I’d like to congratulate all students for their enthusiasm, positivity and work ethic as they commenced the 2023 school year.

Over the past weeks I have been the recipient of many positive comments on our students about their manners and behaviour. Staff at the pool for the Swimming Sports commented on our students’ positive behaviour. I am so proud of our student cohort. Thanks to Mrs Sonia Kinsley and the rest of the PE team for the organisation of the day. Great weather and a great day was had by all. The teachers however still are the best swimmers at the school.

This is my first opportunity to recognise the class of 2022 and their outstanding VCE results. Our results continue to improve, and we are certainly one of the top performing schools in this region. All students in Year 12 from last year either have a place at University, or they are in employment/apprenticeship. It was great to hear from Ms Cameron that no student is left behind and that we can proudly say every Year 12 student has a pathway. As Principal I am very happy that all students have a pathway for their futures after such a difficult couple of years.

Already this year we held our VCE Information night for students with a focus on study skills and preparation for the year. I enjoyed listening to former Year 12 students talk about their experiences and the effort and dedication that is required to achieve their goals.

Auditions for the school production are under way and it has been great to see so many students put their names forward to be a part of Urine Town. I can tell the school community having seen this production before it is an amazing story and I can’t wait to see the finished product.

This week we also have our Year 7 Beach days as part of the transition and sport program at the school.

Curriculum Review

In 2022 the school began the process at looking at the structure of the school day and the allocation of time to subjects across the school. All parents will be shortly sent a survey that we allow you to provide feedback to the school on the structure of the school day and the subjects on offer at Geelong High.

Annual privacy reminder for our school community

Our school collects, uses, discloses and stores student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy.

Please take time to read our school’s collection notice, found on our website www.geelonghigh.vic.edu.au

We ask parents to also review the guidance we provide on how we use Google Workspace for Education safely at the school and what parents can do to further protect their child’s information. If after reviewing the guidance, you have any questions or concerns regarding your child’s use of Google Workspace for Education, please contact the school.

For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ Privacy Policy — information for parents

Council Elections

Geelong High School Council elections will be held early this term. I encourage all parents and guardians to carefully consider how they can best contribute to and support the continued growth and development of Geelong High and in doing so to consider the possibility of nominating for election to the Geelong High Council. The Council is a legally formed body with the power to set key directions of the school within centrally provided guidelines and frameworks. In doing this, School Council is able to directly influence the quality of education to school provides to its students.

I would like to thank all members of Council for their support of the School over their tenure and the energy and effort they put into the improvement of Geelong High and in securing the best educational outcomes for our students. Councillors who remain as DET employees or as parents of the School are welcome to stand for re-election.

There will be three (3) vacancies on School Council for Department of Education Training and (DET) employees, two (2) vacancies for parent members for a two-year term commencing in March 2023 to March 2025. There is also two (2 ) vacancies for students on school council for a 2-year terms. All parents/guardians of students at Geelong High are eligible to vote for parent members. Persons who work at Geelong High as DET employees are eligible to vote for DET positions at the election. The term of office for School Council membership is for two years.

The following timeline will apply to the conduct of the election:

The following timeline will apply to the conduct of the election:

Nomination forms can be obtained from the Administration Office during normal office hours.

Careers letter 1

Barwon Health will again be providing their Secondary School Immunisation Program in 2023.

Year Seven students will be able to receive their GARDASIL (Human Papillomavirus) dose 1 (2nd dose on 3/11) and BOOSTRIX (diphtheria, tetanus & whooping cough) on Thursday 02.03.23. All forms need to be returned, regardless of consent given or withheld for immunisation, and these will be collected by Barwon Health on Friday 04.02.23.

Year Ten students will be able to receive their NIMENRIX (meningococcal ACWY) on Thursday 10.08.23. Forms will go home in Week Two of Term One and again, all forms need to be returned, regardless of consent given or withheld for immunisation. These will be collected by Barwon Health on Thursday 03.03.23.

Please see below for the information we share with Barwon Health to provide this service. Importantly, if you do wish to have your data withheld, you must let us know before Feb 14th.

