by Rosina Fotia, Principal
Welcome to Spring! As the days slowly grow longer and we begin to feel energetic we know it’s time to venture outside and enjoy the warmth. School holidays are upon us and the timing is perfect. Staff, students and families have worked tirelessly over this term and it is time to refresh before we launch into the final term of the year.
Learning Focus
Remote learning has continued for all students throughout this term. Staff and students have shown amazing resilience and persistence in what is a challenging environment. The College has organised for practice exams to be completed by Year 12 students, online, over the first week of the term break. Feedback from these exams provides valuable insight for students as they move towards end of year exams. Planning for Term 4 is well underway and a renewed focus on Literacy and Numeracy will help prepare many students for the heavy assessment period scheduled towards the end of next term.
NAPLAN
NAPLAN results were released earlier this month. Across the country the Victorian results have been very strong, even with lockdowns. This highlights the strength of our system and helps put into perspective our ability to “catch-up“ student learning. At a local level our growth data at Year 7 in Reading, Writing and Numeracy is strong while Year 7-9 growth data in Reading and Writing is also tracking well. These results provided us with the evidence we need to plan our professional learning for the year ahead and validate the amazing work the school has been doing in these areas.
Student Wellbeing
Wellbeing has been a major focus in the College during this term. This has culminated in a specific focus on balancing your school and life commitment as well as looking connecting with others. Headspace, a National Youth Mental Health Foundation which provides early intervention mental health services to 12-25 year olds, has run a series of workshops with selected year levels in the school. Their message has included 7 steps for a health headspace:
- Get into life
- Learn new skills
- Create connections
- Eat well
- Stay active
- Get enough sleep
- Cut back on alcohol and other medications
 |
|---|
Parent Teacher Student Conferences
Parent Teacher Interviews form an integral part of the Continuous Reporting Process at Lilydale Heights College. In the online environment, these conferences have been even more important. These sessions have been held over two days and attendance rates have been very high.
Student Voice
Congratulations to Mr Denny and the Year 9 Humanities and Science Team who have been working on the development of the new course content for the integrated component of the Year 9 course in 2022. An invitation was extended to a group of students who were provided with an opportunity to provide their “voice” and insights into the curriculum design process. Insights from the students have been built into the documentation and helped to make the program rich, relevant and real.
Transition
An online parent information session was held for parents of the Year 7 2022 cohort last week. This session was the first opportunity that many families had to engage with the College as their students begin their transition from primary to high school. We look forward to further transition opportunities as the year progresses and are excited to be welcoming over 200 students into the Year 7 cohort in 2022.
Thank you for your support, patience and encouragement during this term. Please enjoy the break as we look towards a busy Term 4.
A reminder that school resumes for students on Monday October 4, 2021.
Stay well.
