As we near the close of an exceptional year, I am delighted to highlight our accomplishments and future directions at Georges River College Hurstville Campus.

Executive & staff professional learning in Term 4 

This term we continued our literacy journey with Dr. Trish Weekes and the LISA (Literacy in Subject Areas) program.

Excitingly, we are introducing a new iteration of the LISA program in 2024. As part of this change, we are establishing a LISA KLA Team to support this literacy initiative, ensuring a targeted and collaborative approach. Supported by Dr. Trish Weekes throughout the year, the LISA KLA Team will play a pivotal role in driving literacy improvements across our school community.

Additionally, we are gearing up for a new version of the NISA (Numeracy in Subject Areas) program in the upcoming academic year. The development of a NISA KLA Team represents a significant stride in our efforts to improve numeracy skills across our school community. We look forward to the continued growth that this initiative, supported by Head Teacher Mathematics Sharon Kang and the NISA KLA Team, will bring to our school. 

Executive Conference 

Our school executive team spent time in Week 6 evaluating our 2023 School Improvement Plan (SIP) activities. Staff reflected on our SIP and collaboratively designed or re-defined our future directions for continuous school improvement. Time was also spent on determining our progress towards our improvement measures and planning for next steps in 2024.  

Continuous improvement 

In 2023 five new executive staff engaged in a second round of the LEED (Leading Evaluation, Evidence, and Data) project, building evaluative thinking and continuous improvement skills. This effort prompted teachers to collectively reflect on teaching practices and evidence of impact. One staff member completed the 18-month School Leadership Institute Middle Leadership Development Program, additionally, two executive staff began the Growth Coaching in Leadership course, contributing to the ongoing development of effective learning and leadership practices for whole-school improvement. 

NAPLAN & Check-in results 

Year 7 and 9 NAPLAN results were released earlier this term, and our school has received outstanding results. Our value-add data indicates we have demonstrated one of the highest value-adds in the state, well above the NSW average.

Check-in assessment data reveals our Year 9 reading and numeracy results are above State average and above Statistically Significant School Groups (SSSG) average. This is an excellent result and is testament to the hard work of our staff and students.

Academic reports

Year 7-10 reports will be issued to parents and carers this week. As always, teachers are happy to discuss your son’s progress in more detail if you require clarification or more information.

Based on feedback, next year we will look to include specific comments on student strengths as well as the reporting on outcomes, commitments to learning and areas of improvement.

Happy holidays to students, staff and families. Have a restful holiday and we look forward to seeing you in 2024!

Rachelle Pirie I Deputy Principal Teaching and Learning