Learning & Teaching News

Naplan

As you are no doubt aware, all Year 7 and Year 9 students will take online NAPLAN tests, between Monday, 10 May 2021 and Friday, 21 May 2021. Students will sit four tests; Reading, Writing, Conventions of Language and Numeracy. These tests are important measures in student learning, although the college also reinforces the importance of other assessment such as PAT Tests and continuous assessment and reporting of school tasks. Students are encouraged to take these tests seriously, so that teachers can use data to more effectively design learning and teaching strategies.

It is important that parents support their students by ensuring that they have the appropriate equipment for the NAPLAN tests. Students should:

• Ensure that they have downloaded a lockdown browser
• Bring a working and fully charged device to their tests.
• Bring headphones to all tests.
• Ensure that they sit a make-up session if they are absent during a test.

For any enquiries, please contact Middle Years Curriculum Leaders, Natasha McKenzie at Cranbourne or Brad Scammell at Clyde North.

Student Learning Conferences

Education is a partnership between parents, students and teachers. This informed our new model for what used to be called Parent Teacher Interviews, which are now structured as Student Learning Conferences. These conferences are focused more on the student as an active participant in a discussion, taking responsibility for their learning progress.

This year, the college aimed for greater flexibility, offering families the chance to confer, both face-to-face or over Zoom. We look forward to building greater participation in future interviews and we welcome your feedback about how the new model worked.

VCE: Stress and Resilience

As we move into Term 2, it is important to consider those students undertaking VCE subjects. These students are now moving towards the major assessments which are undertaken as the first semester ends, and they are doing so after 2020, an academic year like no other.

No doubt, most VCE students will experience varying degrees of stress. Stress is an unavoidable part, not only of academic performance, but of career development and the many challenges adulthood will bring. The pressure under which VCE places students gives them an important opportunity to build resilience. Facing challenges head-on, rather than avoiding or procrastinating, can build a more resilient learner. Regular physical exercise, stress-reduction practices, and programs that actively build executive function and self-regulation skills all assist in developing more resilient learners. Let us encourage students to actively problem solve, to seek support, to ask questions and to manage their health.

"Learning to cope with manageable threats is critical for the development of resilience. Not all stress is harmful. There are numerous opportunities in every child’s life to experience manageable stress—and with the help of supportive adults, this “positive stress” can be growth-promoting. Over time, we become better able to cope with life’s obstacles and hardships, both physically and mentally."

- Centre of the Development of the Child, Harvard University

Michael Dalley                                                      Mr David Hansen

Senior Years Curriculum Leader                 Deputy Principal - Learning and Teaching

Cranbourne Campus