Principal's Pen
QCAA Visit
On Tuesday afternoon we were honoured to host the CEO, Mr Chris Rider, and Director of Assessment and Reporting, Mr Claude Jones, from QCAA (Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority) for a discussion regarding our progress in the implementation of the new senior assessment system starting with Year 11 in 2019. We discovered we are well on our way to being prepared and had many of our questions answered by the 2 most senior leaders in the state. Our magnificent senior staff attended voluntarily and engaged in rigorous and challenging discussions about the changes, and demonstrated their depth of understanding in doing so. It was an added benefit that Chris Rider is a past student of both St Columba’s and St Mary’s and it was great to hear some stories of yesteryear and present him with his OLSCC keyring with his enrolment number – 997 – engraved. Along with Mr Tony Cook (Director General - Department of Education and Training) it seems our past students are essentially running the state in regards to the future of education and the education of our future, our students.
Visible Learning Visit
We have determined the specifications for the 1 to 1 laptop roll out for next year and are currently deciding on the specific model that we will roll out from Years 7-12 in 2019. We have recently gained access to Canvas, our Learning Management System (LMS) and are working with the financing and installation of classroom technology that supports digital pedagogies. This is a very exciting time for the College as we progress teaching and learning in a manner that gives our graduates the advantage they need to become entrepreneurs of the future. We are currently working on costings for the laptops, though expect that we will be deploying laptops that will cost around $300 per year per student ($900 total over the 3 years). The specifications of this machine will match that of our staff machines and will be more than capable of running the software requirements for all subjects. There are many details that need to be clarified relating to this roll out, and this will come as a complete package next term when everything is finalised.