Open Day
I hope you are able to make the time to pop in and look around on Saturday between 10.00am – and 2.00pm. Middle School parents do not have as many opportunities or reasons to visit Middle School as Primary. Many of our students, teachers and staff have put a great deal of time and thought into what we can put ‘on show’ for this day and it is such a wonderful opportunity to show off your child’s school to other family members and friends. We look forward to seeing you on Saturday!
Subject Selections for Year 10, 2016
Over the next few weeks, the Year 9 cohort will be visited by the Heads of Subject Departments during their PC lessons. They will present a short overview of the subjects offered to our senior students and the relevant career pathways they could lead to. You can access the Senior Subject Handbook on our College ‘Connect’ site which will give an overview of the subjects currently being offered. You may wish to begin discussing senior subject selections at home with your Year 9 child. The subjects offered at Year 10 align with the our senior subject offerings, and are designed to be preparatory, building the skill sets required to be successful in Year 11 and 12. There will be an important Parent Information Evening on Wednesday, 5 August with displays from Heads of Department and QTAC that all Year 9 parents and students should plan to attend. The time table structure for Year 10, 2016 will be presented and explained, parents will have the opportunity to hear about the subjects that will be offered, and most importantly, the subject selection process for 2016 will be explained. The College is also exploring the introduction of some additional elective subject offerings, and if approved, these will be presented at this evening as well. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please direct them to Mr. Rob Steffler (Dean of Studies) via email at [email protected].
Study Skills
Procrastination can be one of the main issues with students completing work. Our recent Study Skills presenters addressed this issue by suggesting that there are three ‘Procrastination’ types:
- ‘No reason’ Solution: need a goal for their future and make it real
- ‘Overwhelmed’ Solution: Take on the task in bite-sized pieces
- ‘I don’t like it’ Solution: Make study fun – work with a friend; or, work out a reward system for when the jobs get done.
Other Tips Given:
- Make a study timetable (that accommodates some time also to be involved in sport, hobbies and watching a favourite tv show etc. Of course this is in moderation.)
- Make a list of Tasks not Time when there is homework and then the personal reward such as the tv show or game comes after the task is completed.
- An assignment should typically involve:
- Research should 4 days;
- Organise thoughts into dot points;
- Write first draft and gain feedback;
- Polish the presentation.
Cross Country
I would like to commend our students for their participation and house spirit at the recent cross country. It was a perfect day weather-wise and our students were well-presented in their house shirts or even house dress-up colours. The scores were so close – there was one point difference between second and third place! While only one student can be the winner of their race – the participation of each team member is a great life lesson on being an important part of your community/team. A big thank you to our PE staff team who did a great job in organising this event.
Bell-free Environment
Except for the start and end of the day and breaks the Secondary School is going bell-free. Teachers and students will be guided by preset alerts on their laptops and lesson times. This is a common approach in other schools. It is expected that it will take a short time to adjust and will then become the ‘new normal’.
NAPLAN
This week our students sat their NAPLAN tests. You can learn more about these tests on this link. These tests give solid and credible data for the individual and our school. For the individual, it is important to know what they are capable of and where further work or assistance may be required. For our school, it informs our practice. While there is much that is not tested, numeracy and literacy are foundational components of education. As a school community, we all (families and teachers) help our students to perform their best on these tests on the day. Thanks for your help in supporting your child through these tests this week.
Jacqualina Vreeling, Head of Middle School