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Form of workCollege Profile
St Albans Secondary College’s vision, values and guiding principles combine to create a safe, supportive and structured environment where every student is guided and inspired to achieve to the best of their ability. Our College community values respect, integrity, leadership, and the pursuit of excellence.
We are proud of our school community's achievements: our results in almost all areas are significantly higher than the average for the State, and for similar schools. St Albans Secondary College has regularly been recognised as a high performing school. In studies undertaken by the Department of Education and the University of Melbourne we were well above state benchmarks in all measures. These outcomes, together with excellent attendance rates, continued growth in students' literacy and numeracy skills, and significant improvement in students' sense of connectedness and safety, are a testament to the combined efforts of staff, families and students.
Our commitment to foster the academic and personal development of each student, to provide a high-quality education, and to guarantee a broad range of programs to challenge and enrich all students, is a significant factor in these achievements. Our Attendance Policy of 90%, close monitoring of student absences, and effective communication with parents ensure that the importance of regular attendance for successful student learning is well embedded in the school culture.
The SEAL (Select Entry Accelerated Learning) program is offered to challenge and motivate gifted and talented students from Year 7 right through to Year 12. Additionally, enrichment electives are offered from Year 9, and VCE subjects are available to selected students from Year 10. Our top achievers are supported with scholarships, as well as university mentoring programs including the Kwong Lee Dow Scholars’ program, and they consistently gain entry into top level tertiary courses.
A focus on positive, respectful relationships as an essential part of a safe, enjoyable learning environment is an essential aspect of the College's culture, as is our strategy of enhancing student voice and leadership across the school, and providing a rich extracurricular program. Activities include a comprehensive instrumental music program, drama and music production, public speaking and debating, writers' workshops, a camps program, sports teams and carnivals, a House system, and a range of student clubs.
Our vision for wellbeing is to support all members of our school community to develop a resilient mindset by striving to ensure that everyone feels Connected, Protected and Respected. The development of a comprehensive allied health team approach to student wellbeing, recent work on resilient mindsets, and further strengthening student wellbeing programs have been important in fostering engagement, positive behaviour, and respectful relationships.
Creating a strong community is an important part of the College's strength. We actively seek the contributions and participation of families, as well as business and university partners, and our vibrant and growing Alumni program to create the best possible surroundings for our students to learn and grow. Our students benefit from a range of high-quality opportunities to engage with business and community partners through mentoring and leadership programs, and the Alumni program. Our staff are deeply committed to fostering the learning and wellbeing of each student. Parent satisfaction with the school is well above the state average, and reflects the confidence parents and families have in the work we do together.
Throughout 2021, we maintained a sustained focus on guaranteeing precise, highly effective teaching practice in every classroom, including in the online context. Online learning in 2020 provided a springboard for rethinking how we design and deliver curriculum and assessment. As a result, in 2021, we refocused curriculum planners around KUDs (Know, Understand, Do) linked to the standards, and worked with staff to create a clearer narrative and awareness of through lines from standards to assessment. This, in turn, led to a change in how we document curriculum and make it available to students and parents. In Term 4, staff were introduced to the further concept of differentiating their KUDs as part of curriculum and assessment planning, and this will be ongoing throughout 2022.
Differentiation, using the Carol Tomlinson model, continued as a major strategic focus for us. The development of a model, based on Tomlinson's work, to illustrate the 'what' and 'how' of differentiation has promoted greater clarity for staff, and a framework for guiding the direction of future work. Whilst COVID disrupted the planned direction and mode of professional learning, a great deal was still achieved, and this has provided an excellent basis for the work on differentiation in 2022. In particular, the use of 'master data sheets' to centralise and visualise the learning data for each student in Years 7 to 10, and to support staff in the use of this data to differentiate their curriculum, teaching and assessment gained traction. Professional learning on the whole school Literacy strategy was delivered; however, there was a need to pace this work due to the demands that online learning placed on staff. The whole school Numeracy strategy remained in development, and will be introduced to staff in 2022.
Another key priority in 2021 was to deepen the work on resilient mindsets with our school community, especially in terms of developing a framework and language for resilience. There was a recognition of the need to be more explicit in terms of the link between learning and wellbeing, particularly in the context of differentiation. There is evidence of the traction of this work in language used by students and staff, in frameworks and policy documents, and in the systems implemented to keep our community connected during online learning. The experience of our girls in their education was investigated by a working party and recommendations for action developed. This remains a challenge for us, and will continue as an important project in 2022.
Our student learning data, as summarised in the Performance Summary, once again showed that the College is performing above like schools in all areas, and above the State in most areas. These are excellent results given the disruptions to face to face learning due to Covid 19. Our model of online learning, where staff followed the timetable and had contact with students every lesson, either for explicit teaching or application time, provided the support our students needed to be successful.
In 2021, we achieved a mean VCE study score of 30.6, with 8.2% of study scores over 40. This compares well with the state average of 28.9, and 4% above 40. 97% of students satisfactorily completed the VCE. The percentage of students who achieved an ATAR above 80 was 33.8%, and the College’s average ATAR was 71.4, compared to the Stave average of 69.26. These excellent results were obtained through the hard work of the teaching staff, and the engagement and motivation of the students.
St Albans Secondary College is an accredited provider of education for international students. Our reputation for academic excellence has attracted 35 students from overseas who are currently completing their secondary education with us. Our local and international parent communities are integral to the success of this program, and to the support provided to the students.
The school has committed to a sustained program of facilities upgrading in order to improve the learning and work environment for students and staff, and this is evident from the front gate to the sports oval.
We have built a strong, positive school culture where effort and achievement are valued and recognised. The friendly, supportive, caring atmosphere of our school is very often commented on by visitors. Students are able to articulate the high expectations that the staff and parents hold for them and they appreciate this.
St Albans Secondary College is a community where staff and parents work together with, and for the benefit of, students. Staff are deeply committed to the academic progress, and personal development and wellbeing of each student.
