome Ms Mel Petrovska who has been permanently appointed to Cecil Hills HS via merit selection as a TAS teacher, with a specialisation in VET Hospitality. Ms Petrovska is an experienced teacher who is joining us from Birrong Girls High School where she held a number of whole school roles, including peer support coordinator and assistant year adviser. We are looking forward to the expertise that Ms Petrovska brings to our school.

P&C Meetings

Our next P&C meeting will be held at 6:30pm on Monday, 3 June 2019. There will be a repeat session at 9:30am on Thursday, 6 June 2019.

I look forward to continuing to work with the staff, students and parents of Cecil Hills High School, the best school in NSW.

Mark Sutton, Principal

Year 12 Biologists