Welcome to the new academic year and a particularly warm welcome to all our new students and families. I am pleased to introduce our 2021 Senior Learning Leaders:
Belinda Duncan Head of Religious Education
Dean Fleischer Head of Languages
Claire Al-Noah Head of The Arts and Technology
Paul Failla Head of Mathematics
Bronwyn Ilott Head of Learning Centre
Anita Galli Head of Senior Pathways
Anne Rice Head of Learning Diversity
We welcome to our team:
Punita Mistry Head of English
Jessica Brady Head of Health and Physical Education
Nicholas Harvey Head of Science
Michael Petrie Head of Humanities
As part of the Heads of Learning team, we also have:
Jemimah Walsh Director of Learning and Innovation
Tina Di Camillo Leader of Pedagogy
Andrea Carter Leader of Pedagogy
You are welcome to contact any of the Heads of Learning, but as always, your first point of contact for curriculum related matters should be the subject teacher. Please contact your daughter’s subject teacher earlier rather than later, if you have any concerns. It is our aim to continue to foster and develop open and transparent communication.
Our 2002 VCE Acknowledgement Assembly scheduled for Thursday,18 February, has been postponed due to the lockdown. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, this year our assembly will be varied in format, with reduced guest capacity. To enable our community to still engage with this event, it will be livestreamed. We look forward to sharing this celebration of our Class of 2020 and will advise a new date shortly.
Year 12 Learning Conversations
Year 12 students require an ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admission Rank) for entry into many undergraduate-entry university programs in Australia. The Year 12 Learning Conversations commence from Friday, 19 February. This program provides an opportunity for the student and a senior staff member to discuss her academic and personal goals, strategies that may assist in their learning and finally to develop a 2021 Action Plan with a focus on improvement. The Year 12 students will receive the relevant documents to enable reflection on their Year 11 achievements and prepare for their learning conversation. The focus is on how students can maximise their learning opportunities in 2021. This semester, Year 12 Students will also participate in a Careers conversation with Clare Timmins, Head of Careers which will include an ATAR estimation based on their Year 11, Semester Two examination results.
Student Learning Reflections and Parent Teacher Conferences
Building upon our 2020 learnings, Years 7 to 12 students will complete a self-reflection in each subject prior to Parent/Teacher Conferences. The reflection will be completed via Siena Central and parents will be able to access their daughter’s comments. Further details will be provided in a later edition of the newsletter.
The Years 7 to 12 Parent/Teacher Conferences will be held on Thursday, 18 March and Thursday, 25 March between 4.00 pm and 7.30pm. In response to parent feedback, we will offer a combination of onsite and online conferences. More details will be published in upcoming newsletters.
The Parent/Teacher Conferences are an important opportunity to develop a working and supportive relationship between subject teachers, parents and students. It is important that students attend in order to share their learning experience and participate in the conversation about their subject expectations. Parents and guardians will be able to download a copy of their daughter’s Interim report prior to the Parent/Teacher Conference.
Learning and Teaching Parent Letter
This week all families will receive a Learning and Teaching Letter outlining submission of work procedures, accessing assessment task feedback, and absences during the term. We ask for your support in acquainting yourself with the information.
We wish all our students well in their learning endeavours in 2021.
