RECONCILIATION – What does it mean for you?

If you visit the AI version of the Oxford dictionary, reconciliation comes down to two parts:

• The restoration of friendly relations
• The action of making one view or belief compatible with another

I couldn’t agree more……

At Heatley Secondary College, we value both Inclusion and Respect.  For our students that means we:

• Welcome and involve others
• Treat others with kindness and empathy
• Value and contribute to our diverse community
• Care for self and community
• Look after our environment

In the last week you may have noticed some happenings down the back of the school just to the side of the back carpark.  This is the realisation of the Reconciliation Action Plan vision to establish a yarning space which upholds the notion of reconciliation and our beliefs about inclusion and respect.  Last week we welcomed Ashley to our space to break ground and perform a smoking ceremony.  As you can see from the photos, this has been a labour of love for our students, our staff, our parents, our elders and our community.  There have been many, many discussions and “yarns” about the space and it’s exciting to see it finally come to fruition. 

Perhaps the most exciting bit is the involvement of our kids…. Their investment in making this a reality has been phenomenal!  With our NAIDOC celebrations this week, this has come at the perfect time.

DATA

Sometimes I get asked how we measure our success as a school, and every year we set targets particularly around improvement rather than an arbitrary figure for every school in Queensland.  I’ll give you some examples of the ways we check how we are going:

• Level of Achievement – at the moment we are especially focussed on English particularly in our junior school, and we’ve seen some significant and sustained improvement in this area this year!
• School disciplinary absences (Suspensions and Exclusions) – Reduction of these has also been significant this year but that does not mean that we have lowered our standards.  Our college has a reputation for high levels of support with high expectations.  We’re holding that line!
• School Opinion Survey – If you haven’t already completed this, PLEASE CHECK YOUR EMAILS. Last year, we had a disappointing 9% of parents and caregivers complete the survey.  I’m hoping for a huge improvement in participants this year please.
• Attendance…Our overall attendance at Heatley SC does not change much over time.  It currently sits at 75%.  Our senior attendance is our best and our Year 10 attendance is our worst.  My greatest concern over attendance is that there is a direct correlation between low attendance and poor outcomes and I’m sure that won’t come as a surprise to any of you. 

The bottom line is, we need your kids at school everyday, ready to learn. 

Melissa