Secondary News

This week I had the privilege of being able to attend the 2024 AISWA Leader’s Conference. The theme was ‘Embrace the Change’ and we heard from politicians and professionals working in such diverse areas such as wellbeing in education, the use of AI and experts working in climate change. I was really pleased to note that some of the fantastic things that we are doing at ACC are supported by the latest research, but I also acknowledge that there are further initiatives that we can take to ensure that our school continues to be a place where students are well known, well loved and well taught.

At the AISWA Conference, Professor Donna Cross shared her research into mental health and wellbeing. Interestingly, her research has revealed that the best predictor of wellbeing is being able to maintain positive relationships. This factor is more protective than all of the other markers of wellbeing, including maintaining a healthy weight, exercising, sleep, avoiding smoking and low alcohol consumption. Students with positive wellbeing experience greater academic achievement and children with well developed social and emotional skills experience greater life satisfaction, employment rates and overall health well into adulthood. This is why our Pastoral Care program is so important. We take time to explicitly teach those non-cognitive skills that are essential for navigating social relationships, managing emotions and making positive behavioural choices. 

Interschool Surfing

We recently had two teams of Year 8 girls representing ACC for the first time in the Great Southern Interschool Schools Surfing Competition. Our girls did exceptionally well in some spectacular conditions out at Nanarup, with one of our teams taking third place. Congratulations to all of our participants and thank you to Mr Thomas for making the day possible. 

Year 10 News

Year 10 students have been busily preparing for their senior secondary journey. In their Essentials for Life course, students have recently completed a Youth Mental Health First Aid course with a school psychologist and a First Aid course with St John. In addition, representatives from the Albany campus of the University of Western Australia came and spoke with our Year 10s on Monday and discussed career options, the structure of TAFE or college and university study, entry pathways, how ATAR works, UWA courses and scholarships. Over the next few weeks, Year 10s will be visiting the Deadly Careers Expo plus they will be visited by the Australian Defence Force who will discuss careers with the ADF. 

Year 10 students will be selecting subjects for Year 11 and 12 study later this term. We will be hosting a Year 10 Parent Information Night on Monday 10th June for all parents and students in Year 10. 

Assessing Student Learning

This term has a real focus on assessing student learning, and helping our students to build the skills that are necessary for academic success. At ACC, we are delighted when our students take responsibility for their own learning - their classroom behaviours, preparedness for class, willingness to ask questions and follow teacher instruction can be important indicators of personal accountability and subsequent learning progress. The semester examinations are an important part of this. They are a goalpost for students to work toward and a chance for students to demonstrate the culmination of their learning. 

In addition, we have some fantastic staff here who put in the hard yards to support our students. Staff provide support for students as they learn new content, apply their learning and revise this learning. The work that our faculty leaders have been doing this year to enable greater moderation of assessment tasks and student results against the standards set by the Schools Curriculum and Standards Authority has been fantastic, and staff are able to clearly demonstrate how their students’ work compares with year level standards. 

All students will have an examination timetable. Please help to ensure that your child feels well prepared, rested and nourished for these assessments.