In the spotlight

By Mr Jason Golding, Acting Assistant Principal Curriculum

This year, each one of our Year 12 students has been given the opportunity to join a progress interview with a senior member of staff to reflect on their Year 11 performance and set goals and strategies for achieving their personal best in 2025. It has been impressive how mature and circumspect so many of our students have been in their review of their work habits, as has been their resolve in aspiring for excellence, both personally and as a cohort.

It is a deeply held conviction at Radford that personal bests in learning and achievement rely on continual growth from multiple points of reflection and feedback.

This is supported at Radford by a focus on formative assessment through timely and meaningful ‘hurdle’ tasks that allow the student and teacher to take stock of what has been learnt, support organisation and processes, and clearly communicate next steps.

We are so fortunate at Radford to have a commitment to continuous reporting and a platform to support it. Originally conceptualised as ‘online and in time’, our students and parents are able to track assessed learning progress through each semester and, more specifically, see which particular skills or aspects of understanding are developing well or needing attention. This enables our learners to see each assessment as feedback for future action and improvement, as well as recognition for what they have achieved to date. I really encourage parents to engage with the flow of feedback on their children’s progress through Nexus as they encourage their children to reflect and plan for future growth.

By Week 4, many students have had the opportunity to begin new subjects, particularly Years 7, 9 and 11. Some of these have been chosen by students, such as individual languages in Years 7 and 8, electives in Years 9 and 10, and different courses, levels and subject combinations in Years 11 and 12. As always, the College advises all students to make choices based on a combination of enjoyment and potential success, as students further tailor and refine their individual learning pathways through school.

I look forward to 2025 as an exciting year with rich learning opportunities across subjects and departments. Secondary School students have already had the chance to engage with expert speakers and to utilise our proximity to world-class galleries, museums and universities during class time, to both enhance their understanding and to inspire interest in future pathways.