Teaching & Learning

It has been wonderful to see our Loyola students using creativity as a tool to deepen their higher-order thinking across various topics in Food Studies.

As part of their assessment, each Year 9 student was challenged to bake and decorate a birthday cake in response to a design brief centred around a four-year-old child. The College, and in particular Ms Staub, extends sincere thanks to families for their support — from the special trips to the supermarket to source decorations to assisting with the more intricate fondant designs at home.

I’m sure you’ll agree that the results are nothing short of outstanding. A special thank you to Ms Staub for her innovative and engaging approach to Teaching and Learning.

Term 3 – looking ahead...
Term 3 will be an extremely busy term, including:

• Two Parent Teacher Interviews: 14 August & 4 September

• Two Subject Selection Evenings 2026: VCE VM: 29 July and VCE: 12 August

• Trial Exams: first 3 days of the holidays

In order to prepare you for the anticipated busyness, please find a summary below:

Parent Teacher Interviews:
This year, our Parent Teacher Interviews will be held on Thursday 14 August and Thursday 4 September. For the first time, we have intentionally spread the interviews across two dates in response to feedback. This approach aims to better support:

• Senior students, by offering an earlier opportunity to reflect and prepare for the final stages of VCE, and

• Semester-based subjects, by allowing time for meaningful feedback later in Term 3.

14 August
We strongly encourage Year 10, 11 & 12 parents/carers to attend on this earlier date. This provides valuable insight into student progress so far, and more importantly, allows parents to support their child as they prepare for the final assessments and Trial Exams, which take place during the first three days of the holidays.

4 September
Parents/carers of students in semester-based subjects are encouraged to book interviews on this date, as it provides teachers with adequate time to assess and discuss student progress for the second half of the year. Naturally all parents / carers are welcome at either / both dates where relevant

Subject Selection 2026:
The Subject Selection Process begins in Term 3, week 2.

Please find a summary of the main events regarding Subject Selection:

• Student Assemblies: Week 3 

• Subject Selection Evenings 2026: VCE VM - 29 July and VCE - 12 August

• Y9 2026 CLIL Evening: 30 July 

• Web Preferences open: evening of 12 August

Subject Selection Conversations: Week 5 - during the Subject Selection Process, all current Year 9 and 10 students will meet with a member of the Learning Pathways Team.

Application for Accelerated Subjects in 2026
In Term Three our Year 9 and 10 students will be considering their Year 10 and Year 11 subjects for next year. Please find details below:

Current Year 9 2025:
A number of students may wish to complete a Unit 1/2 Subject (Year 11 subject) in 2026.

Acceleration requires students to have demonstrated consistently high academic achievement and an ability to take on the demands of an accelerated subject. Therefore, a student will need to be committed to their studies, be well organised and able to meet deadlines. English will be one of the subjects in which the student needs to demonstrate a consistently high level of academic ability.

Stages of the Acceleration Process:
1. Letter of invite from the Deputy Principal – Teaching & Learning to those students who meet the desired criteria of 5As (5 x 80%) (one of which must be English) (75% for Enhanced / CLIL students)

2. Completion of Application Form

3. Completion of VCE Ready Test

4. Invitation for an interview with the relevant Head of Learning

5. Students and parents informed of the outcome by Deputy Principal – Teaching & Learning

Students have been informed of this process at the beginning of the year.

Current Year 10 2025:
An invitational letter, from the Deputy Principal – Teaching & Learning, will be sent out to students currently studying an accelerated Unit 1/2 subject. Acceptance for Unit 3/4 is not automatic. Letters will be sent to students who have been able to sustain a high level of academic ability and meet the demands of the accelerated Unit 1/2 Units.

The subject selection process takes place in Term Three for all of our students and once again students will be asked to complete their subject choices online, with your guidance.

Vocational Process in 2025: Pre-V (Year 10) and VCE VM (Year 11)
As students consider their future pathways, they may feel that a vocational curriculum (Pre-V and VCE VM) is more suited to their needs. That may be in terms of the curriculum areas offered or simply a vocational approach best suits their learning needs. Please find below a brief outline of the two Programs.

Current Year 9 2025 - Pre-V:
The Pre-V Program at Loyola is designed to provide students with valuable exposure and practical experience in various vocational fields. It aims to equip students with the necessary skills and knowledge required to make informed career choices and excel in their chosen fields.

 Current Year 10 2025 - VCE VM:
Students already enrolled on the current Pre-V course will automatically continue their vocational studies into Year 11 and Year 12. There is the opportunity, however, for students in Year 10 to join the VCE VM Program in 2026.

Student enrolment for both Vocational Programs is by invitation only and recommendations are made following careful consideration and review of the academic record, skills and interests of the students, alongside conversations with staff. For those students who do not receive a letter of invite, parents / guardians are welcome to contact Mr Langford (Head of VCE VM) or Miss Wilson if they feel a vocational program will suit the learning needs of their child.