Dear Families, Students and Community Members,
Farewell to the Class of 2018
To celebrate the achievements of our Year 12 students, on Tuesday 23 October we held our whole school farewell assembly in our gym with the majority of our Year 12 parents in attendance to recognise this significant occasion – the conclusion of six years of secondary schooling. The Year 12 cohort have been wonderful ambassadors and have contributed so much to our College, having represented us in countless sporting, cultural and academic events. They have worked really hard this year with our emphasis on high expectations in everything we do and we are all proud of them. On behalf of the whole College Community, I would like to wish all Year 12 students every success for the examination period, which will begin on Wednesday 31 October. I am confident they will all achieve the VCE or VCAL results they deserve and have worked towards all year with much persistence. No matter what their pathway on leaving Mordialloc, as long as they continue to strive to achieve the best they can, they can be satisfied. I would like to congratulate all of our Year 12 leaders - Sabrina and Bailey as School Captains, Annie as Vice-Captain, Emmerson for Performing Arts, Strong for Visual Arts, Paighen and Frederik for Sport, Dilara and Holly for Special Events, Naena for Environment, Caitlyn for ICT, Carl for International Students, Rebecca for VCAL and our four house captains, Alex, Anna, Will and Brydee. They have all been proactive leaders for our school and have handled the challenges of combining Year 12 studies with the responsibilities and expectations of student leadership with distinction.
Another big event, the Valedictory Dinner, is to be held this Friday night at Southern Golf Club. This will be an opportunity for parents, teachers and students to get together in a formal setting to reflect on the past year and recognise the achievements of our Year 12 students. The class of 2018 have made an outstanding contribution to our school and we are proud of each and every one of them. I would like to thank Acting Director of Senior School Robyn Wilson, Year 12 Coordinator Tim Randell, Pathways Coordinator Jane Jamieson, Assistant Principals Jo Greenhalgh and Andrew Moffat and all of our Year 12 teachers who have worked tirelessly to support our Year 12 students this year.
We look forward to celebrating the achievements of the graduating class for 2018 at this year’s awards night in December, when all students will be presented on stage in academic gowns in front of the rest of the College Community. This also allows the community a final opportunity to wish them well for the future.
Art Show
Held on Tuesday 16 October as part of our Arts Celebration week, this was a true community event with the talents of Mordialloc staff and students, our local primary school students and community members on show in the EZ. Despite the wet weather there was a very positive attendance, reinforcing the value the community places on such an event. An incredible amount of work went into the preparation and the Art and Technology team deserves the highest praise for their commitment to the College and dedication in ensuring the delivery of this quality event where over 600 pieces of student and community work were framed by our staff and exhibited. Special thanks to Leah Bright, Stuart McIntyre, Aaron Davis and Jenni Wunderle for coordinating this event, supported by Demis Danoudis, Nigel Maas, Kelly-Ann Ferguson, Simon Cummins, Adelle Stevenson, Drew Cook, Jane Jamieson, Lana Paten, Jesse Silby, Catherine Boulton and Samm Hughes.
Conference Presentation
Congratulations to Alice Leppin, Director of Programs and Pedagogy, who presented at the “Connecting Innovative School Learning Spaces and Pedagogy” conference last week. Every state across Australia was represented and attendees were primarily principals and architects. Alice was one of only two people presenting from the public system, the rest were from private schools. Alice presented on “Identifying, implementing and tailoring successful pedagogies for Australian Schools”. She focused mainly on our Instructional Model, consistent teaching protocols, models of inquiry and project based learning. Alice received plenty of positive feedback at the conclusion of her presentation and we have already had enquiries from interstate to visit Mordialloc College next year.
Connecting Feedback to Data and Literacy – Writing priority
During Semester One, our professional learning focus aligned to our five year action plan for “Curiosity and Powerful Learning” was on Higher Order Questioning. This semester our focus has been on Connecting Feedback to Data, focusing on our literacy outcomes, in particular to improve student writing across the school. Staff have undertaken a number of professional learning sessions led by Director of Literacy Improvement Andrew McConchie and staff from the Literacy working party, focused on writing to learn strategies, explicit teaching of vocabulary, and the development of convention guides for each learning area. When we connect feedback to data about student actions and performances, then, behaviour will be more positive, progress will accelerate and curiosity will be enhanced. We believe that feedback based in evidence supports our students to develop independence as learners. It directs and focuses their learning. Feedback magnifies the application of our teaching experience. This professional learning focus has continued to be supported by our triad peer coaching program, where teachers are continuing to build their capacity as coaches in the giving of authentic feedback; in this instance on their use of literacy strategies to improve writing and their use of data for differentiation in the classroom.
We are measuring improvement in teaching practice and precision through student perception data collected this semester. We are also expecting to see growth on the teacher self-assessment tool again completed at mid-year and the end of year.
Study Tips for Success
All students in Year 9-12 should have received their exam timetables, with Year 12 beginning on Wednesday 31 October, Year 10 and 11 on Wednesday 7 November and Year 9 on Monday 12 November. Most students have participated in Elevate Study sessions during the year, highlighting the need for study to be a continuous process not something you cram in at the end just before the exams. I shared this article back in Term 2 and it is timely to share it again. http://theconversation.com/study-habits-for-success-tips-for-students-89147
Ms. Michelle Roberts
Principal