From the Principal – Issue #10, 2024

From the Principal

Dear Parents/Guardians, Friends & Students of SAC,

Year 10 and 11 students have just completed their midyear exams, bringing Semester 1 to a close. Whilst not all subjects involve exams, it is still important that we give students the chance to develop study skills and confidence to tackle exams in the senior secondary years. I am impressed by the maturity with which the students engaged in the exams, especially Year 10 students as this was their first time. I know that teachers will support students to make the most of the exams as a learning opportunity.

This week we welcomed our new Reception students for their first Orientation visit. The group transitioned beautifully from their parents to the care of Ms Jessica Grohs and Ms Nadia Fimiani, two experienced early years teachers who will no doubt ensure that their first semester of school life is full of fun, learning and friendship. We thank the 12 families who have chosen St Aloysius College for their daughters, and we look forward to many years working together to support their flourishing.

At SAC, we have established a Staff Wellbeing Working Party this year to bring to life some ideas that emerged from our professional learning with Sue Chandler from Transformative Schools. Sue worked with focus groups of staff last November, and then the whole staff in January, to explore ideas about wellbeing at work and to help us to establish a Staff Wellbeing Framework. This framework is currently being developed and will allow us to implement changes that support staff wellbeing in order to improve learning outcomes for our students.

Learn more at: Transformative Schools | Wellbeing Education Consultancy Brisbane

The first issue we have tackled as a working party is the Work Completion Guidelines. Our aim is to support the consistent implementation of the guidelines to ensure that students, families and staff have clear and consistent expectations around submission of work. The guidelines state: Students are responsible for completing and submitting work on or before the due dates. We understand that as parents/caregivers and educators, we also have responsibilities in supporting our young people to meet this expectation.

As a member of the working party, I want to remind parents and caregivers of their responsibilities as articulated in the guidelines, in the hope that we are all working together to ensure fair and equitable assessment protocols for all students:

Parents/Caregivers are required to provide notes (via the student diary, email or SMS) for absences, requests for extensions and medical certificates for frequent or extended absences. Parents/Caregivers may be asked to attend meetings at school to work with staff to support students to address issues around work completion and implement strategies and supports.

We know how important this proactive communication between parents/caregivers and subject teachers is and we ask for your cooperation to support teachers in their work. We welcome any feedback on the Work Completion Guidelines that may help us to lead further improvement in assessment at the College.

The renovation of the Year 7 classrooms in the Judith Redden Centre is almost complete and we look forward to seeing Year 7 students and staff making it their home in the next fortnight. We thank Michael and the Design team from Details Studio, as well as Eddie and his team from INCA, whose creativity and skills have brought these learning spaces to life in new ways. Of course, our SAC Maintenance and IT teams have also been integral to the success of this project, and we know that students will appreciate the improvements in these spaces.

Ms Paddy McEvoy
Principal

From the Principal – Issue #10, 2024