From the Principal

Dear Parents and Friends,

Finish of Semester One

Semester One Statements of Results will be made available on Friday, June 23rd. Parents will receive an email about accessing the Semester One Statement of Results via the parent portal.

As you know, this Term's final day of classes was on Wednesday, 21st June. This provided valuable time for our staff to meet during the final two days of the term for planning and professional development. This allowed us to update staff about and find some time to work on the development of the revised Yrs 7 & 8 curriculum that we will commence implementing next year.

This new program, to be known as the “Yrs 7 & 8 Connected Learning Program”, has been in the planning since 2021. We will start with significant changes to Yr 7 for 2024 and follow this through to Yr 8 for the following year.

Classes for Term Three will commence on Monday, 10th July 2023.

I wish all students a restful Term 2 holiday and encourage them to spend some time revising and preparing for the next term. VCE students should be using some of this time to revise the work covered to date, preview and prepare for the work ahead and complete any set work given by teachers.

An exciting improvement to our Yr 7 program for 2024

After two years of development, we look forward to significantly improving our Yr 7 teaching and learning program next year. In 2024, our Year 7 students will experience a more contemporary and intentional curriculum that reinforces the knowledge, skills, and characteristics of a Year 7 Ignatian Learner. Our exciting new Year 7 “Connected Learning Program” (CLP) will differ in many ways from traditional school programs.

Introduced in 2021, our College’s Student Effective Learning Formation framework, or SELF, will continue to guide us in building student learning practices for our Ignatian Learners. The Year 7 curriculum for 2024 has been designed to provide ample time and opportunities for our Yr 7 learners to develop their knowledge, skills and capabilities through SELF.

In the early years of secondary school, students often encounter new challenges that can lead to stress, anxiety, and a sense of disconnect. Recognising the importance of prioritising the needs of learners, we aim to develop their skills in learning, leading to greater self-confidence and a stronger sense of self. These essential, generic learning skills will be particularly valuable for our Year 7 students in 2024 and will enhance their learning experience in a more contemporary way. Our approach will be based on the Science of Learning research and evidence, utilizing a sequenced approach to help students learn how to learn. This approach will be integrated throughout the Year 7 curriculum, resulting in a markedly different approach than what we currently employ.

Our new CLP aims to provide students with intentional and connected learning experiences. Through our audit and mapping process, we have identified gaps in teaching the Capabilities and Cross Curriculum Priorities due to teachers working in their own subject areas. We are concerned that the crowded curriculum prevents students from transferring their learning or making connections between subjects. To address this, the 2024 curriculum will take a more intentional and connected approach across appropriate subject domains, allowing learners to build on their knowledge and skills over time. We have also identified the available time for student learning and will write a curriculum to fit the available class time. And, Year 7 students will have fewer classes that run for only four periods per fortnight and will not lose continuity of learning through missed double periods.

In Year 7, our CLP assessments will not follow the traditional method of testing students after each topic in each subject. Instead, there will be a greater emphasis on student growth and learning than just their assessment scores. This means there will be more formative assessments and feedback opportunities, which will help students improve their learning.

In 2024, we will develop the follow-on Yr 8 CLP for implementation in 2025.

Parents and Carers of next year’s Yr 7 students will be informed about the CLP later this year.

Staff changes

Following a review of the senior leadership structure of the College, Deputy Principal Paul Lewis’ portfolio has been changed. Currently, his portfolio comprises the Staff, Operations & Identity areas. I have created an Acting Deputy Principal position with the portfolio of Staff & Operations. Our current Director of Teacher Development, Mr Joe McLean will commence in this role from the beginning of next term. Mr Lewis’ portfolio will change to Deputy Principal – Identity & Co-curriculum. I thank Mr Lewis for his many dedicated years managing his portfolio. With the growth of the College and the many developments and challenges of the times, it is time for the Staff & Operations area to be managed separately. I wish Mr McLean a very professionally rewarding time in his new position. These changes are in alignment with our School Improvement Plan (2021 – 2024), which aims to build the capacity of our College Leadership Team to improve our leadership and management of our growing and large secondary school. Thank you to Ms Kate Cash (current Pedagogy Leader), who will take on Mr McLean’s current position for Term 3.

Ms Bernadette Donnelly (Deputy Principal – Teaching & Learning) will be taking leave for term 3. Ms Marina Brown (current Pedagogy Leader) will replace Ms Donnelly.

A number of staff will be taking leave during term 3. Best wishes to:

Three teachers will be leaving us at the end of this term. I thank them for their contribution to our College and extend our good wishes to them for their futures:

Deputy Principal Mr Paul Lewis sent an email to all parents on June 14th with the details about these staffing changes. He also mentioned a number of acting senior leadership appointments for Term 3. Thank you to the following staff for covering colleagues on leave or have changed their position during Term 3:

• Ms Alithea Anderton - Acting Head of Humanities

• Ms Robyn Jackson - Acting Pedagogy Leader: Literacy

• Ms Kirtsy Allan – Acting Deputy Principal (Students)

• Mr Brendan O’Brien - Acting Director of Senior School

• Ms Bek Spencer - Acting Head of House - Glowrey

Best wishes,

Michael Exton

Principal