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 Publications High Notes High Notes, Vol 27 No 28, September 11 2026
High Notes, Vol 27 No 28, September 11 2026
From the PrincipalHigh TalentCongratulations to the following boys on their Duke of Ed achievement:
Congratulations to the following students who trained for the National Chinese Eisteddfod with Ms Zhang since the start of Term 2 with multiple lunchtime trainings every week. Their dedication allowed for strong achievement in the competition: Individual Category
16-18 Age:
13-16 Non-native:
13-15 Age:
Group Category External ValidationOn Tuesday the school went through the External Validation Process. External Validation (EV) is the NSW Department of Education's process for independently checking a school's self-assessment against the School Excellence Framework (SEF). Schools undergo the process once every five years. An independent panel reviews the school's evidence and determines whether it supports the judgements the school has made about its performance. There are two parts to the EV process:
I would like to thank Jeremy Ohlback and Natalie Luu for their work in preparing the documentation for the EV meeting. The External Validation included over 19 annotated documents that centred around three keys areas:
The school scored itself at a variety of sustaining and growing and excellence levels against the SEF. The panel agreed with the school’s self-assessment. A sample of the analysis in the area of Effective Pedagogy is below: Throughout the 2022-2026 School Excellence Plan, ÌÇÐÄlogo has iterated upon and refined a strategic approach to pedagogy and curriculum reflective of evidence-informed best practice. A planned whole school approach to lesson sequences, assessment design and the evaluation of practice using school and system data is delivered through tiers of leadership to continually enhance student learning outcomes. An analysis of these practices has informed our determination that in the elements of Curriculum, Assessment, Reporting and Student Growth and Performance, the school is Excelling. In the elements of Effective Classroom Practice and Data Skills and Use, the school is Sustaining and Growing. The practices implemented at ÌÇÐÄlogo include a coherent, evidence-informed curriculum framework integrating purposeful lesson planning, assessment, and feedback that directly supports student growth. Teachers align curriculum design closely with syllabus outcomes and whole-school initiatives, adjusting lessons responsively to meet diverse student needs through ongoing reflection. Faculties engage in collaborative evaluation and revision of scope and sequence documents based on student engagement data and their own experiences, as illustrated by the revision of faculty programs to increase authenticity and purpose. At the whole school level, clear assessment handbooks, scheduling systems, and feedback policies provide consistent expectations and enable students to engage proactively with their learning. Robust tracking and triangulation of data from both school and system sources inform targeted interventions and differentiated teaching, supported by leadership-driven systems that delegate clear responsibilities and provide organised sequences of professional development. Together, these processes create a responsive school environment focused on the continuous enhancement of teacher data skills to improve student outcomes. The whole school initiative of targeting NAPLAN weaknesses proved an effective strategy for curriculum planning and lesson design. As a result of this approach our system data metrics reflect consistently positive outcomes. The 2025 NAPLAN Value-Added results have progressed into the Excelling category, while in 2026, 91% of Year 9 students achieved results in the Exceeding range for the Reading domain. The school’s performance surpasses that of its Statistically Similar School Group in nearly all NAPLAN domains (with the exception of Year 7 Writing), Year 8 and 10 VALID assessments, and 72% of HSC courses, an improvement from 57% in 2023. We identified transparent, consistent, and rigorous assessment practices, individual feedback and student reflection standards, and reporting cycles as key contributors to this enhancement in expected student academic success. Teacher evaluation of student literacy and numeracy progress can be better supported at the planning level to ensure all classrooms are proactively differentiated based on students' literacy needs.
Positive individual NAPLAN scores emerging from the Small Group Tuition program, currently in its
second of 4 years, are encouraging; in order to best leverage our allocated funding and impact
more students positively, we will review the implications of an expanded model. A new planning
cycle provides an opportunity to renew emphasis on our Shared Understanding of Effective
Classroom Practice and consolidate whole-school initiatives, particularly those that strengthen
core instructional strategies such as HPGE Differentiation, Explicit Teaching, and targeted areas
of identified literacy need. As the school continues its pursuit of aspirational academic goals,
we will continue to evaluate our internal success measures. 
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