Alba News

Senior School Report  

We are at the end Term 3, and the end of unit exams are fast approaching.  The Year 12 VCAA external exams start on Wednesday 1st November and the Year 11 exams start on Wednesday 8  November.

 

It is also one of the busiest times for our Year 11 students at St Albans Secondary College. Not only are they finishing their Year 11 exams or work placements, they will also be starting in their new subjects for 2018.

 

Our teachers have worked on their Term 3 Year 11  Progress Reports, which our Year Level Coordinators use to monitor student progress and phone home to parents as required. The final Year 12 Progress reports have been completed by the teachers and coordinators are in the process of contacting parents as required to discuss any concerns they may have become aware of.

 

Some important dates that the Senior Sub School need to make families aware of:

Year 11 Students

  • Last Day of Year 11 Classes: Friday 3rd November 2017

All Year 11 students will have an assembly during periods 5 and 6 where students will be receiving awards, and the music students will be performing.

  • Wednesday 9th  November until Wednesday 15th November: Year 11 VCE Exams
  • Thursday 16th November until Wednesday 30th  November: Year 12 VCE Orientation (Compulsory)
  • Wednesday 9nd November until Friday 17th November:  Year 11 VCAL Work Placement
  • Monday 14th November to Wednesday 16th November – Year 11 into Year 12 VCAL Orientation (Compulsory)

 

Year 12 Students

During the September holidays, Victoria University are conducting Revision Lectures for some subjects that are free of charge to our students. Students and their families were notified through Compass posts and coordinator visited classes and encouraged students to register and attend the lectures.

Their ‘September Exams’ time table has been distributed.  All year 12 students will be doing practice exams during the second week of their September holidays. It is compulsory for students who are doing their external exams to attend.

 

Last Day of Year 12 Classes

  • VCAL: Monday 23rd October
  • VCE:   Tuesday 24th  October
  • Final Assembly and Celebration – Wednesday 25th  October 2016 periods 1 and 2. This is when we have our whole school assembly where our Year 12 students are farewelled by the rest of the school community.

We have a BBQ for the students and some fun activities.

  • Year 12 Graduation and Awards Night: Thursday 19th  October 2017

This will be held at the Moonee Valley Race Course: McPherson Street Moonee Ponds. Students need to be there by 5pm sharp to be fitted into their graduation gowns and to do a    rehearsal. The ceremony starts at 7 pm sharp.

  • The Year 12 Formal is on Wednesday 22rd November 2016 at the Luxor Reception Centre.

The cost for the student is $75. This activity is organised by the school and there will be teacher supervision during the evening.

Students are still in the process of filling in their VCAT application forms, applying for courses, scholarships and special consideration when writing their SEAS applications. All Year 12 VCE and VCAL students will need to resister with VTAC (on-line) if they want to be considered for a university or TAFE course.

 

All Year 12 VCAL students are spending a session with our MIPs coordinator applying for courses through VTAC. They all have individual appointments to continue this process.

 

The end-of-year VCAA exam timetable for Year 12 exams are on the VCAA website through the following link:

http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Pages/vce/exams/timetable.aspx

 

Enrichment programs for Year 12 students are continuing for English and Mathematical Methods.   

Some individual teachers are also running after school classes to best prepare their students for the exams.

 

ABCN FOCUS Young Women’s Leadership Program

Ten exemplary year 11 students:  Monique LU, Rabaab MIR, Christine NGHIEM, Donna NGUYEN, Shani NGUYEN, Mimi NGUYEN, Rhonda PHUONG, Duyen TRAN, Hayley WEBB and Zakia ZARGHAR completed the FOCUS Young Women’s Leadership Program through the Australian Business Community Network (ABCN) this term. The students were grouped with early-career mentors from Optus in their impressive offices on Collins St.

Over the course of the three sessions, the students studied, discussed and presented their ideas about leadership styles, the attributes of leaders, identifying priorities, and setting goals. They worked alongside students from Westall Secondary College and made some valuable connections with students and mentors.

Representatives from ABCN complimented our students on the noticeable increase in their confidence over the course of the program. They also noted their authenticity, and their eagerness to learn and implement what they had learned from their mentors.

One student reported learning to “always be confident about yourself,” to “take every step to reach your full potential,” and not to “downplay your capabilities”. As for what they would do differently, one student observed that leadership is all about “never giving up!”

St Alban’s Secondary College has participated in this program for several years and this year’s group represented the school admirably. All students reported that they better understood their leadership potential, as a result of the program.

National Youth Science Forum

Two of our Year 11 students, Alana Nguyen and Thomas Lam were successful with their applications and have been accepted to participate in the National Youth Science Forum.  

Alana will be travelling to Brisbane and Thomas to Canberra.

The program is designed to give students a broader understanding of the diverse study and career options available in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and to encourage them to continue their studies in these fields.

Alana and Thomas were invited for a morning tea at Government House, hosted  by the Honourable Linda Dessau AC, Governor of Victoria and Mr Anthony Howard QC.

 

 

The Year 11 VCAL students are still involved with the ‘CHASE’ program.

Students completed the Education Phase of their Chase program and will begin the next step with the action phase.  A show case of projects will occur on Wednesday 18th  October during the school day.

 

The Year 12 VCAL students are still working with our community and are thoroughly enjoying their work and the responsibilities they have been given.  They are continuing their work at the Sunshine Hospital.

 

On Friday 1st September ‘was Youth Day’ at SACS.  The Year 12 VCAL class once again did a superlative job in organising the day. There was a fantastic selection of activities and food, including an ice-cream van, a bouncing castle, dunking machine, face painting, hairspray and fake tattoos, a movie-hamper raffle, popcorn and fairy floss.  

Congratulations to all the students, Ms Gough and Ms Cassar.

 

 

Our next Parent Teacher Interviews are on Wednesday 20th September. We encourage all parents to come along and discuss their child’s progress in VCE or VCAL fully with the class teachers on that afternoon.  Coordinators will be visiting classrooms to confirm that appointments have been made. We look forwards to meeting with you to discuss your child’s progress.

 

Again, we would like to thank parents who contact us when their child is absent for any reason. This is of great assistance to the Year Level Coordinators, as we call home regularly if there are any unexplained absences. The Case Management process continues to monitor closely the attendance, achievement and individual needs of all our students. Please contact us on 9366 2555 if you have any queries or concerns about your child. 

 

Stav Bekiaris

Senior Sub School Leader