Welcome back to all our returning students, and to those students who are new to the school this year. We are all looking forward to working with parents/guardians and your children in 2025. We have many new positive and exciting initiatives.

Companion Learning (the Loyola College Learning Management System)

This year Parents and Students will continue to have online access to resources, class pages, assessment calendars and to their teachers for every class. They will also be able to access their timetable and the College calendar. Please ask your child to show you their ‘Companion Learning’ page.

2025 Heads of Learning

This year we will continue to keep our community fully informed of the learning that occurs at Loyola College. There will also be important information for you to digest concerning the different activities affecting each year level. I would like to introduce you to our Heads of Learning, important curriculum leaders who can assist you throughout the year:

Please do not hesitate to contact any of the Heads of Learning with any curriculum questions.

New Positions 2025

We are excited to introduce three key additions to the Teaching & Learning Team for 2025:

Their expertise and leadership will undoubtedly enrich our team and make a lasting positive impact on our learning community. We look forward to the contributions they will bring and the positive impact they will have on our learning community. 

Loyola College Homework Guidelines

We encourage our students to set goals and work towards achieving them. They should always aim high and not be prepared to accept mediocrity. Homework is an important element of supporting the learning that occurs at the College. The College expectation for the first two weeks of 2025 academic year is that Year 7 students do not receive homework. However, students in Years 8 – 12 will receive homework from Wednesday 13 February.

We ask that parents and guardians fully support their children and assist them in completing all set homework. The Loyola College recommended guidelines for homework are as follows:

2024 VCE Results

All our Year 12 students last year are to be congratulated on completing their VCE/VCE VM Certificate in 2024. Their results were outstanding and reflected all their dedication and the hard work they had put in during the year. Our Dux, Reinard Halim achieved an ATAR of 98.5 and Madeline Dupes was our Proxime with an ATAR score of 97.9.

We are also extremely proud of our Year 11 students, three of whom scored 45+

Year 12 Destinations 2024/2025

The following chart provides an overview of our Year 12 post Loyola destinations. We wish everyone great success in their future endeavours. 

2024 Semester Two Merit Certificates

Congratulations to all students who received Semester Two Merit certificates. Merit awards are given to students who perform at a high level. Awards are based on the student’s overall result for each subject. A student will receive a Gold merit award if they have achieved an overall subject result of A or A+. A student will receive a Silver merit award if they have achieved an overall subject result of B or B+.
Attached is a list of Year 7 – 11 students who received a total of four or more Gold Merits in Semester Two 2024. 

Click Here to View our Semester 2, 2024 Academic Merit Recipients

Year Seven Digital Devices

During the summer break, our Year Seven students received their Surface Laptops. It was wonderful to see that most had completed their summer tasks which helped prepare them for the year ahead. This work was consolidated on the first morning, where all were engaged in a program showing them how to access the College Learning Management System and our other learning platforms: email etiquette and how to get the best out of their device.

NAPLAN 2025

Dates for NAPLAN this year are from Wednesday 12 March to Tuesday 18 March.

We wanted to also take this opportunity to thank those families who took the time to complete VCAA’s 2024 NAPLAN Survey. The Australian Parents Council have emailed all schools the national feedback. In short, the highlights were:

• Nearly half of parents indicated they felt ‘neutral’ to the NAPLAN testing, followed by a 50% drop to ‘very positively’. This then trends down to ‘somewhat negatively’ and ‘very negatively’, with less than a handful feeling ‘somewhat positively’ about the impact of NAPLAN testing on a child’s education.
  
• Concerns about additional stress and pressure on the children, as well as the test not benefiting them, were the main reasons why some children did not participate in NAPLAN testing this year.

• 77% of respondents had a lot to say in the survey, contributing significantly with written feedback. Whilst Australian Parents Council are unable to list all the comments, they can confirm, in summary, the feedback on NAPLAN highlights a range of perspectives:
  
  • Some suggest more detailed communication from VCAA with parents and quicker result turnover to better support students, including providing online resources and summer programs for those who struggle.
  • Others argue for its abolition, citing it as a resource drain that negatively impacts students' wellbeing and engagement.
  • Positive experiences include schools effectively reducing student anxiety and integrating the test smoothly into the school day.
  • There are calls for NAPLAN to be used as a diagnostic tool rather than a competitive measure, and for greater honesty about its purpose.
  • Suggestions have also included focusing on relevant teaching, incorporating handwriting, and emphasising social and emotional skills.