Taylors Lakes News

From the Principal Class 

Welcome to Term 3

Welcome back to all staff and students for Semester 2. I hope everyone has had a chance for a break and that we are all ready to go for the next 10 weeks. A particular welcome to the following staff who take up positions this term:

  • Richard Gubb - Maths/Science
  • Christine Drakeford - Mathematics
  • Janel Fehmi - ES Daily Organisation

We also welcome back Robert Findlay and Emma Fava who return from leave and will be based in the English/Humanities teacher workspace.  Recently we farewelled Diane Apap who goes  on maternity leave for the rest of the year as well Candy Zoccoli and Aylan Yildrim who have picked up positions at other schools. We thank them for their hard work last semester and for their contributions at the school.

End of Semester Reports

End of semester reports are now available to download from Compass for students and parents. 

  • Reports will include a list of major assessment tasks for each subject, a description of the task and grade awarded.
  • They will include a percentage of attendance for each subject, a graph of student work habits in each class, and a teacher judgement rating for the student against the Victorian Curriculum state-wide five point scale for students in Years 7-10.
  • There will be no descriptive comments included as these have been previously recorded on learning tasks saved to Compass as each task was completed throughout the semester.

It is important to remember that student reports provide students, teachers and parents with a clear and concise picture of a student’s achievement and progress at a point in time. Teachers make informed and consistent decisions about student progress against the achievement standards using a variety of assessments and observations to inform their judgement. They map the student’s learning against the achievement standards, and place the student on the learning continuum, that best reflect the student’s level of performance and progress.

 

The Victorian Curriculum is structured as a single developmental learning continuum and is organised by levels not years of schooling. The curriculum consists of Towards Foundation Levels A to D and Levels Foundation to 10. All curriculum areas have achievement standards, describing what students are able to understand and do.

All students progress along the learning continuum at their own rate and from their own starting point. Teachers provide learning opportunities to support the learning for all students, including those students with additional learning needs or a disability. 

 

I encourage all parents and guardians to read through the reports, and discuss with your children how they have gone, and what they can do in Term 3 to improve. Regardless of how good the report is, there are always things which can be improved.

Updated Covidsafe measures

New measures have been introduced for the commencement of this term. Some of this information has already been communicated to the school community over the break. The Victorian Government recently announced changes to the pandemic orders. There will no longer be a mandated vaccination requirement for staff working in mainstream schools. This change came in from 11.59pm Friday 24 June, so in effect from the start of Term 3 2022. As part of the changes, from 11.59pm Friday 24 June 2022, parents and carers who have COVID-19 can transport their non-COVID-19 children via private vehicle to their primary or secondary school when an alternative person is not available to assist. This means that parents and carers will be able to leave COVID self-isolation to take their nonCOVID-19 child to school via a private vehicle. The parent or carer must travel directly to and from the school only. They must remain in the vehicle at all times, unless it is reasonably necessary to leave the vehicle to walk the child to and from the entrance of the school safely. They must wear a face mask at all times. Family members are asked to continue reporting positive COVID-19 cases to both the Department of Health and our own testing portal. 

 

Parents/carers must also let the school know if their child is positive or a close contact. Students who are close contacts and want to attend should still take 5 RATs over 7 days and wear a face mask whilst indoors if they are aged 8 years or over. Students should continue to stay home if they are unwell, even if they test negative on a RAT.

 

The Rapid Antigen Test Program will continue from the department for all staff and students in Term 3. Parents/carers can collect their next RATs from the general office now. With the new variant having an impact in the community, it is important to remember that as a school we need to continue to follow Covidsafe measures to protect everyone.

 

Face masks are also recommended to be worn inside and when physical distancing cannot be maintained. Current advice from the Victorian government on the wearing of face masks is available here:

https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/face-masks

 

This information is especially important for those who are medically at risk. Everyone including students aged 8 years and above must wear a face mask when travelling on public transport, taxis or ride share vehicles.

