Assistant Principal - Learning and Teaching
Year 7-10 Semester Reports changes
In our last newsletter I made mention of changes the College will be trialing in regards to our Year 7-10 Semester Reports. Since this time I have explained these changes at this month's Parents and Friends Meeting and also sought our ‘student voice’ at the last Student Representative Council Meeting.
For those parents and carers who missed the last newsletter, I have included the main reasons for the changes and the process of seeking feedback next term.
In recent years our teaching staff have identified our Academic Reports as an area for review. As such a Working Party was established in 2020 to not only review our reports but to make recommendations to our Leaders of Learning. The aim has been to create a reporting system that offers a more effective and efficient way of reporting student progress inline with best practices.
As a result, parents will see several changes to our Semester Reports. These changes will include reporting on a student’s knowledge, understanding and skills based on the NESA Common Grade Scale. In addition teachers will be reporting on Learning Behaviours in class and Recommended Strategies for Improvement. These will essentially replace written comments and be more precise in student achievement and where improvements can be made for the next reporting period.
These changes will come into effect for our Year 7-10 Semester Reports published toward the end of Term 2. A process of feedback will be sought from not only staff but from parents and students through a variety of forums and online surveys.
Study Skills - Looking ahead for the remainder of Term 2
Are you riding a rollercoaster at school? Rollercoaster study is where you stay up late doing last minute assignments, then you take it easy for a while and do very little, then panic again when something is due and have to spend huge amounts of time at the end completing the work. If you plan ahead and are prepared, you will find school much less stressful and more rewarding.
Here are the top tips for thinking ahead for the remainder of the term:
- STUDY NOTES: If you know that you have a test at the end of each topic or examinations approaching, then on the nights you do not have much homework start working on your study notes and summaries. File them in folders at home so they are ready to go when you need them.
- ASSIGNMENTS: Always start the assignment the day it is given to you, even if it is just a little bit. Make sure you understand the requirements and if you don’t ask your teacher straight away the next day. Brainstorm the steps the first night and do a rough plan of when you will do each step.
- ASK FOR HELP EARLY: There is nothing more frustrating than a student who says ‘I haven’t understood anything we did in the last 3 weeks’. Ask for help as soon as you have a problem. Keep a list of questions for your teacher on a post-it in your textbook or sticky notes on your computer or a list in your phone. Don’t let problems or issues build up, ask for help early and often.
- THINK ABOUT WHO YOU SIT NEXT TO: Choose wisely who you will sit with in class. This can make a world of difference to your results. If you sit with someone where it is a productive relationship, you encourage and help each other and stay on task in the classroom you will understand your work better and have less to do at home.
- CONSIDER YOUR WEEK: Plan ahead for busy times. If you know you have nights where you can’t do much work or a busy weekend, plan ahead and get things done early. Always look ahead for possible times where you could be caught short of time and make plans to avoid problems.
Study Skills
Learn more this year about how to improve your results and be more efficient and effective with your schoolwork by working through the units on www.studyskillshandbook.com.au. Our College access details are:
Our school’s access details are:
School’s Username – stjohnpaul
School’s password – 89success
In addition, our subscription to Elevate Education may assist in this area.
This online platform contains resources and useful study tips that all SJPC students will find effective. We encourage them to access this Student Portal and try some of the strategies. Students have the password to this site. The password can also be found on the Curriculum Noticeboard.
AMDG
James Furey
Assistant Principal
Learning and Teaching