LORETO COLLEGE COORPAROO P O Box 1726, COORPAROO DC QLD 4151 Telephone: 07 3394 9999
Facsimile: 07 3847 1254
Absentee Line: 07 3394 9964
Email: email@loreto.qld.edu.au Website: www.loreto.qld.edu.au
19 July 2011
T
Y
Dear Parents and Students
Welcome back to Term Three, with a par cular welcome to new families and new staff. On the staff, we welcome back from long service leave Mr Bill Kenny. Mr Kenny spent a por on of his leave visi ng and working voluntarily in Timor Leste. His experience is invaluable to us and he returns ready to share his passion and his story with the school. As many of you would be aware, we have close connec ons in Timor Leste with the Carmelites, the Marists and the IBVM – all doing such marvellous work in the areas of educa on, unemployment, health, skills training and improved provision of water to many villages. We give thanks for their efforts and keep them always in our prayers.
This term we warmly welcome: Ms Debbie Northway (Library) and Mrs Margaret Dowling (RE and Geography) as replacements for Mrs Hedemann and Ms McGowan, both of whom are on leave. We also give a par cular welcome to Mrs Emma Beach as the new Communica on and Enrolments Manager for the College. We wish them all a joyful and rewarding experience as members of the Loreto family.
I
RESPONSE TO WHOLE SCHOOL SURVEY As previously reported, the whole school survey conducted in first term was overwhelmingly posi ve, however, as hoped, it iden fied some key areas for improvement.
For parents the three most highly repeated comments in the free response sec on, when asked “What would you like to see improved?’, were: Increased sports teams/op ons (par cularly in Years 8 & 9) More elec ve subjects Laptop provision
L
I
C
In response to the survey findings the leadership team has established a Curriculum & Learning Advisory Commi ee (2011‐2013) (CLAC) to address the following aspects of Curriculum & Learning at Loreto:
Introduc on of New subjects (9/10; 11/12) Subjects & Time Alloca on at Years 8/9/10 (Australian Curriculum) Middle Years Teaching & Learning Framework (7, 8, 9) Curriculum/Teaching & Learning Resourcing Facili es development to enhance learning Assessment Policy for Middle Years
A er community consulta on and delibera on on the various proposals it develops, this commi ee will then make formal recommenda ons to the leadership team. Such recommenda ons may be adopted or revised for further development by CLAC. As important stakeholders, parent and student representa ves will be consulted as and when appropriate.
Further ac ons include the phase‐in of a laptop program from mid‐2012. (An informa on night about this will be held later in the term). It should be noted that this implementa on was already ‘in planning’ at the me of the survey, so it was really most affirming to see posi ve support for this ar culated by parents and students alike.
E
With respect to increased spor ng teams and op ons for students, par cularly those in Years 8 & 9, we are ac vely inves ga ng various longer‐term strategies that will see more students being given increased opportuni es to play in spor ng teams for the school in sports of their choice. The reasons for so doing are compelling.
For students, the consensus about areas that needed to be priori es for improvement varied from year level to year level. Therefore, the Year Co‐ordinators will be addressing these issues with their own par cular year group in the coming months to work towards improvement. Like the parents, the students are keen to see improve‐ ments to IT (laptops), sport (numbers of teams & op ons) and curriculum (subject offerings).
F
One other immediate response to the school survey results has been an upgrading of the student toilets. This occurred over the holiday break. I thank the Facili es Manager, Mr Bill Bradic, and his team for their support, skills and applica on with this project. I am sure the students will be delighted and most apprecia ve of their efforts. We are indeed fortunate to have such a dedicated crew.
During the last week of last term we held and celebrated two major Interhouse Events:
The Loreto Music Fes val 2011 showcased some of the school’s most gi ed and talented musicians.