Welcome

Welcome to the 2023 school year. We have enjoyed a very positive start to the year. Students and staff have returned to school well rested and looking forward to a more settled and ‘normal’ school year.

Traffic disruption continues around the school. I thank everyone for their patience in navigating road closures, detours and roadwork disruptions in your daily commute to and from school. We have recently been notified that the Narre Warren – Cranbourne Road and Thompson Road intersection will now reopen on 20 February.

Health Records Reminder

An important reminder for all parents to check their student’s health record on Consent2Go. Please make sure all health details are current.

Staffing

It is wonderful to welcome back the following staff:

Bridgette Reale

Emma Garby

Beatriz Christensen

Kate Grech

Rachel Doran

Emily Driessen

Helen Lacey

Sonia Rossetto

A Warm Welcome to New Staff

Senior School

Michael Vandenberg – Head of Booth House

Naomi Weiler – English

Lorinda Eden – Humanities

Kyeran Clutton – PE

Junior School

Danielle Searles – Art

Brittany Schulz – Year 2

Tatum Sakeson – Year 6

Lee Britton-Bird – Year 4

Sarah Black – Year 3

Patrick Byrne-Nelson –Year 6

Anna Kipping – PE

Support Staff

Marisa Smit – Psychologist

Mandy Barr – Counsellor

Amelia Taylor – Inclusion and Enrichment

Karina Adam – Inclusion and Enrichment

Learning Assistants

Maddison Kaldi – JS

Dayle Barnes – JS

Ashlee Huitema – JS

Laura Djordjevic – JS

Keisha Atkinson – SS

Mandy Koziaris – SS

Harman Gill – SS

Staff Professional Learning – Childsafe Policies

New Childsafe Standards were introduced in July 2022. To support these new standards, we have created a suite of new Childsafe Policies which can be found on our website. I encourage you to take the time to read and understand these Childsafe Policies at

https://www.caseygrammar.vic.edu.au/policies

Staff Professional Learning 2023 – Using Educational Neuroscience

We were very excited to launch our staff Professional Learning Program for 2023.

We have entered a partnership with The University of Melbourne and will be learning in collaboration with Associate Professor Sean Kang. Professor Kang is a cognitive psychologist whose research focuses on applying the cognitive science of human learning and memory towards improving instructional practice.

Our students will directly benefit from the professional learning the teachers are undertaking this year.

Chat GPT

Over the past few weeks there has been a lot of commentary in the media about Chat GPT. If you have not heard of it, Chat GPT is Artificial Intelligence (AI) which writes text for you.

There has been much debate regarding the place of Chat GPT in schools. The Victorian Department of Education and some of its interstate counterparts have put a halt on the use of Chat GPT in schools while they assess the implications of the technology.

We are also taking the time to explore the opportunities and costs of allowing students to use Chat GPT. There has been concern raised regarding the authentication of students’ writing. How do we know whether a student used Chat GPT or wrote their own essay?

At Casey Grammar, our teachers use a variety of methods to authenticate student work. These include viewing plans and drafts of the student’s work as they develop it, providing feedback on writing and discussing the development of ideas with the student.

We are consulting with experts in the field in order to come to a decision on the use of Chat GPT at Casey Grammar. I will report back to you once our investigations are complete.

Senior School Continuous Online Reporting

I encourage all Senior School parents to make a habit of regularly checking your child’s academic progress, which is collated in our online Learning Management System (LMS) SEQTA.

This is the portal where teachers file the grades for each assessment task and, more importantly, provide written feedback to each student on each task completed.

I recommend checking SEQTA at least once a fortnight to keep abreast of your child’s progress.

In week 5 of each term, all Senior School teachers will report on Formative Assessments in each subject. Please ensure you check SEQTA for this valuable feedback on your child’s progress.

COVID

While there are no covid restrictions in place at the moment, we continue to strive to keep our community covid free.

Students are encouraged to sanitise their hands regularly, use disinfectant wipes and practice social distancing. Our air purifiers are well maintained and run in all enclosed spaces. Windows and doors are opened when possible.

Students who feel unwell should not be sent to school. Any students exhibiting covid-like symptoms will be sent to the School Nurse and must go home and stay at home until their symptoms disappear.

Uniform Reminder

Our school uniform is very smart and distinctive. It is an expectation that students will wear their uniform according to the uniform policy. I remind all parents of the following extracts from the policy:

  • Socks with red and white stripes must be worn with navy trousers or navy shorts.  Short white socks should be worn with the summer dress. 
  • Hair which is shoulder length must be tied back at all times when in school uniform
  • School dresses must be knee length (ie the same length on the knee as the school shorts)
  • Students must not wear jewellery to school (except for a watch and a cross on a chain long enough to be concealed in uniform)

To ensure uniformity, all uniform items should be purchased through our official suppliers (Buxwear).

Class of 2022 VCE Results

Congratulations to the Class of 2022. I am very proud to share these results with you:

  • 100% satisfactory completion
  • Class of 2022 had 71 scored VCE students
    • Median study score: 29
    • Median ATAR: 67.75
    • Mean ATAR: 67.81
    • 42% of 2022 CGS students ranked in the top 30%
    • 71.5% of 2022 CGS students ranked in the top 40%

The Dux is Juna Gemmell with an ATAR of 97.75

The Proxime Accessit is Olivia Berry with a score of 96.25

Jasmine Lane’s VCE Media Studies film has been selected for the VCE Seasons of Excellence Top Screen 2023. Three hundred films were submitted and 15 selected. Congratulations to Jasmine.

University Scholarships

Casey Grammar is in a period of strong academic growth. It is pleasing to note the steady improvement over the last five years in our students’ Australian Tertiary Admission Ranking (ATAR).


NAPLAN Results

Here are our NAPLAN results for 2022. We have not yet received the National comparisons, however, Casey Grammar’s results compare very favourably to the rest of the State.

Year 3

Year 5

Year 7

Year 9

Fiona Williams

Principal