Senior School News
CONGRATULATIONS TO LOLA D’ARCY
We would like to congratulate, Lola D'Arcy, a member of our Intermediate VCAL class for recently achieving third place in the Victorian Bouldering State Competition. The competition was held at Port Melbourne Boulders in Melbourne. Lola currently climbs at Bayside Rock Climbing. She trains four times a week, climbing for five years and enjoys the challenge.
CONGRATULATONS TO HAILEE HAZELDENE
Hailee Hazeldene, a member of our Senior VCAL class, is now the Victorian State Kumite Champion. Kumite is the part of karate in which a person trains against an adversary, using the techniques learned from the other two elements of karate (kihon and kata). Hailee has been involved in this sport for 11 years. She will now be preparing for the National competition later this year. Hailee is determined to represent Australia in the Olympic games. We congratulate Hailee and wish her well as she works towards her ultimate Olympic goal.
VCE LEADERSHIP AWARDS
Students may wish to nominate for the 2021 VCE Leadership Awards. These awards recognize the efforts of VCE students in promoting leadership and participation in their school and local community. VCE Leadership Award recipients are students who demonstrate initiative, inspire others, work well in a team and are committed to making a difference. They take an interest in activities such as the arts, sport, debating and public speaking; they may campaign for social justice and environmental protection and/or raise funds for worthy causes.
To qualify students should be studying at least two Unit 3 & 4 studies.
If you are interested in nominating yourself or another student, please see me as soon as possible.
STUDY SKILLS
Students should now have developed regular study habits and an organization/study timetable according to the guidelines presented in the Elevate Education seminars and iSupport. In the Senior Student diary there are great hints on where and how to study, motivation, goal setting, note taking skills, essay writing, research strategies, memory skills and stress management.
I encourage all students to have a look at this valuable resource and discuss how they can use these techniques to develop better study skills, which are vital for Years 11 and 12.
Students should also be practising as many exam type questions as possible, in preparation for the end of year examinations.
PARENT STUDENT TEACHER (PST) CONFERENCES
Thank you to all parents, guardians and students who attended these conferences on Thursday 25 March. The feedback was extremely positive, and it was reassuring to know how much the school community values the excellent work of our teachers. These conferences provide an important opportunity for teachers, parents and students to work together to further improve learning outcomes.
MONASH SCHOLARS PROGRAM
Year 10 students who are interested in applying for the Monash Scholars Program should see me for further details. Applications are based on students’ academic ability, leadership qualities and contribution to school and community life. All applications must have a school endorsement. The benefits of the Monash Scholars Program include: enhanced learning, exploring career ambitions, defining personal aspirations, preparation for university life and building networks with other high-achieving students. Applications open on Tuesday 20 April and close on Monday 10 May.
SCHOOLS ACCESS MONASH (SAM) MENTORING PROGRAM
Congratulations to Matilda Scroggie (Year 12), Alex Cox (Year 12), Charlotte Groves (Year 11), Hannah Russell (Year 11), Jaimie Burke (Year 11), Lu Yang (Year 11, Nigel Mathew (Year 11), Niranjan Sudheer Krishna (Year 11) and Jackson Lees (Year 11) who have all been accepted into the Monash University Mentoring Program. This is an invaluable program where students meet with a Monash mentor gaining knowledge and insights of their experience as a university student. Thank you to Mrs Cindy Bryant, the SAM Coordinator for providing this opportunity to our students.
STUDENTS DRIVING TO SCHOOL
Students who drive to school are reminded that they must complete a consent form (which is available from the senior office) and attach a photocopy of their driver’s licence.
Students are not permitted to park in the school grounds and hence, must ensure that they follow local parking restrictions on nearby roads.
Students should also be aware that they must not park too close to the pedestrian crossings or driveways.
TUTORS
Our VCE Maths teachers are running help sessions throughout the week, please see the timetable attached for more details. All VCE Maths students are invited to attend any of the scheduled help sessions each week. Students can attend for a range of reasons: to gain assistance with homework, catch up on missed work, get ahead in the current topic, look back over difficult tests/SACs, SAC or exam preparation etc. We hope to see many students attending each week. Thank you to Ms Kate Burgess, Director of Maths, and her team of teachers for providing this opportunity to our students.
In addition, thank you to Ms Georgie Long, Director of English, for all of her work in leading the VCE English Support and Redemption Program. Students will benefit from this initiative immensely and we are also grateful for the English Team’s support and organization of the program.
TERM VACATION
I wish all senior students and staff a relaxing and safe holiday. Students need to ensure that they are revising their work over the holidays and Year 12 students should continue to practise past examination questions.
Examination papers can be viewed on the VCAA website: www.vcaa.vic.edu.au. Students should also look at the assessment reports on this website; these are written by the examiners and individual questions are discussed. Generally, if students have performed poorly on a type of question then this question may reappear on future exam papers.
I cannot stress highly enough to students the importance of using part of these holidays for study purposes.
Ms Helen Wilson
Senior School Principal