November 6th, 2009.
There is so much to talk about this week.
We are slowly getting our staffing for 2010 organised. We are able to form a panel for the classroom teacher position in Science, English and Support. We have had an appointment in TAS and as yet we have no direction for the History position. Being able to form a panel for a position is good because the school gets to have a bigger say in who is appointed.
Buiding the Education Revolution: We are moving towards completion. By the end of the weekend the school will have had the electricity upgrade completed. This will allow the P&C to continue to purchase air-conditioners for our classrooms. With summer coming coming I'm sure the students and staff will appreciate the cooler classrooms. The curtains for the auditorium will be completed by the end of November - ready for Presentation Night. The smart boards should be installed by the end of November. We still have to do some work in some classrooms. The lighting is still the one to have a defined completion date. We are waiting for a DET officer to give us the go ahead to purchase a "Man Lift". This way we can install the lights safely.
The Digital Education Revolution: We have had our parent information evening. I think it was quite successful. There were many families present and many questions from parents and students were able to be answered. Parents are required to come to school to collect a Parent Charter. No documentation will be given to students. The visit should take no more than 10 to 15 minutes. The laptops cannot be issued to students without a signed Parent Charter form. Unfortunately we have been told the laptops will be delivered a week later than anticipated. This is disappointing. However, we have waited a long time for our laptops to arrive so hopefully another week will not be too hard to take.
2010 Student Diaries: We are planning to issue school diaries in 2010 to years 7, 8, 11, and 12. Students in Years 9 and 10 will be shown a digital diary becuase they will have access via their own laptops. The information in the front of the diaries is important for students in Years 7 and 8.
School Development Day December 17th: We will be looking at how Gifted and Talented education can be translated into all classrooms at Crestwood High School. In order to do this, we will be looking to use a differentiated curriculum. This allows staff to acknowledge students come to lessons from different levels and with different levels of readiness. This method of pedagogy allows all students to complete a task at an appropriate level that suits them rather than at an imposed level by the class or teacher. Combined with technology, it is quality teaching at its best. I will include more information on the differentiated curriculum in the coming weeks.