Learning and Teaching News

NAPLAN – Years 7 and 9 

Due to the weather event, the school has been forced to move the schedule for NAPLAN as per below: 

A reminder that students will need to bring:  

• A fully charged laptop 
• Charger (for IT support) 
• Wired headphones/earphones 
• A pen 
• A water bottle 

Update to NAPLAN browser: 

A new NAPLAN browser was rolled out through our IT Department last week. ACARA updated the browser, and all schools will be running this process at the moment. Please confirm that your son has a purple NAPLAN Browser on their desktop and when they click on that icon the version number is 5.9.2  

An email has also been sent to families regarding this change. If you have any questions about NAPLAN, please contact Mrs Leigh Jackson, Assistant Head of College – Learning and Teaching – Middle Years, at jacksonl@marash.qld.edu.au.

Exam Block Schedules – Change of Dates 

Due to the weather event, the College has decided to adjust the exam block schedule and other due dates that have been impacted. The revised exam block schedule will be emailed to parents in the coming days and will replace the schedule currently published on the Parent Portal and Orbit app. Subject teachers will communicate any necessary extensions to assignment tasks. For any further extensions to tasks needed outside of adjusted timelines, the normal college extension processes will apply. Contact a member of the Academic Care Team if you have any concerns. Please note that this will not apply to every assessment task. 

Exam block schedules will now be as follows:  

• Years 5, 6 and 7 – Formative and summative assessments will take place in normal timetabled classes (except for Year 7 History/Geography).  
• Years 8 and 9 – Summative exam block will run from Wednesday 26 March to Tuesday 1 April.  
• Year 10 - Summative exam block will run from Wednesday 26 March to Wednesday 2 April.  
• Year 12 – Summative exam block will run from Friday 28 March to Friday 4 April.  
• Year 10 will remain at school during the exam block and are not on exam block privileges.   
• Year 11 students will remain in normal classes as they continue to work on Unit 1. The end-of-unit exam block will be held in Week 5, Term 2. There may be examinations during Term 1 which have changed.  

Students in Years 5-11 will all remain at school throughout the assessment period. The only cohort who are granted study leave (to study at home and only come to campus for scheduled assessments) is Year 12. Any Year 12 student not up to date with all required assessment items will not be granted study leave and will be required to remain at school. This includes modules for Certificate and Diploma courses.  

A reminder that if students are absent for an exam, a medical certificate is to be submitted for all year levels. Students must be prepared to sit their exams as soon as they return to school, and exams may be scheduled later in the exam block or in Week 10. Year 11 and 12 medical certificates must list the specific illness and not just state “medical condition”.  Please do not arrange holidays during this time.   

All schedules will be updated in the Orbit app and Student Café on the portal once finalised. Your son is encouraged to download this schedule and change assessment dates to his College Diary and any home planners. Please note that the Parent Orbit app will eventually become the primary source of this information, as the College will be moving to this platform in future terms.

Tutoring

Marist Subject Support: Days and Timings. Adjusted to Week 8. 

Marist Subject Support will now launch in Week 8 for the boys in Years 7 to 12. Marist Subject Support will be offered in the senior school library.  

Tutoring will be offered by a variety of people in our community including old boys, teachers, boarding tutors and other staff. Each of these experts will provide support to our boys and provide them with an opportunity to correct, refine and improve their academic achievement. 

The Marist Subject Support schedule is listed below. Tutors will be updated shortly along with the subject focus for each session.  

2025 Next Step Year 12 Completers Survey 

All Year 12 students from last year (2024) will soon receive an invitation to participate in the Next Step survey. This is their chance to help our school understand the different pathways of the 2024 Year 12 students and to improve our senior programs and support for future students. The survey only takes five minutes and asks graduates about their study and work activities since finishing school.  

As a thank you for participating, Year 12 completers who complete the survey will be entered into a draw to win a MacBook Air. 

For more information about Next Step, including previous results, visit http://www.qld.gov.au/nextstep.

Year 12 Study Session  

 On Wednesdays 5:00pm-8:00pm, Year 12 students are able to access the Library for their own private study. This is a privilege for Year 12 students in preparation for their senior assessment and a recommended study habit. In the past, students have used this time to work on their external exam study nights, prepare their drafts, or even create small study groups. Students will need to sign in and out. They can arrive and leave at any time between 5:00pm-8:00pm; but they are not able to keep coming and leaving during the night.  

Laptop - Condition and Usage  

The laptops are a key learning tool and in today's learning environments, the laptop is an often used and essential tool in the classroom.  

As parents, monitoring laptop condition is essential and we ask that you sight your son's laptop, check the overall function and usability of the machine and check the condition.  

If a machine is damaged it needs to be reported to IT immediately, as per the school's Acceptable Computer Use Agreement.

A reminder below of the agreement.

Parent Webinar Series

Study Tip