Dear Families
Welcome back to the 2019 School Year, we are very proud of the achievements of our students in 2018 and very enthusiastic to continue improving in 2019. If you haven’t had a chance to have a look at our learning growth in 2018 for students, it is posted up on the website (https://yarrawonga.vic.edu.au/naplan-relative-growth-data/).
Our Year 7 and Year 9 students clearly outscored students from across the state in all areas (excluding writing), including the heart of the city, which, is fantastic.
The College has four main areas we will be working to improve in 2019, each of these areas have a number of activities that sit below them. If you want further information about those activities, please let me know and I am happy to meet with you to discuss them. The areas include;
- To create a whole school Prep to Year 12 focus on writing to improve student capability.
- Teachers follow a consistent process of assessment, data analysis, planning, teaching and reporting.
- Develop personalised learning for students to stimulate interest, curiosity, promote questioning and connect learning to the real world.
- Engage the Yarrawonga community into learning.
The improvement in student achievement scores in 2018 is exciting, we have had a clear plan for improvement and we are getting a lot closer to a consistent approach to teaching and learning across the college. As parents you also have a wonderful opportunity to increase the future opportunities for your children and I am extremely hopeful that you will all work with us to encourage them to value school, the teachers they have and the learning they take part in every day. The research is crystal clear, the more you as parents value education and share the message with your child, the more likely it will be that your child will achieve success. Please show an interest in your child’s education and ask the college if you need any help in this area.
Yarrawonga College P-12 will also undertake work (where possible) in Area 1 and Area 4 in a partnership with Sacred Heart Schools in Yarrawonga. All three education providers in the town face very similar issues and as principals we are all enthusiastic to see our schools working together to provide the best possible outcomes for our students, they all live in the same town.
Our teachers are encouraged to be innovative and think of new ways to improve teaching and learning across the college. This year our teachers will be able to apply for extra funding to support new ways of learning that encourage students to improve.
Across Prep to Year 12 we have welcomed fifteen new staff members to our team, in the majority of cases these are newly created positions to support student learning and wellbeing.
Once again we were extremely proud of our Year 12 students from 2018. At this early stage it has been very rewarding to see 70% of our students studying VCE receive first round offers into University this year, there are another two rounds of University offers to come. Students who were following other future pathways have received offers for traineeships, apprenticeships, full time work and further adult education courses.
Your child/ren’s teacher/s will make contact early in the year via email, wherever possible – we look forward to building a strong, positive working relationship with you as we work together to achieve the best possible outcomes for your child.
Damien Keel
College Principal
