Dear Families,

2024 has certainly been a busy one with much to celebrate.  There have many great highlights during the year.  My favourites include the LBPS Olympics, Exhibitions and more recently the 2024 Expo.  I know the Grade 12 Camp was a highlight for our Grade 12 students too.

The Big Picture Learning Design is truly one student at a time in a community of learners – growth looks different for each learner, and the pathways to learning are diverse.

The growth we have the privilege of witnessing on a day-to-day basis is immeasurable. 

Whether it be the growth in confidence we see in exhibitions, shy presentations of learning in a learners first exhibition, through to confidently delivering a comprehensive exhibition to a room full of peers, advisory teachers, mentors and family, or a learner reluctant to leave the building for outlearning at the start of the year receiving an email from the business they attended for their LTI with glowing praise and offering to host the learner into the future. 

We see learners who were too shy to ask a question 1:1, at the end of the year standing up in front of the school hosting Town Hall, interviewing guest speakers, speaking to visitors about their learning at the Expo.

The growth we see in student learning through their project work is great, as our students feel more confident and capable they begin to challenge themselves, explore new interests, connect with mentors and step outside their comfort zones – and boy the learning is impressive.

It is also pleasing to see this learning reflected in more formal measures. As we would expect, our learners are actively participating and engaging in learning – with:

• 84.6% of our students reporting high cognitive engagement with learning, nearly 4.5% higher that all DECYP schools and nearly 9% higher than like schools.
• 81% of students achieved year-level appropriate literacy standards in reading, this is nearly 3% higher than all DECYP schools and 7% higher than like schools.
• Nearly 70% of students who were in Grade 10 at LBPS in 2022, have completed Grade 12 in 2024, which is 9% higher than DECYP schools and 8% higher than like schools.
• 77% of our students report feeling safe and cared for at school, 7% higher than all DECYP schools and 19% higher than like schools.
• 79% of our students improved their attendance from last year, and as a school our attendance rate sits around 75%.
• 100% of our students receiving their TCE this year.

In addition to this we are proud of the courage our students show in taking advantage of opportunities as they arise, the UTAS High Achiever Program (HAP) is one of these examples.  I am proud to share the results for our 2024 HAP students:

We are also excited to share the news of our students as they move into pathways beyond LBPS.  This year nine of our 2024 Grade 12 students have received university offers for 2025, congratulations to Connor, Madison, Lilly, Charlotte, Astryd, Nathan, Oliver, Maddison and Patrick.  We wish each of you well with your studies.

I would also like to congratulate Caitlin, who will transition from a School-Based Apprenticeship to a full Apprenticeship in 2025.

Whilst the achievement of some students is visible and is easy for us to recognise and measure, for others they work hard, they do their best, they are courageous every day – yet their growth, their achievement may not be as visible and may not be as regularly recognised.  Learning is a journey, it’s not a race, and it’s not a destination. It looks different for each individual. Each individual’s learning is important and at LBPS it is valued.

I would like to thank the many fabulous volunteers in our school this year; the support we get from our community in hosting our students through exploring interests, internships, and mentoring is amazing.  The ways in which our community gives to our school is diverse – I thank you for the contribution you make.

Without a great team, we would not be able to achieve all that we do. I sincerely thank our staff for their commitment and hard work during the 2024 school year. We should be proud of what we have achieved during this time. 

To parents thank you for the support you have shown the school this year – be it through being a guest speaker in Town Hall, being a member of the school association, working with us when problems arise, or supporting with attendance or supporting your child’s learning at Learning Plan Meetings, Exhibitions or our recent Expo – your contribution is critical in the success of our school, the learning for all students is improved by your partnership with us – we really do enrol families too.

To students and staff who are leaving at the end of this year, I thank you for your contribution to the LBPS community and wish you well on your next journey – each and every one of you will be missed but we are also excited for the adventures that lay ahead for you.  This year we will be farewelling Brock – you have definitely made a significant contribution to our school community and will certainly be missed.  Brock has been with our school on and off for the past 4 years, during this time he has had many roles across the school.  We wish him well into the future.

Have a safe and happy holiday, I look forward to what is to come in 2025. 

Thanks

Cindy

Cindy Johnston
Principal