Another GREAT Week- 3

Calendar dates

Term 4

Year 8 and 9 Tasmania Tour Week 4 term 4
VCAA Exams Commence 30 October
Year 10 Victorian Surf Coast Camp Parent Informed Consent Night 30 October
Year 10 and 11 Exams 11-15 November
Year 9 Maths Exam 18 November
World Challenge Camp 19 November
VCE Orientatio Program 25-29 November
Presentation Night Years 10-12 28 November
Year 7 Camp 4-6 December

Presentation Night Years 7-9 16 December

Some useful links

FHC Website

Compass Parent Portal

FHC Moodle- Student Learning Portal

Remember you can use Compass to approve absences

Dear all,

welcome to Week 3 of Another GREAT Week

Small School, Big Opportunities, Big Dreams, Big Achievements

State Championships

 Our champion athletes are at it again. This time Holly and Sam were competing on Tuesday at the State Schools Track and Field Championships. Sam competed in the 17 year old Shotput gaining second place and a medal, and she did well to run fourth in the 100m sprint where she narrowly missed out on another medal for third place. Holly ran a great race in the rain in the 13 year old 1500m run at 4.40pm and achieved third place receiving a bronze medal. What GREAT results for Forest Hill College! Well done to both girls, we are all so proud.

Year 7 & 8 Girls Super 8's Cricket

On Tuesday a group of year 7 and 8 girls competed in the year 8 Super 8's Cricket Competition and did an outstanding job winning all three games in their group. They then went on to play in the finals against Blackburn High School, the other group winner, and won convincingly which will take them through to represent Eastern Metropolitan Region in the finals. Congratulations girls on a brilliant effort! 

 

Year 11 Monty Pryor Incursion

Monty Pryor is an author and storyteller. He came to Forest Hill College to speak with our Year 11 English students as part of our study of the film, 'The Sapphires." With his aboriginal heritage, Monty was able to share his experience and widen our understanding of the history and treatment of Aboriginal people- not only at the time the film was set in, but from settlement to now.

Eastern Region Year 7 Basketball Finals

The year 7 Girls Basketball Team have been training before school in preparation for the Eastern Region Final which was this Friday 25 October. The girls played three tough matches and came up against some strong schools in Mount Waverley, Ringwood and Rowville. Unfortunately we couldn't come away with a win but the girls skills and team play improved dramatically. Congratuulations to Rebecca, Zoe, Jasmine, Natasha, Madie, Chloe and Holly, tremendous effort! Thanks to Kuda for assissting with coaching.

Media Hype and Performance and Development

There has been a fair bit of media attention given to teachers over the last week. As clear focus has been on teaching quality and student learning growth.

At Forest Hill College we do have in place a rigorous performance appraisal system. It is rich in feedback and has strong internal accountability. We believe a rigorous performance process  lifts the standards in classrooms.

As a Principal Team, each week we do a classroom walk through, where all three of us visit every class in the school across one period. We engage with the students to discuss what they are learning. We have a clear focus on teacher practice and student learning.

We look to see that students are progressing in their learning, with a specific focus on checking that:

• ·     Teachers are using available data to proactively plan the delivery of a curriculum that optimally challenges and engages students in their learning. 
• ·     Regular and purposeful feedback is being provided that enables students to progress in their learning, is being integrated into the classroom program
• ·     The learning culture is being maintained through the implementation of the classroom teacher staged response

 As a Leadership Team ( Leading Teachers and Principals) we do a "Learning Walk" each term, with a more "microscopic" focus on the practice of teaching. I have data from those walks that has been collated for over 18 months that indicates our strengths and areas for improvement as a teaching collective at FHC. We use this data to inform our strategic focus and professional learning directions.

Our performance system consists of each teacher having a "collegiate leader" who meets three times across the year with them. Initially goals are set in Term 1, they are monitored in a mid cycle review, which we did in term 3 and finally, in Term 4 they are assessed as either having met the standards the DEECD and I expect, or not.We have no qualms with the concept of identifying staff who have not met the standards. 

We will be continuing with our process which we believe to be rigorous and focused on lifting teaching practice in a collaborative and supportive manner. 

Ambulance Cover for Students

Just a friendly reminder that DEECD schools do not cover parents and students for any ambulance transport that may be required. It is our strong advice that parents seek their own ambulance cover in the event that an ambulance is required to transport their child. Of course we all hope that this never happens, however, if it does, and our processes are always to err on the side of caution and call an ambulance if we think it may be necessary, it is far better for parents if they have ambulance cover.

EMA Applications 2014

EMA application forms are now available for 2014 from the General Office or online on the FHC website ( use link at the top of the blog) 2014 EMA Forms

 

HUGE SALE

30% off

OCTOBER ONLY

All current items with logo, dresses & skirts!!