by Rosina Fotia, Principal

Learning Focus and Curriculum Day

The College is running smoothly and the clear focus on teaching and learning is evident as I move around the College. Staff continue to focus on:

• Improving literacy and numeracy outcomes for all students
• Actively engaging all students in their learning by developing an aspirational culture

Evidence of this is noted in Learning Intentions and Success Criteria outlined in every class in the College. Students have already been allocated and completed many learning tasks in a wide range of subjects.

March 6 is a scheduled curriculum day for Term 1. This is a pupil free day and no scheduled classes will run on this day. This year, all schools in the Lilydale District Network will hold a curriculum day at this time. The focus of this day will be “Responding to Data”. Over 650 staff members from the district will gather together to listen to key note speaker Simon Dewar. After this session, school teams will meet to work on smaller focus areas. Lilydale Heights College is committed to working with a group of schools to improve transition processes for students as they move from Grade 6 to Year 7.

College Building Works Commence

On Friday February 7 we celebrated an important milestone for our school under the Lilydale and Upper Yarra Education Plan. The Deputy Premier and Minister for Education, James Merlino, as well as MP Harriet Shing, came out to our school to undertake a sod turning ceremony, which officially kicked off the start of construction for our Sustainability Learning Hub and Town Centre. Construction of the new facilities is set to be complete in 2021 and will be greatly beneficial to our students and their education journey.

Our fellow partner schools in the Education Plan, Lilydale High School and Upper Yarra Secondary College, also celebrated with their own sod turn ceremonies. As you know, our school is collaborating with these two schools and other key partners including the Education Department, industry partners and other local secondary and primary schools, to support greater educational opportunities and outcomes for students across the Lilydale and Upper Yarra Region.

Attendance: It’s not OK to be away!!!

A reminder to parents of the importance of regular attendance at school. Daily attendance is important for all children and young people to succeed in education and to ensure they don’t fall behind both socially and developmentally:

• School participation maximises life opportunities for children and young people by providing them with education and support networks
• School helps children to develop important skills, knowledge and values that set them up for further learning and participation in their community
• School helps them to make the most of life opportunities

Children and young people who regularly attend school and complete Year 12, or an equivalent qualification, have:

• better health outcomes
• better employment outcomes
• higher incomes across their lives

Research confirms there is a strong link between poor attendance and adverse student outcomes like:

• early school leaving
• poverty
• substance use
• unemployment
• negative health outcomes

Please remember to contact the school on 9735 1133 if you child is absent from school.

VCE Class of 2019

Our 2019 Year 12 cohort have successfully transitioned to new and exciting pathways for 2020. While the majority continue on to tertiary study, a number have also been accepted into full time employment, performing well in highly competitive recruitment processes such as the Australian Defence Force. Of those heading to tertiary study, the vast majority were accepted into their first, second or third tertiary course preference.

Our Year 12 students in both VCE and VCAL have excelled in their studies. One of our VCE students was awarded the inaugural James Andrew Scholarship, which provides financial support to complete University, and one of our VCAL students was awarded the Industry Excellence Award by AtEast which covers a cluster of schools in the Eastern Region.

Soaring Start Camp

To provide and consolidate good study practices for successful completion, the Year 12 class of 2020 has returned from its Soaring Start Camp. Students stayed at a residential complex based at Melbourne University. During their stay, students visited various educational facilities including RMIT, ACU and Melbourne University itself. In addition, they visited the State Library, Victoria Market and undertook explicit study skills training under the guidance of Elevate Education. The camp also provided the opportunity to build teamwork and collegiality within the year level. Thank you to the Senior Team for its organisation and support of the event.

Rotary Club of Lilydale and Duke of Edinburgh Program

The College has a valued and strong relationship with the Rotary Club of Lilydale. This year, many of our fundraising and community activities will be aligned with Rotary priorities and provide our students with the opportunity to be guided and mentored by Rotarians. In addition to this, The Rotary Club of Lilydale is the major sponsor to the Duke of Edinburgh Program. This program is an internationally recognised program which encourages young people to explore their full potential, help equip them for life and work through participation in four areas:

Community Service, Learning a skill, Physical Activity and Participating in Group Overnight Journeys & Expeditions

This program develops: confidence, resilience, determination, leadership, planning, problem solving, communication, creativity, adaptability, capacity building and leadership - qualities that the College and community has identified as pivotal to success in adulthood. We would like to thank the Rotary Club of Lilydale for its ongoing guidance and support.

Reminder: Reporting On Student Learning In 2020

As part of our ongoing efforts to improve communication and feedback on student learning to both students and parents, in 2019 Lilydale Heights College changed its reporting process. The new process is outlined below. In 2020 teachers will report on students’ learning progress in the following ways:

• Progress Reports (now published in the middle of each term)
• Parent-Student-Teacher Conferences (at the end of Term 1 and 3)
• Feedback on 2-3 Common Assessment Tasks (CATs) in each Year 7-10 subject each semester
• Feedback on School Assessed Coursework Tasks (SACs) in each VCE subject
• End-of-semester reports

To summarise the changes, we have made a comparison to previous years:

• Progress Reports will now be published each term rather than just Terms 1 and 3. They have been moved forward in the term to allow any issues they raise to be addressed more promptly. The reporting criteria on progress reports has been changed.

• Teachers will report on 2-3 CATs/SACs completed by students each semester, including written comments on students’ achievements and areas for improvement or future progress. Teacher feedback will be visible to parents and students through the Learning Task function on Compass.

• End-of-semester reports will no longer contain written comments. They will now include the same criteria used in Progress Reports and a summary of student performance on their CATs/SACs. They will continue to include Attendance Data, Victorian Curriculum Levels (Years 7-10), Unit Results (VCE), Outcome Results (VCAL) and Exam Results (Years 9-11).