ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL'S 

NAPLAN 2022 Information

Dear Parents/Carers, NAPLAN Testing commences On Tuesday the 10th May and runs until Friday 20th May. NAPLAN testing is an important part of schooling at Western Heights College and we expect all students to participate and to try their best. NAPLAN Testing is important to:

• measure the learning growth of all students across their school across the years of learning
• celebrate the learning growth of our students regardless of their academic level
• identify key areas of the curriculum to support the learning of individual and cohorts of students
• allow the school to plan curriculum and teaching and learning programs to support learning

Important Information about Testing 2022

• Testing is all online in 2022- students are required to bring their charged laptop and if they don't have a functioning laptop, to notify their Learning Community Leader, so one can be arranged
• The testing window runs for two weeks so students who are absent on testing days can complete their test on a 'catch up' session. Please contact the school if your child is absent. 

Adjustments for Students With Disabilities

The college will consider and apply reasonable adjustments where appropriate for students to enable students to complete their online tests. Please note:

• adjustments reflect the kind of support and assistance provided in the classroom for assessment activities in order for students to demonstrate what they know and can do. This must be compliant with testing rules for NAPLAN

Parents/Carers can apply for additional supports in accordance with testing rules where there is a diagnosed need for support. Forms must be completed. Parents/Carers can request the appropriate forms from the Year 7 LCL: Marli McCarthy or Year 9 LCL Ben Cook. Kerryn Cramp will also suggest additional support for students who require this. Extra supports may include assistance technology, scribe, extra time or additional materials.

Exemptions and Student Withdrawals

Whilst we strongly expect all students to participate in NAPLAN, parents/carers are able to withdraw their student from NAPLAN upon request. Parents/Carers need to notify and request the appropriate forms from the Year 7 LCL: Marli McCarthy or Year 9 LCL Ben Cook. Under VCAA mandate, 'no student can be exempt or withdrawn from NAPLAN tests without signed approval of the parent or carer prior to the commencement of the test'.

We look forward to a successful testing window and celebrating our students' success.

Thankyou 

Warwick Lamb

School Wide Positive Behaviour

Welcome to Term 2. Students and staff will continue with a behavioural focus from our School Wide Positive behaviour this term. Each week the emphasis will be on one of the behaviours where teachers will teach and explore with students what this looks like. Following is the program for the next few weeks. Again, I encourage families to reflect on the weekly focus and talk about it at home.

I also take this opportunity to remind all students and families that the college is and will continue to work with our community to prioritise ‘E safety’. Everyone has a right to feel safe regardless of where they are in the college, home or community. The college has no tolerance for any student involved in any form of misuse of technologies. I encourage you to continue to discuss this with  your child. 

Attendance

Research highlights that students who attend and engage with their learning have better outcomes post school. As part of our focus, we are continuing to contact the parents/carers of students who are absent. It is important to reflect on that if we consider a term of 10 weeks, that this is 50 days of learning opportunity. If a student is away for 5 days in a term, they are missing out on 10% of their learning which is significant and contributes to their falling behind and making it more difficult to catch up on lost learning. We understand that there are some challenges for some students in attending regularly. I ask that you contact the college as required so that we can work together in supporting your child’s attendance.

Families will continue to receive calls as we work through Term 1 absences that have not been approved by parents/carers. As of next week, the college will also activate the SMS messaging. You will receive a message if your child has been marked absent during mentor meetings or session 1. The message is to emphasise the responsibility of your child to ensure that they are on time so that families do not receive these messages. I encourage all families to call the absence line to report known absences as early as possible on the morning of the absence so that the information can be correctly entered into our rolls.

Uniform

A reminder, particularly as the weather has now turned, that it is expected that all students attend in complete school uniform. While our expectation is that this is the responsibility of each student to ensure that their uniform is ready and worn correctly each day, we ask for your support in monitoring this.

Staff Professional Learning Day

A reminder that Tuesday May 24th is a staff professional learning day. Staff will be working on the second day of the Berry Street Educational Model. This is a student free day.

Student Attitudes to School Survey

Over the next few weeks, all students will be participating in the annual Student Attitudes to School Survey. This survey is a great opportunity for students to provide feedback on learning, engagement and wellbeing. More details will be published through Compass.

Tami O' Hare