I am very pleased and proud to share with families and our community our External School Review recommendations and feedback. All schools must undertake an External School Review around improvement every 4 years. Our review was late Term 1 and it involved three Senior Leaders of the DoE immersing themselves for 3 days in our school, interviewing as many people as possible and doing class and school observations around “lines of inquiry”.

• How effectively is the school creating learning environments where all students are engaged, challenged and supported in their learning?
• To what extent do individual teachers monitor the progress of individual students and adjust their teaching in response to the progress that individuals are making?

 Some of the Observations and strengths from the External School Review Panel

• All staff at the school identified that building positive and caring relationships was critical for successful learning. This was verified through conversations with students, staff and parents. The panel observed significant evidence that the interactions between staff, students and parents are respectful, polite and inclusive.
• The panel noted that the school places a high priority on student and staff wellbeing. The school has in place processes to provide academic and non-academic support to address individual needs. Interactions are focussed on staff and student learning and wellbeing, and on continually improving the school’s ability to meet the needs of its students and staff.
• The panel noted that all students and staff have an obvious sense of belonging. Staff, students and parents speak highly of the school. Staff morale is high and there is a happy and optimistic feel to the school.
• In discussions with staff, the panel noted that all staff and students were familiar with the school’s approach to promoting positive behaviour. The panel observed that the school’s approach was being consistently implemented in all classes across the school.
• The school has developed extensive documentation and mapped their approach to learner engagement (Tiered Response to Learner Engagement). Through this mapping, the panel noted a range of school-wide programs and approaches for students requiring specialist support.
• In a review of the school’s curriculum documentation, the panel observed that the school has over time developed a detailed and vertically aligned, sequenced plan for curriculum delivery. The panel noted that the plan together with supporting resources was documented and accessible to staff and student via CANVAS.
• The panel noted that school leaders and teachers have given a high priority to understanding and addressing the learning needs of all students in the school. The panel noted that the school has implemented a number of strategies including cross-class grouping (Toolbox and Macq Lit) in Years 7 and 8, and timetable structures in Years 9 and 10 for Literacy and Numeracy to cater for the learning needs of students and to enhance teaching and learning.
• All students in Years 7–9 identified that individual access to their iPad and their learning program through CANVAS assisted them in their learning.

Recommendations form the External School Review Panel

1. Support staff to identify the key concepts, principles and big ideas within learning areas through the development of a prioritised curriculum.
2. Gather and utilise student voice (agency) to inform teaching and learning to promote optimal engagement.
3. Support teachers to collectively monitor the progress of individual students and adjust their teaching in response to the progress that individuals are making.

This feedback and recommendations will form a critical part of our work into the future around School Improvement.

Parent Conferences

I would like to thank all the families who managed to attend our recent Parent Conference evenings last week and again this week. We feel that these have been a wonderful opportunity for families to have deeper conversations about learning and progress and future areas for growth and improvement. If you were unable to attend or have a conversation with staff, please do not hesitate to make an alternative appointment time with those teachers that you may have missed.

School Association News

Last Tuesday evening the AGM was held for our School Association. I would like to announce that the following positions were filled:

Chairperson: Mr Tony Oetterli

Treasurer: Mrs Leah Carr

We had a wonderful turn out of parents at this meeting, followed by a General Meeting. It was great to see so many new faces.

The positions of Deputy Chairperson and Fundraising Coordinator are still vacant.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ms Sue White for her work as Chairperson and advocate for our school and continuing as caretaker until the position was filled.

Warm regards

Maree