Curriculum News

Head of Senior School Curriculum - Ms Jennifer Smeed

Year 5 -12 Reports

Our reporting processes allow for academic progression and learning behaviours to be formally reported home at the end of a term or unit.  At the end of Week 10, reports cards for students in all year levels will be accessible on the Parent Lounge. These reports cards are different for certain year levels depending on their sequence of study.

• For Years 5-10 students these will be mid-semester interim reports giving a brief snapshot of your son’s progress and learning behaviours to date.
• For Year 11, full Unit 2 report cards will be published.
• For Year 12, a progress report giving an outline of Unit 4 to date.

For students in Years 7-10, their reports will contain an interview section. This allows staff to request a parent/teacher interview or a conversation about the progress of your son in their subject. If an interview is requested, this will be for the next round of interviews on 5 October.

We thank our teachers for the effort in completing this valuable feedback for you and your son’s to discuss over the holiday break and set learning goals for Term 4.

Year 11 subject changes 

The end of Term 3 also signifies the end of Unit 2 study for our Year 11 students. Unit 3, which also includes summative assessment in General subjects, commences at the beginning of Term 4. According to QCAA guidelines, students are unable to change subjects throughout Unit 3 and 4 as these units are completed as a pair. Therefore, if your son is thinking about changing subjects can you please encourage him to go to the Studies Office to see Ms Smeed or Mr Knight by the end of this term.

Year 12 Masterclasses and VOC classes

In order to prepare students sitting External Exams, the College has developed a Masterclass timetable which allows targeted revision in a class of each student’s choosing. There are two sessions per day, one starting at 8:50am (Period 1) and the other at 12:20pm (Period 4). Students are only required to attend these classes (not Pastoral Group) and can leave once their class has finished. For students who complete less than six General subjects, this will mean they may leave the campus after the morning session or not arrive onto campus until the afternoon session.

For all Masterclasses, students will need to be dressed in full school uniform (including blazer and College bag) and ensure they have all required equipment for their subjects (e.g. calculators). Rooms, where each of the Masterclasses will be held, will be emailed to each of the boys at the start of next term.

The External Exam block runs from Friday 22 October to Tuesday 16 November. The External Exam block schedule, as well as the required equipment lists are available on the Marist portal and on the QCAA website.

For boys who are not enrolled in any General classes and therefore, will not be required at Masterclasses, the College is running VOC classes across Weeks 1-3 of Term 4. These classes are designed around the concept of life skills required after school. While these classes are designed for students not completing General subject Masterclasses, if your son has a break in his Masterclass schedule and would like to attend, please ask him to email Mr Peter Gaiter at vet@marash.qld.edu.au so that his place can be confirmed. 

For the VOC classes, boys will need to meet at the Cyprian each morning at 9:00am. Classes will run from 9:00am-11:00am. While there are no formal classes in the afternoon and boys are not required to be on campus, they are encouraged to take advantage of the support services at the College including working with Mr Gaiter and Mrs Franklin for individual help in career planning, developing employment resources or discussing tertiary education opportunities. 

Head of Middle School Curriculum - Mrs Roxanne Rosenberg

NAPLAN Writers 

As you are aware, this year, Marist College Ashgrove introduced a writing initiative to encourage our students to write continuously and focus on key areas of their writing (paragraphs, sentence structure, punctuation etc). Congratulations to the following boys who were taken on a ‘Top of Tower’ tour after their excellent achievement on the writing domain in NAPLAN with Mr Newman, Mr McPhee and Miss Smeed.

Preparation for Term 4

Over the holidays your son is encouraged to empty his school bag and pencil case to make note of things he needs to replenish before the final school term for 2021 (I’m also hoping they remove the mouldy sandwiches and fruit before parents have to find them). 

Boys should return to school with:

• Sharp HB pencils
• 2 x blue, black and red pens
• Ruler (preferably not chipped)
• Highlighter
• Eraser
• Sharpener
• Clean workbooks/math grid books if required.

Progressive Achievement Tests (PAT)

On Friday 8 October (Term 4 Week 1) students in Year 8 will sit their PAT tests for Maths and Reading. These tests measure what students are able to demonstrate in maths and reading, as well as help monitor progress over time. 

The boys will need a fully charged laptop for the morning (Periods 1-3) as well as a pencil and calculator for working out.  Further information will be provided to Year 8 students at the start of Term 4.