Dear Parents and Guardians,
Welcome to the 2023 school year!
We have enjoyed welcoming many parents onsite and look forward to next week where we also meet with families through our information evenings across Junior School and Senior School. It makes such a difference being able to see you face-to-face again.
This year we are delighted to welcome 133 new students along with a number of new staff.
At all our parent events I have been introducing our new Deputy Principal, Mrs Davina McClure and where applicable our new Head of Middle School, Ms Giles and Ms Woolcock our Head of Senior School. They have had a very smooth transition and are already well established in their roles at the school.
I have provided a short introduction to our new leaders and teachers in the button below.
Upskill … BY DESIGN
On one of our Staff Professional Learning Days last week, Sophie Renton, Research Director at McCrindle, presented to our staff about the future of education and the changing world of work. In a future editorial I will share with you some of this compelling work and the need for us all to ‘lean into’ this change.
Sophie’s presentation was very affirming of our work at Camberwell Girls. Whilst providing a holistic education, where our academic learning is at the core of our purpose, we are also focussed on developing the capabilities that our students need now, and into the future.
Our work is also endorsed by the University of Melbourne where we commence our third year as one of their ‘New Metrics for Success’ schools, helping to build metrics to assess capabilities such as collaboration, critical thinking, creativity or problem-solving. The aim is that evidence of these capabilities and other micro-credentials will build a learner profile that will sit alongside the ATAR to provide a more holistic understanding of a young person.
In re-designing our Upskill Days in the Secondary School from 2021 and 2022, this year we have 17 dedicated days in our timetable across the year to ensure that we are protecting our core subject teaching time. With fewer disruptions, continuity in learning is better enabled. Upskill Days will provide more opportunities for multi-disciplinary learning, earning micro-credentials and opportunities to partner with organisations to deliver whole and part-day programs, including innovation and wellbeing programs. Four of these days will also be used for Learning Conversations, with bespoke Upskill programs sitting alongside these.
We will also be including additional time to complete SATs and SACs into the Upskill Days. Again, preservation of teaching time is central to the Upskill design model, a further complement to the additional time for student support that VCE subjects have been given each timetable cycle this year.
Our Upskill program is being coordinated by Ms Kate Manners, our Director of Strategic Initiatives and she has provided more information in the button below. We will be sharing some of the exciting initiatives that have been developed in this program with you throughout the year.
This year again promises to be a very exciting year at CGGS. If you have any queries at all, please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s teacher or Head of School.
With very best wishes for the year ahead.
Debbie Dunwoody
Principal
