Principal's Report

It was terrific to meet and greet many of our new parents during our Year 7 information evening on Wednesday 20th February. What a wonderful opportunity to touch base with our parents, students and the school community a few weeks after the start, to discuss how our new students have settled into life at Rosehill Secondary College.

The transition from Primary to Secondary is very much a milestone in a student’s life. Therefore, a key priority at Rosehill Secondary College during the first few weeks is to ensure all Year 7 students have settled, found friendship groups and feel happy to come to school each day. It is vitally important that this emotional and social aspect of a student’s schooling life is stable. This will encourage students to feel comfortable in their new environment, and provide the right conditions for high quality learning to take place.

In the previous newsletter, I mentioned the FISO improvement cycle. Our staff are undertaking significant professional learning to ensure they have a thorough understanding of this process, in order to constantly evaluate, improve and reflect on their practice and learning so they can deliver high quality teaching and learning. I would also like our parents to have an understanding of the department’s model for all government schools known as The Framework for Improving Student Outcomes (FISO).

The image below depicts the FISO model and as you can see, it is broken into 4 main priority areas. Any high performing government school must have the entire dimensions working well to ensure the best possible student outcomes.

At the CORE is the student.

The blue zone represents Excellence in Teaching and Learning. Research tells us that what happens in the classroom is the greatest predictor for improved student outcomes. At Rosehill, we are working tirelessly to ensure improved consistency in what happens from one class to another. This consistency can guarantee that every child is receiving the same instruction and curriculum. This is fundamentally important in providing improved students outcomes for all our students.

The yellow zone relates to Professional Leadership and involves every level of leadership in the school. This is the second most important predicator of success in a school and hence why it covers the next largest component of the circle. We are investing significant resources into this aspect to ensure our school has a very strong leadership profile across all areas of the school.

The orange section, Positive Climate for Learning looks at health and wellbeing, student voice and agency and promoting school pride. Our Positive Behaviour Model underpins this work including the student leadership work across the college.

The purple section, Community Engagement in Learning involves parents being present in their child’s learning and active participants both at home and at school by talking to your child about their day at school, about their work, discussing homework, attending important functions and events such as parent teacher interviews, concerts, information nights and school council representation. It also involves schools working together to improve outcomes for all students in our network known as the Moonee Valley Network.

I would also like to take this opportunity to introduce our new staff. Just like our students, they have settled in very well and have come to us with a range of experience. They all bring new ideas, skills and knowledge, which provides a great opportunity to compare and reflect on our work.

Mr Christopher Cogan – Assistant Principal

Ms Melissa Chapman – Leading Teacher (Teaching and Learning)

Mr Ben Derks – Year 7 Coordinator

Ms Sarah Sullivan – Visual Arts

Ms Jessica Connoley – English/Humanities

Mr Andrew Crofts – Science/Maths

Ms Winnie Tran – Science/Maths

Ms Shanea Barrett- Instrumental music/Classroom music

Ms Tamara Ferraro- Maths (RAMP)

Ms Rachel Henshaw – Material Technology

Ms Melissa Brown – Performing Arts/English

Ms Cecila Nguyen – International Student Assistant

Arthur Soumalias

Acting Principal

Rotary Club of Keilor East

Rotary Club of Keilor East