Heard on the Hill Term 1, Week 5

From the Principal

Bonjour à tous, and Wanju

I hope that you saw our school in the West Australian last week. Our NAPLAN results for our ICSEA are above average “like school” across the nation. Top 20 in Western Australia. This is a direct result of the support structures that we have in place, the programs that we offer and the high expectations you all have of our students. I congratulate you all on the fantastic achievement.

There is a culture that we have created that the students perpetuate. That is, we all bask in the spotlight of our peers.  The saying the “nail that sticks up is hammered down” is often used in a negative context. But in this case, at Bunbury SHS it is used to describe a positive – if you are not doing your best and giving your all, the weight of the group will positively influence you to do so. Again, I congratulate you for not just maintaining this culture, but being part of it yourselves. It is why whole school action is so important.

Here are some small things that you can do to support your peers and reinforce the culture at our school.

• Have lower school students lined up for class
• Keep students working right up to the siren at the end of class
• Use Lemov’s strategies for high expectations in class
• Question student out of uniform or with a phone out
• Support students to always do their best
• Utilise the Coffee Club, Peer Observation and PM structures for your own professional practice growth.

The final number for the census is in – 981 students. The budget, based on that number, is still being finalised, but all points towards a balanced budget for 2023. This is probably a timely reminder for people who are interested in nominating for a position on the finance committee.

Have a great week.

En Avant

Nuts and Bolts

The Good Standing procedures for senior school are being finalised with the Leadership Team. We are looking to COMPASS to assist with the process for this easier to manage. Along with the Senior School Good Standing procedures you will also note some flexibilities being tried for Year 12 students.

BYOD is always a hot topic. I know that it is difficult to manage, and I appreciate everything that staff are doing to integrate technology into the classroom. Some students don’t bring devices and school ones are hard to access so tech lessons are avoided. When this happens, it provides a justification for students not to bring their device to school.  “we never use it so I don’t bring it” and other comments. Please continue to use the device regularly, send notes home to parents when students are not bringing devices and support others to access their own device.

STAFF DEVELOPMENT

ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER CULTURAL AWARENESS

Reconciliation Australia developed the SHARE OUR PRIDE website with initial funding from the Westpac Foundation and the Coles Group Community Fund in response to a request from industry for an introductory site for employees. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from across the country have provided input and feedback on the content. Every effort has been made to capture the diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures but to also keep the content simple and introductory.

This site is a starting point for your journey. It’s designed so that you can go through the chapters in one sitting or dip in and out when you have time or if you’re looking for information on a particular issue. As you work through this site, reflect on these questions:

1. What might I do differently and what might my organisation do differently to build better relationships with Indigenous peoples
2. What might I do differently and what might my organisation do differently to have and show respect for Indigenous Australians?
3. What might I do differently and what might my organisation do differently to create opportunities for Indigenous peoples to help close the life expectancy gap and build a stronger Australia?

UNDERSTANDING LEARNING DIFFICULTIES (DYSLEXIA SPELD training)
A reminder that this online training is available to a limited number of staff. If you are interested, please contact Kelly.

Future Leaders' Program

The Future Leaders' Program is a formal and structured program of support for aspiring leaders. A new cohort will be selected from a rigorous nomination and selection process. After nominations are received, these are examined closely by a panel, which includes an independent reviewer. Feedback will be given to all who apply, regardless of the outcome.

The future leaders will be supported to work on a development goal throughout the year. Extra support and professional learning is also available to all staff, as well as the future leaders' cohort, via the Aspirant Program running fortnightly after school.

Nominations are now being sought from teaching staff who are aspiring to Level 3 (classroom teacher or program coordinator). The nomination process can be accessed in two ways:

1. Nomination by your line manager - this is the preferred method, as it indicates that your line manager has identified your potential and is working with and supporting you in your aspirations.
2. Self-nomination - this is allowed, but it is recommended that you at least let your line manager know that you are applying and maybe seek some feedback and input from them prior to submitting your nomination.

