From the Principal
Bonjour à tous.
Last week when I was writing the Heard on the Hill I was not expecting what the week brought us. I remind everyone that presently I have no confirmation that any Bunbury SHS student was involved in Manea Senior College’s scavenger hunt.
Further, I have received a letter from our Year 12 students. They are disappointed that you and other people may have the image that they have been involved in this inappropriate behaviour. I feel for them and the rest of our school community who have been tarnished by this incident.
On Tuesday I will be reviewing some footage with the Student Services team. If any BSHS student is identified in that footage they will not be attending the Presentation Ceremony in December. If we are unable to identify any of our students, I will be seeking advice about our next step.
Last week the P&C agreed to contribute to funding a senior school scholarship and the school has been working to clarify the DoE position on us offering scholarships. There is more work to do with the Board and Leadership team but we are really excited about announcing something in the next couple of weeks.
Also, I spoke last week with the Bunbury Port Authority about another collaboration. There is a great opportunity for learning areas to partner with the Port Authority to give your curriculum some relevance. My work in the business community is slowly starting to bring people to the table for you to partner with.
The Safe on Social presentation was very practical. For those that have jumped into having a look already great, but I would hope that your PC can devout some learning area meeting time to you exploring the resources further. We will also allocate sometime across the SDD to investigate.
Finally, this week we will hold our belated NAIDOC celebration. The theme 'Heal Country' is a difficult one to face. There is a lot of work to do together. Please enjoy the day, get involved and support our students where you can. A great place for you to start on your own understanding is looking at the SBS documentary Incarceration Nation.
Nuts and Bolts
WORLD TEACHERS DAY
I hope that you enjoyed World Teachers Day. It is nice to remind our students and community that we are human and require a little more than the delayed gratification that we receive from teaching. Thank you to Ellie and Kelly for producing the posters with some lovely pictures of some of you.
INDEPENDENT LEARNING COORDINATOR and GAT COORDINATOR
Expressions of interest are being sought for the role of ILC and GAT Coordinator. The position is a combination of the two roles. 0.4FTE is allocated to the roles. The ILC role also has the added resources of support from the library staff who currently handle a number of the day-to-day operational components of the role.
EOI for the Independent Learning Coordinator/GAT Coordinator role (0.4FTE) is due to Sharna Mason by COB Friday 5 November. Your EOI should be no longer than 2 pages indicating your ability to meet the needs of both job descriptions.
Instructional Leadership - Peer Observations
When looking for a goal it is easy to get caught up in what you don’t do well or what you are interested in learning. In designing your focus for your observation you should start first by tackling the student’s learning problems. What can you do better, differently to improve their learning?
Review student performance.
Reviewing not just the summative but the formative task will point to areas where students experience the greatest success and the greatest challenges. Use this information to shape your goal
Precise points
The more precisely you can identify the learning problem the more precisely you can shape the teaching. The problem might be
- Recall and understanding of key concept
- Recognising what the question is asking
- Performing under time constraints
- Producing complex answers
Consider the strategies that bridge the gap
Matching the strategy to the student learning needs is a compelling reason for developing our practice. Some examples might be
- Habits and routines – CMS and behaviour and relationships
- Fluency and recall – Weekly and monthly reviews
- Understanding – Explaining and modelling
- Quality of performance – Independent practice
Set up your observation
Now use the steps from last week and get your observations set up.