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In 2025 Keysborough Secondary College will be changing some aspects of school life.

What isn’t changing is our incredibly dedicated staff and overall application of our school values (Respect, Excellence, Diversity) to maximise the growth of our students, both socially and academically. We are incredibly excited to implement these changes in 2025 and see the positive impact they will have on our students’ growth and learning.

The new school day structure, infrastructure upgrades, and expanded programs reflect our commitment to providing a dynamic and supportive learning environment. By offering more flexibility in timetabling, a wider variety of subjects, and enhanced support systems like the Study Hall and enrichment programs, we are confident these initiatives will foster greater student engagement, focus, and achievement. As we continue to invest in our students’ success, we look forward to seeing ongoing improvements in both their academic outcomes and overall school experience.

Changes to the School Day Times

We have opted for consistent school days in 2025, effective from Headstart in 2024. A second recess has been replaced with students able to leave school 20 minutes earlier each day, coinciding with other local secondary schools and supporting parents with primary school aged children who finish school at 3.30pm.

Five Periods per Day

We have moved to this model from 2025 for the following reasons;

• Increased variety and balance in subjects:
• With more periods in a day, students can engage with a wider range of subjects and activities, which helps maintain their focus and energy throughout the day.
• More frequent lessons mean subjects like maths, English/ EAL can be reinforced regularly, aiding retention and continuity.
• Better Student Attention and Engagement:
• Shorter periods are expected to align better with student attention spans, leading to higher levels of engagement and focus in each lesson. This feedback was particularly strong from students who identified the last 15 minutes of a period in a 75 minute period were particularly difficult.
• Flexibility in Timetabling:
• More periods allow for greater flexibility in scheduling, making it easier to accommodate elective subjects, extracurricular activities and individual support sessions.

Other reasons included improved behaviour as a consequence of shorter lessons, linked to a greater emphasis on student choice in electives and pathway options.

Infrastructure, Improvements and Upgrades

Over 2024 we have undertaken the following improvements at each campus;

School Leadership

From Headstart (Monday 2nd December) our Principal Class team and associated responsibilities are as follows;

• Aaron Sykes – College Principal
• Richard Hastings – Banksia Campus Principal
• Natalie Fode – Acacia Campus Principal
• Matthew Sloan – College Accountabilities Assistant Principal
• Melissa Williams – College Teaching and Learning Assistant Principal
• Rebekah Vass – College Inclusion Assistant Principal
• Jonathan Boyd – Banksia 7-12 Assistant Principal
• Robyn Hughes – Acacia 7-12 Assistant Principal

We will also be posting our school leadership teams online for future reference, inclusive of all Leading Teachers and Learning Specialists.

School Bus

We would like to thank John Gardner who has been with us as Ventura’s school bus driver for 14 years. John has been a friendly and familiar face for our students in that time, shuttling students between campuses and running the morning and afternoon pick ups and drop offs. Having run a detailed analysis of the service, not enough families were utilising it and the school will reallocate the $250,000 loss into additional staff and programs for improving student outcomes. We will internally manage a significantly reduced need for some transport for VCE students between campuses during Headstart and into 2025.

Music Program

Our music program will continue to provide all students in Year 7 with opportunities to engage with our award-winning music and instrumental programs, before becoming an elective choice from Year 8. This gives our students maximum choice regarding the subjects they want to pursue as they progress through their time at the college. This reflects an ongoing commitment to the College music program from Years 7-12, supporting the production of amazing school bands and talented musicians.

Careers Education 7-12

Throughout years 7 to 12, our students will create and monitor career action plans and pathway goals, designed to support students link their learning to areas of potential interest and build understanding of what is required to achieve their goals. In addition, careers education will provide opportunities to explore interests, reflect on strengths and identify areas for improvement.

Enrichment, Extension and Intervention

We are expanding both our Enhanced Learning and support and intervention programs in 2025.

The STEM program continues to offer a pipeline to University studies in Science, Technology, Mathematics and Engineering. Both the º£½ÇÊÓƵ Acacia and Banksia campuses provide a STEM program, with dedicated classes for around 20 students, at each campus.

The Keysborough Extension and Enrichment Program (KEEP) is a comprehensive educational solution designed to cater to students of high ability. Our program recognises and nurtures the natural gifts present, across intellectual, physical, creative, and social domains of our learners. We provide a challenging yet engaging learning environment that is tailored to individual student needs. Our curriculum is differentiated, offering a stimulating pace, depth, and complexity to meet the demands of inquisitive minds. We have expanded this program from Year 7 to include Year 8 in 2025.

We will be relaunching a numeracy support and intervention program in 2025 and consolidating dedicated programs for the different needs of EAL, Inclusion and other students who are behind in their learning or require specific and tailored supports.

Increased budgets for special programs

By tripling the budgets of each year level, we will increase our ability to provide targeted supports and engagement programs for students. This year, our Year 8 team, with support from staff, created a re-engagement program. Please see below for just one example of what the students involved were able to create and accomplish.

Study Hall

We have created a dedicated study hall in the senior building of each campus. These spaces are staffed and provide opportunities for VCE students with study periods or when their teachers are away to quietly complete work. In addition, the library space is opposite study hall which provides additional support for students. Study Hall will also provide opportunities for students to catch up on work, complete missed SACs and to view important dates and deadlines. This initiative will be monitored, with ongoing student feedback.

Jacaranda Plus

We are moving to an online booklist, giving students text book access for all their core subjects from Years 7-12. Then in the information section: This resource will improve student learning and understanding by having access to their texts both at school and at home. We estimate a potential saving to families of around 90% costs saved compared to buying the traditional hard copy books and resources, while also supporting the accessibility of learning resources from any location.

School Wide Positive Behaviour Framework

We have successfully applied to be part of this program, which provides direct support to schools implementing orderly learning environments. This initiative will complement our learning environments and work done to date to make our classrooms even more conducive to learning, promoting our school values and encouraging participation from all students.