In just a few short years, Geelong\u2019s newest suburb of Armstrong Creek has transformed from grassy paddocks to a thriving community, including the development and opening of some fantastic new schools just a short hop, skip and jump away from Ashbury Estate.
\nOne of these is Armstrong Creek School, a co-educational primary school serving children from prep through to Grade 6, in combination with a Special School Education program running from prep to Year 12. The new community\u2019s first government school, since the Armstrong Creek School first opened in 2018 it has grown in leaps and bounds and is currently attended by some 630 students.
\nSo, we were delighted to chat with Principal, Evan Savage, to learn a little more about the School and what the future holds for its students in 2022 and beyond.
\nTell us a little bit about yourself, your background and how you came to be heading up Armstrong Creek School.
\nI\u2019ve now been involved in teaching and Education for well over 20 years. Across this time, I\u2019ve worked in a number of school settings including mainstream Primary and P \u2013 12 Schools and Special Schools. I\u2019ve always been a passionate advocate of inclusive education and in creating learning environments in which ALL children are able to learn, grow, thrive and succeed. So, when I first heard about Armstrong Creek School\u2019s unique enrolment provision combining Primary and P \u2013 12 Special School Education, I knew it would provide an amazing opportunity to lead the establishment of a truly inclusive school community. And then I was fortunate enough to be appointed as the School\u2019s foundation principal \u2013 although I actually started in the role in 2017 to oversee the final stages of the campus\u2019s establishment before it officially opened in 2018.
\nTell us about the School? When was it established, the students and communities it supports, its educational offering?
\nThe School opened at the start of 2018 with just 175 students from years P \u2013 6, and about 20 staff. Since then, we\u2019ve now grown \u2013 a lot! Our current cohort comprises over 630 students and 95 staff!
\nFrom the outset, we\u2019ve worked incredibly hard to establish a strong culture which is inclusive. We\u2019re also firmly committed to ensuring that student learning meets each individual\u2019s point of need and that ALL students have access and opportunity on the same basis as their peers.
\nLike many things, our success has been the result of an incredible team effort, and it was fantastic to see our work recognised in 2021 through two award wins at the Victorian Education Excellence Awards \u2013 for Most Outstanding Inclusive Education Award and the overall Lindsay Thompson Award (awarded to the category winner deemed to have made the most significant contribution to Victorian Education).
\nTell us about the Special School Education program.
\nFirst up, we don\u2019t tend to refer to what we do as Special Education. Rather, we see ourselves as a wholly inclusive school that happens to have a specific enrolment provision. So, while we\u2019re the local government primary school for families zoned to this area, our enrolment provisions also enable us to accommodate students from Prep right through to Year 12, drawn from a much wider geographical area if they have an intellectual disability.
\nThe Department of Education and Training has recently invested significantly in the Disability Inclusion Reform \u2013 one of its biggest yet, the intention of which is to build the capacity of schools to implement inclusive practices and communities. Armstrong Creek School is already regarded as a leader in this area, and we\u2019re very proud to be considered as an exemplar model of Inclusive Education.
\nThe past two years have been incredibly challenging ones for schools generally. How did Armstrong Creek School meet the challenges posed by successive lockdowns and remote learning?
\nIt\u2019s certainly been a challenging time \u2013 almost half the total period we\u2019ve been up and running has been during the pandemic, with lockdowns and remote learning commonplace. However, thanks to our wonderfully committed team of staff, backed by a highly supportive and positive community, we\u2019ve been able to successfully navigate our way through, regardless. And while we would never knowingly wish for this set of circumstances, I\u2019m extremely proud of the way our whole community has responded over the past 2 years, and I know we\u2019re stronger for it.
\nWhat\u2019s on the agenda for Armstrong Creek School in 2022? What new initiatives and developments can students and parents look forward to at the School this year?
\nWell, first and foremost, hopefully a new sense of normality! But really, we\u2019re looking to 2022 to build on the strong foundations we\u2019ve already established in our first 4 years \u2013 and especially across the pandemic.
\nThis year has started amazingly well, and we\u2019ve welcomed a large number of students, families and staff to Armstrong Creek School. We\u2019ve always really focused on learning success and achievement in Reading, and we\u2019ve enjoyed some great successes in this area. So this will continue to be a key focus, while we simultaneously strengthen our approaches in teaching and learning in Mathematics and Writing.
\nWe\u2019re really excited by the addition of our new school-based assessment and screening system so we can track and respond to student learning needs in a more effective manner. And we\u2019re also to making up for missed opportunities over the last couple of years, through the introduction of many new and improved extra curricula activities, plus the roll out of various school activities and events which will enable the greater involvement of our families.
\nWhat have been the most rewarding aspects of the role so far and what have been your major successes?\u00a0
\nThere are so many wonderful aspects to my role, but now we\u2019ve commenced our fifth year of operation, one of the most rewarding has been seeing how successfully we\u2019ve managed to embed the vision, values and practices that we set out to establish back in 2018 in everything we do.
\nWhile we\u2019re always looking to improve, it\u2019s great to be able to step back for a moment (just a moment) and acknowledge that we\u2019re a thriving school community with so much opportunity and so much to be proud of. And of course, the recent award recognition has been the icing on the cake!
\nWhat are you most looking forward to in 2022?
\nEasy! Welcoming all our students, families and staff back on campus! There\u2019s nothing like the energy that comes from a school full of students learning, playing and having fun. We\u2019ve missed that so much, and for too long. So the start of 2022 has served as a welcome reminder of the invaluable learning environment that schools provide for children, and the enormous privilege of working in schools that that we experience each and every day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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