Brentwood Newsletter

Principal's Report

Headstart 2022 

As 2021 draws to a close with Year 12 completing exams and Year 11 and 10 about to embark on their own exams, we look ahead to our Headstart program to prepare students for the 2022 Academic Year. Headstart begins on Nov 29 for all Year 7 to 11 students. Current Year 10 and Year 11 students will complete a one week program and conclude on December 3, whilst current Year 7, 8 and 9 students will complete a two week program, concluding on December 10. Teachers will be using the Staff Professional Learning Day on November 26 to begin getting to know the students in their 2022 classes, which will be the ongoing focus during Headstart. Please note Friday November 26 is a student free day.  

 

Prior to Headstart students will be participating in Progressive Achievement Testing, the results of which will provide valuable data to students and teachers to assess their progress and set goals for their future learning. Please find more information below about the Progressive Achievement Testing. 

 

Assessment Program – Progressive Achievement Testing 

As part of our comprehensive student learning assessment program, all Years 7 to 10 students’ literacy and numeracy skills are assessed with the Progressive Achievement Test annually. This year testing has been scheduled for Week 8 of this term, beginning 22 November. 

 

The PAT test data will be used by the school to celebrate learning growth over the last twelve months and identify students for learning catch up and extension programs listed for your information below. They also inform the schools planning and resourcing of these programs and the work of teachers in developing learning activities to meet the needs of all students in the classroom.  

 

Never has this standardised testing been more important in ascertaining what our students know so that we can ensure that we continue to meet their learning needs, especially after extended periods of remote learning. 

 

PAT data is one of many diagnostic tools and data sets used to help us identify students for the following: 

 

These tests, developed by the Australian Council for Education Research https://www.acer.org/au/pat is used widely by most primary and secondary schools to determine students’ capacity against national benchmarks. These tests will measure their reading, writing, numeracy and vocabulary skills. 

 

We ask for your support in partnering with us to ensure that your child understands how their test data will be used, that they approach them with confidence and view them as an opportunity to show us what they know and come prepared with fully charged devices to access the online platform. 

 

Your child’s PAT test data will be made visible on Compass Analytics where you will also find a snapshot of learning data over time. 

 

Peter Rhodes

Associate Principal