We are deep in the business end of the semester with finalising student work, curricula and reports. The Year 10 and 11 exams have been completed with quiet commitment and excellent behaviour from the students. It has been rewarding to see how they have taken these learning experiences seriously because they are fundamentally good for:
- Mastering revision and study techniques – each learner working out what works for them.
- Content mastery and recall – active recall strengthens memory more effectively than passive review. Frequent exposure to exam style questions helps students know how to apply their learning.
- Developing techniques to approach exams and high stress situations – students learn how to navigate the structure, timing and expectations of formal assessments. This reduces anxiety and improves performance. It’s why we take driving lessons before we take the driving test.
- Feedback – not just on the content but on the approach to the task. They enable students to identify areas of strength and areas they may need to pay more attention to.
- Growth in Agency – practice in learning independently while revising and studying. Becoming more independent in their self-improvement, builds resilience.
- Stress management and confidence building – exposure to exam conditions and strategies to cope with them reduces fear and instils a sense of achievement and control.
The next round of practice exams will be for Year 12 students in the first week of the Term 3 school holidays. Year 10 and 11 exams will be held at the end of Term 4 (21 – 28 November) and this year we will have Year 9 English, Science and Mathematics exams during that time too.
In other news, we were very proud to present some of our Year 9 students who have demonstrated Level 3 or 4 Agency in Learning in New Metrics’ competency, with their study passports. We are very proud of their efforts to achieve this level of Agency which opens many doors for them including acceleration into a VCE study in Year 10 and access to Augmented Learning in Semester 2 of this year and into next year. There is more on this in this newsletter.
We would like to acknowledge the Staff Band who played to students in the Oak Centre last Friday in a great show of collegiality and fun. Students rocked out to a variety of songs and great instrumentals from our staff. A big shout out to Marcia Howard for leading the band – it isn’t every day we get to sing with a member of the Goanna band.
On that same theme, the Ensemble Music Evening on Monday 23 June was a feast for the ears and hearts as we enjoyed the outcomes of the efforts of our students of music and performance and the wonderful teachers who bring these instruments to life in the hands of young people who may have never played an instrument before. Under the direction of our Music Leader, Marcia Howard, we enjoyed an evening of small groups of students playing the instrument they picked up in February, singers, rock band, quartet and, in what I can only describe as a joyful experience, the giant orchestra of Year 7 students playing ‘La Bamba’. So many proud parents saw their child do something amazing…to play a song on an instrument that they have been playing for only a few months. Well done.
What’s on now?
The finals are being held in a number of GISSA sports so we wish all our athletes well in their games. We also encourage students who have not experienced the joy of GISSA to see how they might participate through Terms 3 and 4.
We say farewell to our East Timor adventurers who depart on Saturday for their 12-day immersion at our sister school. We hope this will be a time of connection, transformation and wonder. We sincerely thank, our staff members, Michael McCallum and Jen Talbot, along with former staff member, Carmel Brown, who are the guides for this expedition. We wish them well and God’s speed.
The upcoming Winter Ball (3 July) has the Year 12 students buzzing with excitement – sharing images of frocks and suits, hair dos and make up trials. Held at St Joseph’s College and populated by students from Clonard, St Joseph’s, Sacred Heart and Iona, it is one of the big nights on the school calendar. We know they will have a wonderful time dancing until 10.00pm.
Reports will be ready for parents to view, including their child’s New Metrics Report (Year 7 – 9) on Friday, 4 July at 5.00 pm. The term ends on Friday at 2.30pm and we come back to school on Monday 21 July for another term (a slightly shorter one) of learning.
Jo Ryan
Acting Principal
