Harmony Week

Each year we celebrate Harmony Week which includes the United Nations’ International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. In a busy program of events, Senior School students were invited to embrace a variety of cultures through cooking, language, music, prayer, dance and the sharing of meals from a variety of cuisines.

For a gold coin donation to raise money for First Nations projects and the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, students came to school in cultural dress. Many students and staff opted to wear orange, the colour that signifies social communication and meaningful conversations.

Many thanks to Mrs Riviere-Pendle for her detailed planning of this week and to the many staff and students who helped out or who simply took part.

NAPLAN Practice

A recent edition of the Herald Sun highlighted the academic growth of our students. Between the Year 7 NAPLAN test in 2019 and those same students taking the test in Year 9 in 2021, 65 per cent of those students achieved above average progress in writing. This places Casey Grammar as one of the top ten Victorian independent schools for improvement in this test.

It would be nice to be able to boast of similar results this year, however the students sitting their NAPLAN this May were unable to take their tests in 2020 due to the ongoing lockdowns. Last week, we undertook the Coordinated Practice Test, a combination of each of the NAPLAN domains. Given that our current Year 7 and Year 9 students have not sat the NAPLAN since 2018, and have never used the online format, this was a welcome opportunity to become familiar with the platform and the type of questions to expect on the day.

For more information about the NAPLAN, please visit their website - https://www.nap.edu.au/naplan

Year 10 Careers and Pathways Week

During Week 9, students in Year 10 will visit a range of tertiary providers and conduct research into future career pathways. By Friday, students will begin looking into subject selections for VCE. Information for parents will follow in Term 2.

Year 7 Camp

I have been fortunate to spend a couple of days with our Year 7 students on camp at Iluka Retreat. This has been a fantastic opportunity for the newest members of our Senior School to make social connections and to discover the importance of teamwork beyond the classroom environment.

Happy Holidays!

As we enter the final weeks of a very busy Term 1, I would like to wish our school community a restful and safe break. I look forward to welcoming students back to school on Wednesday, 27 April.

Kate Morgan

Head of Senior School