Principal's Report

Berry Street Education 

I would like to warmly welcome our entire school community back to Term 3. 

We began the term with our staff completing the final day of their professional learning journey on the Berry Street Education Model (BSEM). On our final day of training, we delved into the theme of 'Character,' exploring values, character strengths, community strengths, hope and gratitude.

The Berry Street Education Model has been a positive experience for our staff, equipping them with valuable insights and practical strategies to foster a positive and nurturing learning environment for our students. On the theme of 'Character,' our staff explored the importance of values in shaping students' lives and building a strong foundation for their future. We delved into the significance of character strengths and how developing signature character strengths is a powerful way for students to live in ways that express their own values – ‘Research with adolescents in positive education settings has shown increased levels of school performance, achievement and wellbeing when character strengths approaches are used in the curriculum’ (Shoshani & Slone, 2012).

Throughout the day, our staff also embraced the concepts of hope and gratitude. Instilling hope in our students allows them to envision a bright future and aspire to achieve their goals. Meanwhile, practicing gratitude fosters a sense of appreciation and empathy, enriching our school community with a sense of belonging, kindness and compassion.

The Berry Street Education Model has provided our staff with valuable tools, strategies and understanding that they can incorporate into their teaching practices and interactions with students. As we now begin to build our learning into our everyday practice, we will continue to foster a positive and inclusive learning environment for all. 

Awards Afternoon

We recently celebrated the achievements of our students at our inaugural Mid-Year Awards Afternoon. Throughout this year, we have focused on our College Value of ‘Excellence: Challenging yourself to achieve your best’ and encouraged our students to have a mindset that is focused on consistent improvement, striving to achieve growth in their learning each day and to be the best learner and version of themselves. 

It was wonderful to begin the term with our students by recognising and celebrating the achievements of those students that have challenged themselves and achieved excellence, both academically and in their personal achievements. 

Our Awards Afternoon was streamed into classrooms and to families so that we could all celebrate the achievements of our students. Whilst we recognised some students at the presentation, I would also like to acknowledge the many students who also have received awards and recognition during Semester 1. Congratulations on your commitment to excellence and to achieving your personal best. 

As we head into Semester 2, many students will be starting new subjects and units of learning. I would encourage all students to use this opportunity to reflect upon their learning during Semester 1 and to set themselves some goals for Semester 2. This is your chance to consider how you are going to challenge yourself to achieve your personal best over the coming months.

Middle & Senior School Information Evening

Whilst we may be only halfway through 2023, planning has already begun for 2024. Students in Year 8 – 11 have been working through the subject selection process as part of their SELF class, learning about the subjects on offer in 2024 and the subject selection process. We also held our Middle & Senior School Information Night to share this information with families and provide an opportunity for students and families to further explore the subjects and pathways on offer at our ‘Subject Expo.’ We were overwhelmed by the attendance at the evening, with large numbers of families attending to support their children through the process. We even had to bring out more chairs in the PAC so that everyone could fit!

The process will continue over the coming weeks, with students engaging in course counselling to support them with their subject selections and pathway choices. Detailed information on Subjects for each Year Level can be found on our website via this link.    If students or their families have any questions about the subject selection process, pathways or course counselling, please contact the following staff at the College. 

Emma Steeper – Learning Leader Senior School (Y11 & Y12)

Daniella Gentile - Learning Leader Year 10

Ashlea Gell – Learning Leader Year 9

Bryce Denny – Leader of Teaching and Learning

I would like to thank all our staff who contributed to the Middle & Senior School Information Evening, sharing their expertise and knowledge with students and families so that they can make informed decisions about their 2024 pathway. 

NAPLAN

School Results

The 2023 NAPLAN results have recently been released and I am pleased to say that Lilydale Heights College continues to record positive results. Before I go into the details of our results, it is important to point out that the measures for reporting student achievement on NAPLAN have changed for this year. NAPLAN is now presented in four proficiency levels – exceeding, strong, developing, needs additional support (see below for more details). 

When making comparisons to ‘Similar Schools’ (Similar Schools are a group of schools who have similar characteristics to our school) and to ‘Network Schools’ (Network Schools are the other secondary schools in Lilydale) the data that is used for comparison is the percentage of students that achieved in the ‘exceeding’ and ‘strong’ proficiency levels.     

I am pleased to share that:

Year 7 students -

• Achieved higher results than both our Similar Schools and our Network Schools in Reading, Numeracy and Grammar and Punctuation! 
• Writing - our Year 7 students achieved higher than Similar Schools and the same as our Network Schools.
• Spelling – our students were the same as our Similar Schools and Network Schools. 

Year 9 students -

• Achieved higher results than both our Similar Schools and our Network Schools in Reading, Spelling and Numeracy!
• Writing, Grammar and Punctuation - our Year 9 students achieved the same as our Similar Schools and Network Schools.

Whilst NAPLAN is a point in time assessment and does not measure all of the amazing skills, knowledge and talents that our students have, these results are an incredible achievement and something that our whole community should be proud of. 

Student NAPLAN Reports

Families will be receiving their child's NAPLAN 2023 reports via post over the coming week. Ahead of receiving these NAPLAN results, we wanted to share with you further details on the changes to this year’s reporting. These are changes being introduced nationally by the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). NAPLAN will continue to measure student achievement in numeracy, reading, writing, spelling, and grammar and punctuation but the results will now be presented in four proficiency levels:

These are:

• exceeding
• strong
• developing
• needs additional support

This change will give schools, parents and carers clearer information that details student achievement against new proficiency levels. Students’ NAPLAN reports will continue to show how they are tracking against their peers and provide an indication of their skill levels against national averages and where we would expect them to be in order to get the most out of schooling. This provides valuable information to teachers about how we can continue to support your child. Each set of NAPLAN results is an important milestone but it’s also important that students know that one result does not define them – these results are about making sure every student gets the support they need so they can continue to get the best from their learning. Information about what the new proficiency levels mean can be found via this link.

Families may also find the following video on reading the Individual Student Report useful to understand student-level reporting and the new proficiency standards for NAPLAN.

As ever, you’re welcome speak to your child's Learning Leader, Leader of Teaching and Learning - Bryce Denny, Assistant Principal - Tim Wright or myself with any questions about these changes.

                        Shane Kruger, Principal.