Julianna Garcia
Assistant Principal

Secondary School Immunisation Program

Dear parent/guardian
The Secondary School Immunisation Program offers free vaccines to all eligible Year 7 and Year 10 students.
Year 7 students

• Diphtheria-tetanus-whooping cough (pertussis) - single injection 
• Human papillomavirus (HPV) – two injections, spaced a minimum of six months apart

Year 10 students

• Meningococcal ACWY – single injection

The local council immunisation service, Barwon Health immunisation service, delivers the school-based immunisation program. They provide immunisation consent forms to your child’s school for your child to bring home. Parents/guardians are required to complete and return the immunisation consent forms to their child’s school, whether consent is YES or NO to immunisation, so that your wishes can be recorded.
The Public Health and Wellbeing Regulations 2019 authorises secondary schools to provide their local council with student and parent/guardian contact information for any student scheduled to receive a vaccination. This information is only used to assist local councils to follow-up parents/guardians of students with incomplete or missing immunisation consent forms.
What information is given to local council?
The school provides the following basic student and parent/guardian contact information to the local council immunisation service:

• student name, date of birth, gender, year level and class group, parent/guardian contact details and Language spoken at home.

Why does the school provide this information?

• To improve communication with parents/guardians regarding their child’s vaccination needs.
• To ensure all eligible students are offered the opportunity to access free vaccinations at school.
• To reduce the administrative burden on school staff to follow-up consent forms.
• To eliminate manual data entry processes.

What do I need to do?

1. Read the information provided in your child’s consent form and complete all sections.
2. Return the immunisation consent form with all relevant fields completed to school, even if you choose not to consent for your child to be vaccinated as part of the secondary school immunisation program.
3. Your information will be provided to Barwon Health immunisation service on Tuesday 15^th February 2023 If you do not wish for your details to be provided, please advise the school in writing before the 14^th February 2023.

Every day vaccination saves lives and makes it possible for Victorians to live free from the illness and disability caused by many infectious diseases.
For further information please go to https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/immunisation-in-secondary- schools

Host a Japanese Student Flier for GHS Parents

Dear Parents and Community,

Across 2022 Geelong High School has been reviewing assessment and reporting. In 2023 there are a number of changes intended to improve assessment and reporting processes that parents should be aware of. The purpose of these changes is to improve student focus on learning, to empower them to act on feedback in a timely manner and to help communicate with parents and families more effectively how students are progressing.

Learning Assessment Task Changes

As of 2023 the only assessment tasks that will be visible through Compass are important Common Assessment Tasks Years 7-10 (CATs) and School Assessed Coursework at VCE (SACs). These assessment tasks will be visible once the teacher has released the results to students and will include a Victorian Curriculum Level and a comment. Parents are encouraged to access this feedback and discuss the progress of their children on an ongoing basis.

Change to Reports

Progress Reports will still occur at the end of Term 1 and 3, and Semester Reports will happen as usual at the end of Semester 1 and Semester 2. On the Semester Reports, students will continue to receive a Victorian Curriculum Level for each subject and the report will include a summary of their CATs/SACs depending on what year they are in. There will also be a review of students Study Habits in both reports.

Victorian Curriculum Levels 7-10

In Years 7-10 Geelong High School is now using Victorian Curriculum Levels as suggested by the Victorian Department of Education. This commenced at the beginning of 2022 and will apply to all subjects. Schools are mandated to use Victorian Curriculum Levels in line with current research focused on growth and improvement. To understand Victorian Curriculum Levels, please use the following table. The right hand column shows when each rating would be the average that most students attain.

Whilst Victorian Curriculum Levels do track attainment, it is worth noting that schools and students should be particularly focused on growth and how students are progressing. Even in one year students can radically improve their outcomes in any particular subject and levels are only indications of current attainment not ability. Many students improve from below the standard outcomes in junior years to top outcomes in the senior years.

The new version of the Semester Reports will continue to show student growth by including a visual showing their progress from the previous year.

VCE Grading Scale

Students at VCE are scored from A+-E for all School Based Assessments. Whilst these outcomes are strong indicators of attainment students and families must be aware that they are statistically moderated against the General Achievement Test (GAT) and exam performance. For this reason, outcomes might change significantly between the SAC result being given by the teacher and the final outcome.

Parent and Family Feedback

During 2023 we would be happy to receive feedback from parents and families about the changes to reporting systems. Please feel free to email the school any questions or ideas about how we might further improve our reporting process.

All the best,

Mr McConchie

Assistant Principal: Teaching and Learning