Year 12 VTAC Information Evening

All parents of  Year 12 students are invited to the College on Wednesday August 31st 2022 from 7:00pm to 8:30pm. This evening is an opportunity to learn more about the VTAC process and new requirements for the 2023 tertiary selection entry.  After the information session there will be time to ask questions to help you further understand the process. We hope to see you all here! Please contact the Careers Leader if you have any questions.

Student Course Counselling

Our course counselling program has begun for this year with Years 9, 10 and 11 sessions already commenced this term. These sessions have provided students the opportunity to explore their interests and learn more about career options. Students were also provided with resources to support them during this process. This will be followed up with our Parent Information Sessions about course planning. These sessions will be running on the WebEx platform. Students will also receive their course counselling packs in Week 2 Term 3. The parent information sessions will run as follows: 

  • Monday 18th July 7pm: LEAP (Year 9-11) Parent Information Evening    WebEx Code: 574 512 733
  • Monday 18th July 7pm:  Year 9 Parent Information Evening   - WebEx Code: 572 155 296
  • Tuesday 19th July 7pm: Year 10 Parent Information Evening  - WebEx Code: 576 213 986
  • Tuesday 19th July  7pm:  Year 11 Parent Information Evening  - WebEx Code: 574 578 132
  • Thursday 21st July 7pm:  VCE Vocational Major (VM) Parent Information Evening - WebEx Code: 574 578 132 This session is designed for students and parents who are interested in finding out more about the new VCE Vocational Major which will be replacing VCAL. Anyone in Year 10 or 11, who may be interested in a vocational pathway should attend this session.

All students and parents are expected to attend the online sessions to learn more about the required processes, timelines and other individual support material available.

 

This will then be followed up with individual course interviews over the following weeks, where each student will be allocated a course advisor and an appointment time. Parents/carers are encouraged to attend these interviews as well. These interviews will also be held on the WebEx platform.  All students in Years 9 to 11 are asked to seek support from their course advisors and Careers team over this period of time to accurately select subjects that will support their future pathway aspirations. We will then use the information gathered to start planning for 2023, including timetable construction and staffing. Thanks to the Careers team and the course advisors for their work with the students.

Staff Professional Learning Day

This will occur on Monday August 1st 2022. Regular classes will not be operating on this day. Staff will be involved in a range of professional learning activities centred around the work from the Berry Street trauma informed practices. This professional learning for staff will also complement the work in the last staff PL day in Term 2. 

What's coming up this term?

Lots of student activities are continually planned for the remainder of this term for our students but we have a few major events coming up in the next few weeks.

  • Course Counselling Days - Year 9, 10, 11 - Weeks 3/4 (July 26th - August 3rd)
  • Professional Learning Day - Week 4 (Monday August 1st)
  • Year 9 Camp - Week 4 (Wednesday August 3rd – Friday August 5th)
  • College Production - Week 9 (September 5th  - September 9th)
  • VCE GAT Exam - Wednesday September 7th
  • Year 10 Gold Coast Tour/Alternative Week - Week 10 (September 11th-September 17th)

Student Success

Jake Buhagiar of Year 11 attended the Korean Open Championships in taekwondo a few weeks back and won silver in the final. Jake did extremely well; he had two fights first fight was with Mongolia and he won giving him the chance to go to the final round for gold with Malaysia. In the finals it literally came down to the last split second in the fight and the Malaysian won by one point. 

Jake came home with silver which was still an amazing achievement and his family and the school is so proud of him. Jake Buhagiar will now be competing in the World Championships for Taekwondo in Bulgaria and then to the Ocenia Championships on the Gold Coast in a few weeks’ time. 

and finally...

Thank you to all of you, as parents, who ensure that your children follow the uniform requirements and arrive on time for school each day.  We expect students to be in class, ready to learn on the second bell.  A reminder to parents and students to notify the College for approval when going on a family holiday or when seeking approval for the student's absence from school for an extended period of time. Please note not all requests will be approved, especially for students in Years 11 and 12. Students will need to meet VCAA and College requirements to satisfactory meet the outcome of the study.

 

We wish everyone a successful Term 3.

 

Danny Dedes

On Behalf of Assistant Principals - Rick Hudson, Sasha Mildenhall, Louisa Norwood and Theresa Burlak.