Dear families,
Thank you for your understanding as we work through industrial action across the state. Yesterday went smoothly, operating a modified program for attending mainstream students across the day. The year 12 Physics exam, VET courses, Inclusive Education Centre and Independent Learning Centre were not impacted at all, and buses allowed out of town student access to school.
Last week we hosted the SAPOL road safety student/parent evening, and while numbers were lower than hoped, the messages were so powerful for attendees. The real life stories resonated with students and parents alike, especially the experiences of Holly Scott and her slow journey to recovery through therapy and surgery after an accident. The clear messages around speed and distractions and the direct correlation to road accidents and fatalities cannot be ignored. For those wanting more information the website is https://sapol.info/RSEducation. We would like to thank SAPOL for organising this event.
Over the last couple of weeks we have been working with Education Department representatives responsible for the redesign of the Flexible Learning Options program (FLO) into Tailored Learning Provisions (TLP). The success of our Independent Learning Centre (ILC) has been recognised by naming us as a TLP project school, allowing us to expand services at the ILC as well as develop a complimentary on-site program for younger disengaged students in 2024.
A big part of my role as Principal is accountability for continual improvement at our site, and strategic reviews of initiates to ensure they are having the desired impact. I share with you data from our third goal which has the challenge of practice being ‘If we improve how we sequentially teach number sense with a focus on the big ideas in number we will improve middle years student achievement in numeracy.’ Under the guidance of Tania McFee (Numeracy Leader) and Michael Stratfold (STEM Leader), we have seen Progressive Achievement Tests (PATM) for the Year 8 cohort show an increase of students above the Standard of Educational Achievement increase 14% from 2022 to 2023, Maths grades show an increase in A’s and B’s from 2022 to 2023; and continuous monitoring of intervention strategies from Big ideas in Number indicates all have progressed from baseline data collected earlier in the year. Tania has also been collaborating with our primary school colleagues intensively to maximise continuity of learning and shared understandings of practice both ways, and we look forward to seeing even greater gains longer term.
Today we will commemorate Remembrance Day with a service a day early so that all students can be involved. Sean Hickey is our guest speaker and will talk about his experiences in the Navy band, and the significance of the Ode and the Last Post. If you are in the vicinity I invite you to join us from 10.40am.
Regards,

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