DEPUTY PRINCIPAL LEARNING AND TEACHING

STUDENT LAPTOPS TO BE RETURNED

Students in Years 8 to 12 will be required to return their laptop at the end of the year as new laptops will be issued to them at the start of 2021. Individual return dates have been set for each year level to return the laptops. These dates will be incorporated into the end of year programs – e.g. Head Start Week etc. Below are the dates for each year level: 

* Year 10 students who are not completing Year 11 at St Joseph’s College must return their laptop on Friday November 27. 

Students will be advised in their English classes from Monday November 9, prior to returning their laptops that they will need to back up their files on their current laptops. This task will be completed in their own time. 

Laptops will be returned in rooms LP8/9 to a Library/Inttec staff member, as per their end of year program timetable. Students will be given a receipt upon returning their laptop. 

Students need to ensure that they have backed up information that is stored on the laptop as these are being returned to the supplier and we will not have access to them again once they have been returned. It is also important to check that work folders are under the 1GB limit or this information could also be lost. We recommend that students keep their important work backed up on an external hard drive or a home computer. If you have any questions regarding return of laptops please contact inttec@sjcmda.vic.edu.au  

PARENT/STUDENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES 

On Tuesday October 13 we held our Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences. Due to circumstances these were organised in a different manner this time around and were held via Zoom as Virtual Meetings.

Our data shows that there were 419 interviews booked, but also that there were at least five families who booked interviews but did not attend the virtual conferences. This may well have been due to technical issues or other unavoidable issues.

Feedback from teachers has generally been positive, but we are keen to obtain feedback from parents as well. To this end there is a very quick (approximately one minute) survey that we would like to ask parents to complete as this will impact on how we run Parent/ Student/Teacher Conferences in the future. Please click here for the link to the survey. We appreciate your feedback by Friday November 12.

Below is feedback from teachers.  Half of the teachers who responded thought the zoom platform worked extremely well with 82.5% having a positive experience.  Most feedback was positive and teachers reported that most parents liked the process as it was more accessible. Negative feedback was mainly due to individuals experiencing technical issues.

VO EXAMS, YEARS 9 AND 10 ALTERNATE DATES AND YEAR 11 EXAMS 

Due to events throughout the year, the college has made a decision that VO (Years 9 and 10) exams will not take place in Semester 2. This will allow teachers to have additional time for face-to-face teaching to cover the material that was difficult to cover remotely. Subjects will have the option to run end of unit or end of semester tests in place of exams in class time. Normal classes will continue to Friday November 27.

On Monday November 30 and Tuesday December 1, Year 9 students will have an alternative program. This program will be based on student preference and has the aim to be engaging and allow students to experience some of the practical hands-on aspects of learning that was not possible in remote learning.

On Monday November 30, Year 10 students will be completing their First Aid certificates and they will begin their Year 11 Head Start program on Tuesday December 1.

Year 11 Exams will occur as it was deemed essential preparation for the students as they move into Year 12 in 2021.

SCHOLARSHIPS 

St Joseph's College Internal Scholarships 2021

To encourage excellence and to acknowledge our diverse student population, the college offers a number of scholarship opportunities to our students in Year 11 and 12, to recognise and reward the students for their achievements. The scholarships fall into three categories, Enrichment, Inspiration and Achievement.

A new addition, this year the college has introduced the Enrichment ‘Mercy Academic Internal Scholarships’ which are offered on the basis of academic merit to students continuing Years 11 and 12 at the college in 2021 and 2022. These scholarships have a tenure of two years. The scholarships are for the remission of 50% of the school fee each year of the scholarship. These scholarships are offered to a limited number of Year 10 students ranked in the top 5% of the Year 10 cohort. Recipients for 2021 are:

• Caterina De Maria
• Emily Burns
• Ethan Prescott
• Mary Sunna
• Olivia Nichols
• Skye Kempton

As in previous years, we are again offering the Inspiration ‘Year 11 Founding Sisters of Mercy Scholarships’. The college presents these scholarships annually to Year 10 students who respect and display our Mercy Core Values, and who have shown excellence both in their academic and personal school life. The college will offer up to nine internal scholarships of $1,500 to Year 10 students transitioning into Year 11 at the college. These scholarships involve an application process. Recipients for 2021 are:

• Catherine McAuley Scholarship - Alannah Morello
• Anna Maria Doyle Scholarship - Anna Joseph
• Ursula Frayne Scholarship - Teika Collins
• Mary Vincent Whitty Scholarship - Isaac Burns
• Elizabeth Harley Scholarship - Tess Matheson
• Juliana Hardman Scholarship - Joshua Zudetich
• Elizabeth Moore Scholarship - Kate Moonpen Euvrard
• Clare Augustine Moore Scholarship - Maria Petrolo
• Frances Ward Scholarship - Oliver Sharman

Continuing from previous traditions, the Achievement ‘Postgraduate Year 12 Award Scholarships’ and the ‘VCAL Excellence Scholarship’ will be awarded to successful graduating students of 2020.  

Each year, Year 12 students who achieve an ATAR ranking of 90 or above will receive a $2,000 cash scholarship. Each year the student who is Dux of the college will also receive an additional $1,000 cash scholarship on top of the $2,000 received for achieving an ATAR ranking of 90 or above. The scholarships are dependent on the achievement of an ATAR of 90 or above.

VCAL Scholarship

There will be a $2,000 scholarship for one Senior VCAL student. This scholarship will require an application process with a set of criteria to be completed. A St Joseph’s College VCAL staff member will be required to provide the Scholarship Selection Committee with a confidential reference for the applicant. 

VCE UNIT 3/4 EXAMS 

Unit 3/4 written exams commence on Tuesday November 10. I would like to offer my best wishes to all students who are undertaking these exams. You will have already done much of the hard work, but this final stage can be really important in maximising your results. Revision and practice exams are essential elements of your preparation. In my opinion every student should do at least five practice exams for each subject as a minimum in their preparation for the exams, if they are to achieve to their potential. Remember that Year 12 teachers will continue to run classes at their normal times up until the exam in their subject, so please make the most of this. Also remember that the college has invested in providing “Edrolo” for all subjects where it is available at Year 12 level and that this program provides fantastic revision exercises, practice exams and summaries. So again I recommend that you make the most of this resource. 

Mr Greg Kluske

Deputy Principal, Learning and Teaching