Start of 2023

The 2023 school year has started very positively with our second ever Year 7 cohort joining Our Woodville community as well as a large number of new enrolments and new staff.

All Year 7, Year 12, International Students and Astra/SHIP students attended their first day on the Tuesday of Week 1 following the student free day. The Year 7 students began their school year with a ‘Woodville Week’, aimed at supporting their transition into ‘Our’ Woodville High School. Activities included team building workshops, school tours, an introduction to ICT, learning about identity, wellbeing and the development of a learning profile. Feedback from the week was extremely positive and the students did a remarkable job transitioning into high school for the first time. The additional time in the school without Year 9, 10 and 11 students enabled the Year 7 students to feel more comfortable and to adjust to the new environment at their own pace.

The Year 12 students began their final year of high school by coming together in Lower Penny for the first two lessons to set the scene for the year and to discuss expectations and events for the year ahead. Daniela Piteo and her team ensured there was time for the students to meet with their mentor and to become more familiar with Frog, our new Learner Management System. Year 12 subjects began on day one after recess, to maximise the time the students have with their subject teachers due to the shorter year that all Year 12 students face. The Year 12’s have made a positive start to the year so far, in particular their school formal in Week 6.

The whole school community for 2023 all came together on the Wednesday of Week 1, with each year level starting their year in their Home Group to help organise the students and begin building positive relationships with their Home Group teacher(s) and peers. All students began their timetabled lessons after recess in a similar structure to the Year 12’s and quickly settled into their new routine.

We are now over halfway through Term 1 already, with Term 1 Snapshot Reports being completed at the end of Week 6 and posted home in Week 7. These reports inform families if their child is not on track to pass one or more of their subjects for Term 1. Students who receive a Snapshot Report are encouraged to communicate expectations with their subject teacher and utilise the schools’ Homework Centres, which are open during break times and after school. Learning Area leaders are rostered into the Lower Penny Building for recess and lunch time to provide one-on-one tutoring support for students who require it. Our new Learner Review Model is a new system that was developed at the end of 2021 that supports this process. The system enables us to track and monitor students’ achievement throughout each term and provide a case management approach for every student who has received a snapshot report, or a D, E or N at the end of an assessment period. These case managers support each individual student to improve their learning with the aim of achieving a ‘C grade’ or better by the end of the assessment window. Throughout Week 8, we hosted our Snapshot Recovery Week, where students accessed tutoring, SSO and teacher support in all of our Homework Centres to help improve student learning outcomes for Term 1. Below is a list of the Homework Centres and when they are available for future reference:

Location Information

The Term 1 assessment window will close on Friday 31 March (Week 9) when teachers will finish their marking and write their Term 1 reports ready for the end of the term. Parent/Caregivers will have the opportunity to discuss the Term 1 reports at our Parent/Teacher/Student Evening on Wednesday 3 May (Week 1, Term 2). Information will be sent home to families later this term.

This year we have continued the school’s investment into Studiosity, which is an online learning platform, connecting students in real-time with live experts to get writing feedback and 24/7 support with subject specific questions. The school has invested in Studiosity for all Year 11-12 students to support them with their study this year. Students are now able to submit their written work into Studiosity for feedback from a literacy expert, which is sent back to them within 24 hours. The feedback is focused on grammar, spelling, punctuation, and sentence structure. It is recommended that students use this feature prior to submitting a draft to their teacher. Students can also log into their Studiosity account and ask a subject expert how to solve a problem or answer a question specific to the subject they are learning. The Studiosity tutor will provide support until the query has been resolved. Studiosity provides a fantastic opportunity for students to access 24/7 support and feedback on their written tasks.

As this is the first newsletter for 2023, I would like to share with you the highlights of 2022, which I have listed below:

  • 2 x Merits at Stage 2
  • 100% SACE completion
  • First year for Year 7 students completed at Our Woodville
  • Continued implementation of our Curriculum Review Days throughout 2022
  • Review of curriculum mapping Year 7-10
  • Completion of curriculum mapping Year 7-12
  • ARC Culturally Responsive Schooling Project Year 1
  • Planning for a VR Learning Lab for 2023
  • Task Design student free day in Term 2 informed by our Assessment Committee
  • Innovation of reporting informed by our Reporting Committee moving to a continuous reporting model in 2024
  • Implementation of the actions developed by our student learning portfolio following the Effective Teaching Survey results
  • Autism SA training for all staff
  • Successful implementation of the 2022 Braiding Project
  • Implementation of the new Learner Review Model to track and monitor student learning
  • Implementation of the CIS recommendations from our 2020 review
  • Successful Course Counselling Process in Term 3
  • FROG Units have been constructed for 2023

· Progress towards our three external school review directives which are:

o Broaden implementation of the SIP challenges of practice by scaffolding all line managers to develop the strategies required to effectively lead systems that build teachers’ capacity to improve practice.

o Identify and address the learning needs of students across the school by building teachers’ capacity to analyse and interpret data to inform planning that is intentional and differentiated.

o Develop a consistent approach to task design that maximises the potential of all students, by developing collective understanding of effective approaches to differentiated planning and teaching.

  • Implementation of Languages grant to maintain students learning Indonesian into Year 10
  • Literacy & Numeracy Intervention Review Committee developing new innovative model for 2023
  • A record number of pre-service teachers mentored by our staff
  • Continued implementation of Studiosity to support our Year 11 and 12 students
  • Successful inaugural swimming carnival
  • Continued collaboration with sister school in Indonesian through the Bridge Program to develop a children’s book in both English and Indonesian
  • Introduction of new subjects for 2023; including the Aboriginal Perspectives subjects developed in collaboration with our ATSI students and families.

If you have any questions about the report and would like to speak with me about any else, please send me an email: luke.smith563@schools.sa.edu.au

Luke Smith

Deputy Principal