Learning and Teaching News

Ms Jennifer Smeed, Mrs Roxanne Rosenberg and Mr Adam Knight

NAPLAN

All the best to our students in Year 5, 7 and 9 as they complete their NAPLAN tests this week. 

A reminder that boys must fully charge their laptop each night and bring their headphones with them each day. If you are absent for any of the tests, catch up times will be available.

 

Those students who are not completing NAPLAN, please meet in room 402 at the start of each test. 

Middle School Exam Schedule

During Week 9, students in Years 7-10 will have an end of Semester exam schedule. This will be released to all students and parents shortly.

 

It is important to note that boys will have testing up until the end of Week 9 and therefore, as usual, boys should remain in attendance until the end of term (Tuesday 21 June). If your son misses an assessment task due to early departure, he will need to submit any assignment prior to his departure and will sit his missed exam upon return in Term 3. All students leaving the College early need to complete the necessary paperwork and contact their Head of House or Head of Boarding for permission. 

Middle School Academic Care Interviews

Across Term 1 and 2 I have been meeting with as many students as possible to have an academic care meeting. I really enjoy having a discussion with your son/s and setting goals for his academic studies. I will continue to meet with students for the remainder of this term. 

 

If I haven’t met with your son yet, please encourage him to set some goals for Term 2. He is able to access his results via student café, or parent lounge (see steps below). I would also encourage that all boys are starting to settle into their homework and study routine. It would be an expectation that all boys are completing a minimum of 3-4 hours of study each week. 

 

A simple routine to follow could include:

  • 3 x 30-minute sessions during the week
  • 3 x 30-minute sessions across the weekend.

Strategies that are useful include the creation of flashcards. Flashcards are particularly helpful for those subjects that have a lot of content (for example; science, religion and history). Creating mind maps also helps boys to connect ideas and content so they can apply their learning. Practice questions from texts or quizlets online are also useful for testing their understanding.

Year 12 Reporting and Academic Interviews

Year 12 Unit 3 progress reports were published on the parent portal last Wednesday afternoon. As per the report card, all results are provisional until confirmed by QCAA. If you would like to discuss results please contact the relevant subject teacher.

 

Year 12 Academic Interviews will be held later this term. Parents and students will receive an email in the coming weeks providing instructions on how to book in for these interviews with a member of the Academic Care Team (ACT). For ATAR eligible students, the latest ATAR prediction will be discussed.

Year 11 Exam Block 

Year 11 end of Unit 1 Exam Block begins next week on  Monday 16 May and runs through to Monday 23 May. Please ensure these dates are kept free from specialist appointments or other outside of school events for Year 11 students. The exam block timetable was emailed to students and parents last week and is also shown below.

 

As with previous exam blocks, Year 11 students only need to attend school if they have a scheduled exam - they may arrive in time for their exam and leave at its completion. However, if your son has not submitted assessment or completed the tasks to a reasonable standard, he will be required to remain at school over this exam block in order to catch up on this work. You will be contacted via email before the commencement of the exam block if this applies to you. Expectations during exam block are as follows: 

  • Normal College rules apply when on campus
  • Boys must arrive to and from school in full school uniform (including blazers and bags)
  • Boys are to travel directly to and from school without congregating at shops, outside other schools etc
  • Boys must to the allocated exam room arrive 15 minutes prior to their scheduled start time
  • Boys must bring all required equipment (calculator, pens, highlighters, charged laptops and headphones etc.) in a clear plastic sleeve or container. They must also bring their student ID card to every exam. 
  • Boys must adhere to the exam coordinator's instructions at all times

If you have any questions regarding this exam block please contact curriculum@marash.qld.edu.au.

Year 11 subject changes and reports

For students wishing to change subjects, they will need to visit the Academic Care Team (via the Studies Office) anytime between now and Week 7. Please note these subject changes will not occur until the start of Unit 2.

 

Year 11 Unit 1 Reports will be published later this term. Parents will receive notifications via email when these are available.

Year 11 Elevate Education Study Skills session

Last week, all Year 11 students participated in a study skills session run by Elevate education. These sessions focused around some key study and organisational strategies including:

  • Utilising the syllabus to frame study
  • Structuring and reviewing organised notes
  • Conceptual learning to develop deep understanding
  • Utilising practice exam papers
  • Standing out through independent learning

Feedback from the students has shown that the boys showed this session to be helpful in providing simple yet effective approaches to revision and assignment work. Please discuss your son’s learning from these sessions with him. If he would like further assistance with study strategies or organisation please direct him to the Academic Care Team (accessed via the Studies Office).

 

All other year levels will also participate in targeted Elevate sessions over Term 2 and 3.

Old Boy Maths Tutoring

We have four wonderful Old Boys who come and tutor our current students from Year 7-12 in maths each morning. I would encourage all boys to add one session per week to their study load. Our Old Boys (Tom, Josh, Nick and Will) are very welcoming and would love to see more students attend. It is located in Room 402 from 7:45am-8:30am. All are welcome!

Assessment Calendars

Assessment calendars for Term 2 have been released to students and parents. Students are encouraged to transfer due dates for assessment into their school diaries. This should also include draft due dates.

 

To access assessment calendars please follow these steps:

 

1. Access your parent portal

 

2. Click on the tab that reads “Assessment and Exam Schedules”.

 

3. Select the appropriate year level that your son is in. 

 

4. Print the schedule and ask your son to transfer dates into his College Diary.

How to access Academic Reports – Parent Lounge

Please follow these steps to access academic reports

 

1. Open up parent portal and click on “Parent Lounge”

 

2. Academic Reports are accessible via the link of the left-hand side of the page, or at the bottom of the main screen. Click on the academic report you would like to see.

Accessing LMS for task specific feedback 

At the completion of each drafting stage and final completion of assessment (both written and exam), your son will receive task specific feedback from his teachers. It is important that your son/s access this feedback so they are aware of their strengths and limitations.  Parents are also encouraged to access this information.

 

Please follow these steps to access task specific feedback.

 

1. Open up parent portal and click on “Parent Lounge”

2. On the left-hand tab select “Curricular Activities Due” and select “view all activities” on the top right-hand side of page. 

 

 

3. This will take you to a screen that lists of your son/s assessment to complete, or has been completed.

4. Click on a subject to view feedback. 

 

5. Once you click on the subject you will be able to find the following information:

  1. Task sheet for assessment – this will outline what your son needs to do to complete the task successfully
  2. Draft due dates and due dates
  3. Criteria sheet
  4. Feedback
  5. Result

Learning from Home

If you are unable to attend school due to COVID-19 please access your classwork via the Moodle subject page and ensure you are revising for your upcoming exams. If you are unsure of what work to complete or require further work or assistance, please contact your classroom teacher for further guidance.

Study Hall

Every Tuesday and Thursday morning the teacher librarians in the senior library offer study hall sessions from 7:45 am to 8:30 am. These are designed to build the student’s capacity to study independently by teaching them key skills for the first 15mins of the sessions and then offering independent supported study for the remainder of the time.

Please find below the outline for the Study Hall for Term 2. 

WeekFocus
4Prioritising Your Workload
5Homework vs Homestudy
6Avoiding procrastination
7Active V’s Passive Study
8Interleaving
9Study organisation recap