Senior School 

Year 12 Results 

This week our Year 12 students of 2023 received their final VCE results. The Senior School Team would like to congratulate all students on their results. Our Year 12 students have shown incredible determination and resilience over the course of the year. We wish all students the best of luck in their future endeavours. 

As a school community, we were very excited to see the overall improvement in our results; a reflection of the hard work by both our students and our teachers. Our median study score rose two points from 27 in 2022 to 29 this year, reaching this level for the first time in several years. Whilst that may not sound like a significant gain, it is rare for schools to move more than one point in either direction in a single year, so to increase by 2 represents a lot of students across all subjects performing better than in previous years. 

Additionally, our mean study score rose from 27.6 in 2022 to 29.15 in 2023. Our Dux, Victor Lang, achieved an ATAR of 98.4. Congratulations Victor! Victor achieved three study scores of 40 or over, for Chemistry, Mathematical Methods and Specialist Mathematics. We look forward to congratulating Victor along with our other Honour Roll students at our annual Honour Roll assembly in February next year. 

Our Careers team of Mr Tim Knowles and Mrs Jessie Dennison have been meeting with our Year 12 students throughout this week to assist any students with the Change of Preference period. 

A reminder to all of our Year 12 students: we will keep supporting you in your transition to the next stage of your life even in 2024. We are only ever a phone call or an email away. 

Good luck to the Class of 2023 wherever life takes you. Please stay in touch. 

Preparing for VCE in 2024 

Missed VCE School-assessed Coursework (SACs) 

Attendance at SACs in VCE is compulsory. Unless the absence is school approved, a student who is unable to attend a SAC must produce medical evidence that shows they were unfit for school.It is the student’s responsibility to ensure all medical evidence is submitted to the general office or emailed to generaloffice@wantirnacollege.vic.edu.auupon their return to school. 

All rescheduled missed SACs are supervised after school every Tuesday in the Senior Centre (F4) from 3:15pm – 4:30pm. Students must ensure other commitments are not organised during this time. 

Failure to provide medical evidence (i.e., medical certificate) for missed SACs

VCE Units 1 & 2 students who are unable to produce the medical evidence will sit the SAC as a redemption task. 

VCE Units 3 & 4 students who are unable to produce the medical evidence will sit the SAC as a redemption task and cannot receive a score higher than zero for the task. 

Failure to provide sufficient evidence of satisfactory completion in a redemption task can result in an N (Not Satisfactory) for the outcome, therefore an N for the unit. 

If a student does not complete a redemption task at the set time and does not supply a medical certificate, they forfeit the right to the redemption process and an N (Not Satisfactory) can be awarded. 

Holiday Homework 

All Year 11 and 12 VCE, VM and VPC subject teachers have provided holiday homework to students during the recent Step Up and Transition Days. Students can reasonably be expected to have up to 3-5 hours of schoolwork to do over the holiday break, for each subject.   

Holiday homework must be completed for each subject and submitted in the first class of Term 1 upon return to school in 2024. Failure to complete holiday homework may result in attending a Learning Recovery session after school. 

Year 11 into 12 Step Up Program 

All students undertaking Unit 3 and 4 (Year 12) subjects in 2024  were involved in an extensive Year 11 into 12 Step Up program. The purpose of Step up is to help maximise the learning opportunities and delivery of the Unit 3 VCE/ VM Curriculum Programs. Starting Unit 3 during the Step-Up Program will enable teachers and students to spend more learning time on exam preparation and exam revision the following year, as well as increase time devoted to SAC sand SAC preparation. 

Year 11 Academic Review Conferences 

It was great to see almost every Year 11 VCE and VM student attend their Academic Review Conference on Thursday 30 November.  These  student-led conferences  were a great opportunity for students and their family to critically reflect on the learning and achievements for 2023 together with their Explore / VM teachers . Students also reviewed their exam preparation and performance, as well as their overall academic school year. In addition, students set learning growth goals for Term 1, 2024 based on areas of improvement and discussions during the conference.  

Transition Days (Year 8, 9 & 10) 

Over the last few weeks of Term 4, students in Year 8, 9 and 10 have engaged in a Transition Day to help prepare them for the following academic year. The purpose of these days was for students across all three-year levels to reflect and celebrate the year and to acknowledge the significance of transitioning through Senior School. Students were introduced to the Senior School team and were provided with a clear understanding of what the expectations around learning, behaviour and attendance will be in 2024. Students worked through a range of workshops with a focus on reflection, celebration, team building activities and sessions to improve learning, assessment, and attendance requirements.  

The feedback from students was overwhelmingly positive and we hope these days will set the tone and expectations for the 2024 academic year for all students across Senior School. 

The entire Senior School Team wish all students and their families an enjoyable, safe and restful holiday break. 

David Black, Tim Pearson 

& Darren Hoogkamer

Senior School Leaders