Nominations are due to Kelly by the end of Week 6 (Friday 10th March). The templates for each type of nomination are attached to this article. They are also in the School Templates folder, along with a range of other relevant documents to assist you in this process.

If you are interested in the Aspirant Program, just a reminder that our next session will be on Thursday 2nd March from 3.30pm in the Boardroom - please email me if interested in attending these sessions.

Visible Learning

Over the next few weeks we will be looking back at Visible Learning. At any point teachers can easily Google/BING Visible Learning and a multitude of websites are there to gain information from. Whatever resource is accessed, Hatties research indicates that Visible Learning has the biggest impact on student achievement.

Cathy and Michelle, having taught ATAR Psychology, are very familiar with a guy called Bandura. Bandura explored ‘efficacy’ and expanded his studies into ‘collective efficacy’: “a group’s shared belief in the conjoint capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to produce given levels of attainment.” Simply put, the more teachers in a learning area act as a team with a sound approach to improve student outcomes will see that happen in their classes. Linking this to classroom (peer) observations the better this approach becomes.

Coffee Club

Don’t forget to contact Cathy if you are interested in joining the Coffee Club this term.

The school is currently looking for Expressions of Interest from staff who would like to take on the position of House Coordinators for 2023. We are looking for two staff to fill the 2 roles. This position provides a great opportunity to take on a leadership role within the school and also comes with an SRA. If you are interested, please see the attached role description.

EOI will need to be sent to nicholas.andrew@education.wa.edu.au by COB Friday 03/03/23.

Hi folks!

Coffee Club is kicking off again for 2023! It will run Tuesday morning, weeks 5,6 & 8 in Room 30 at 8am. Please get your coffee order in to Cathy before Lunch 1 on Monday if you are attending. Coffee Club is a great place to learn how to do an effective classroom observation that will help guide you in reflecting on your classroom practise - not just tick a box for performance management (although we can do that as well).

The goal of Coffee Club is to pair you up with a peer, find something you would like to work on or would like observed, find/create a template that will work for that observation then watch each other teach, reflect on the feedback ... repeat. You are even welcome to come in and watch a member of the ILT teach, ask as us to demonstrate a strategy you might want to try to see how it is done, then try it yourself with an observation. Coffee club is individualised for each staff member depending on what you need at the time. You can ask Cathy to do an observation of your class if you want feedback even if you aren't in Coffee Club - just approach her for a chat to organise a time.

Please find below a copy of a great document from Asharie Bradshaw about building authentic rapport with our Aboriginal students. Asharie is also happy to have a chat and observe students in your class to help brainstorm some ideas that will help increase engagement. We will be sending out more of these strategies in the future to help foster a positive learning environment for our students and staff.

There is also a document for a great cooperative learning activity that encourages the use of social skills such as turn taking and active listening. I suggest you spend a few minutes defining what the social skill looks and sounds like in your class before you start.It is called "Inside-Outside Circles", and it is great for using as a reflection or closure activity.

Finally, if you are using the Cornell Notes PDF template electronically in your class for note taking or if you need help/ideas about implementing Cornell notes into your lessons, please email Cathy with some feedback about how it is going for you and if we need to modify the document.

Enjoy your week!!

Social Media Content

Welcome back to all staff and I hope you have had a great start to the year.

We love seeing students in action, whether in a classroom setting, in an incursion or off-site for an excursion or camp.

If you are conducting any activities you think are suitable for our school's Facebook or Instagram pages, please submit your content through the link below.

Please contact me with prior warning if you would like me to attend a session, lesson, activity etc if you would like me to take photos/videos to accompany your story.

If you have taken photos on your phone/iPad and are unsure of how to transfer these to me, please send me an email or come and visit me and I can assist you.

Submit your Facebook post using the link below.

Schoolzine

Keep up to date with all the latest news for staff and parents via the schoolzine app. You can access Heard on the Hill, the school's website, Facebook page, calendar, Connect, and more via the homepage of the app.

This easy-to-use app also sends you notifications when newsletters have been published.

See below for how to download the SZapp.