This week our Year 7 and 9 students have sat their NAPLAN tests. These tests are intense and hard work for our students. They also give valuable data that helps our school evaluate our programs, curriculum approaches and individual student data that helps us to moderate our internal grading. If you know of a student who did NAPLAN this week – encourage them for their hard efforts.

Camps

Next week is the Year 9 camp. While most go with a great sense of excitement, a few don’t. However, all ask the questions: What do we do on this camp? How is it related to school? Will it matter if someone doesn’t go? The answers to all these questions are in the results we witness after a camp in our students such as: an improved attitude, improved comradeship amongst the cohort and and greater confidence in the weeks that follow a camp like this.

When I taught indigenous students in the Northern Territory, teaching 101 was that they first needed to get to know you (the teacher) – the first lesson was spent telling them about your family, where you have lived, showing them pictures of this and basically just listening and talking with them. REALLY though – this is teaching 101 full stop! When we realise we are valued, important and respected by others, the reality is that the other things fall in to place. Obviously in the case of education, the teacher needs to teach in such a way that students learn and student needs to apply themselves. However, camps achieve that very important connection amongst the students and with their teachers – as well as being a whole lot of fun!

Assessment Calendars

Assessment Calendars are on the Connect site. Your child will have saved their assessment dates in their own calendars on the iPad as the teachers have told them the specific dates. The Year Level Assessment calendar on Connect only states the week that a task is due. Please check with your child to see if this is organised and consider having your child share their calendar with you – if you have a device where this is possible.

GREAT Merit awards

We are giving out a record number of merit awards this week. I am not really sure why there are more than normal. Our students truly are GREAT and our teachers set a good tone and consistently ensure that Glasshouse Christian College is a great school.

See you all at our Open Day this Saturday!

Jacqualina Vreeling, Head of Middle School