DEPUTY PRINCIPAL LEARNING AND TEACHING

The college is very much looking forward to a year that is less compromised than 2020. Having said that, all things considered I believe St Joseph’s College did an admirable job to provide a meaningful and engaging curriculum in 2020. 

Recently we held our Year 12 2020 Awards Assembly and Sascha Leslie, as Dux, spoke to the college community.  As part of that presentation she made the following comment:

Whether it be the nurturing listening ear of a homeroom teacher, the inspirational guidance of a house leader or the unrivalled dedication of a year 12 teacher, the staff's influence is unparalleled and permanent and you don’t really realise this until you look back”.

Sascha was heartfelt in her praise for the college and the people who make up the St Joseph’s community, which was nice to hear and makes you feel proud to be part of this community.

She also gave the following advice to the student body:

“My advice to the current students of St Joseph’s is to ensure your perspective is optimistic. The key to enjoying school, making the most of the memories and cherishing your experience, is to perceive it positively.  Instead of dwelling on the negatives, celebrate the small wins and small successes.”

This advice applies really to everyone and it made me reflect on the efforts of the teachers at St Joseph’s College in 2020.  Last year, we saw the teachers make the most of the situation.  They really stretched themselves, displayed incredible agility and in so doing did a great job in difficult circumstances. Their enthusiasm, commitment and optimism shone through and for that, I would like to thank each and every one of our teachers.

VCE RESULTS

Taking into consideration the year that 2020 was, we were very happy with the VCE results.  It was very pleasing to see the continuing upward trend of our top end VCE data. In these two categories the overall trend over the last nine years has been very positive with significant improvement over that period of time. 

ATAR Greater than 95

ATAR Greater than 90

In fact in all categories our nine year trend data is up, which given the circumstances of last year, is very pleasing.

Study Scores

Students receive a score out of 50 for each VCE subject they complete in Year 12

Median VCE Study Score 

The teaching staff generally, and in particular the Year 12 teachers, worked very hard to ensure that students were not too seriously disadvantaged during remote learning. Having said that, some students depend more greatly on the type of classroom support and encouragement that only face to face contact with teachers can provide. Often these students feel they are going well, but in a classroom situation it is much easier for a teacher to see for themselves how well the student is managing content and concept.

The data paints a very positive picture for the college. The long term upward trend can be attributed to a number of factors that have been prioritised in recent years. These include but are not limited to:

• VCE Data Analysis sessions between members of the executive and individual teachers
• Extended Library hours
• Academic Support Officer availability in afternoons after completion of school
• Supervised Academe
• The work of the Learning Diversity team and the Wellbeing team
• Specific Teacher Professional Learning targeted for VCE subjects
• Data Analysis Professional Learning

When comparing our results with the results of other local schools and other schools in the Diocese, we have done very well. This is a testament to the strategic decisions made in regard to remote learning by the College Executive team and the enormous effort of the teachers, students and the wider college community.

Better Education (which ranks all schools in the state based on VCE results) ranks St Joseph’s College as the top rated local school and in the Ballarat Diocese as the top rated co-educational school. Everyone should be proud of this fantastic result.

Student data collected at the end of last year, along with data we are now collecting, is giving us a clearer picture in terms of individual student performance 2020. There are quite clearly some students who struggled through remote learning, and really missed the degree of support that can only be provided in the classroom environment. The college has already employed two VIT-registered teachers as tutors to assist us in working with students in the areas of literacy and numeracy. 

PAM AND YEAR 7 INTRODUCTORY REPORT 

Associated with the Year 7 Parent Teacher meetings on Wednesday March 17, an Introductory Report was completed by teachers for the Year 7 students. Just a reminder that reports are only accessible via Parent Access Module, hence the need to be familiar with the Parent Access Module. 

The Parent Access Module is also critical for a number of other communications between the school and families, for example updating medical information before students are permitted to attend overnight excursions. If you are uncertain on how to use the Parent Access Module you are more than welcome to contact reception and ask them to make a time for you to sit down with myself, or our Director of Learning and Teaching, Mr Emmet Brown or even your child’s Homeroom Teacher to show you how to access and use the Parent Access Module effectively.   

SKOOLBAG 

Another important communication tool that the school uses is “Skoolbag” which is a phone app that enables the college to communicate with you in a timely and efficient manner, as well as keep parents up to date with important events, the college calendar and the college newsletter. I have included instructions below on how to access and install “Skoolbag”. 

Mr Greg Kluske

Deputy Principal Learning and Teaching