9-12 Community News

There have been many reasons for celebration amongst the students in the 9-12 Community in the past two weeks.

Last week saw the end of exams for the Year 12s. We are sure that this moment brought great relief, but was also a moment that they will later be able to reflect upon with great pride. VCE can often feel like a long journey but, after reaching the end of this stage of their lives, the class of 2023 can rightfully look back and celebrate the strength, resilience and perseverance that they have shown in pushing their way through to the end. A recognition and celebration of their achievements was shared with staff and parents at the Graduation Dinner and Mass. A special feature of the Celebration Mass was a surprise visit and the beautiful ‘gift’ of song of farewell from the Foundation class to our Year 12s. Following the Mass, the students and their families made their way to Radcliffe’s in Echuca, looking glamorous in their formal attire and celebrating the evening with the significant people in their lives.

As this year’s Year 12 students finish their VCE pathways, other students are moving into theirs.

Last Friday, our Year 11 cohort participated in the two workshops presented by Himel from Success Integrated. The first session was all about study skills and being your B.E.S.T. Himel talked to the students about setting goals, managing their time, establishing effective study habits, skills and techniques, neuroplasticity and growth mindset.

The second session for the day was the ‘Leadership Challenge’ workshop.

This workshop was designed to prepare our students for their final year of school where they will all be looked upon as leaders of our College – badge or not!

The course was aimed to help our students create meaning around leadership and leadership behaviour, understand the importance of leading by example and develop a vision, inspire each other to take action, build strong relationships and develop a strong and positive mindset.

Topics covered included:

Servant Leadership
Re-defining Leadership
Small things can make a big difference
Leading without a badge
Setting the tone – Culture
Leaving a Legacy
Together Everyone Achieves More - working as a TEAM

There were many valuable messages to take away from the presentation and we look forward to seeing the Year 11s taking on the mantle of school leaders and role models as they receive their Year 12 Rugby Jumpers, move into their Year 12 lockers, the Tolle Lege and their final year of secondary school.

The day also gave us the chance to farewell some of our Year 11 VCE VM students - Ed M, Tim A, Michai B, Thomas G and Callum L - who leave our College to begin their careers in a range of apprenticeships. Congratulations to all of these boys on gaining their apprenticeships. In celebration, Cal took to the decks alongside DJ Dani.

The Kwong Lee Dow Young Scholars program is a prestigious University of Melbourne program for high achieving students in Year 10, allowing them to be involved in academic enrichment activities at the university, to meet with peers from schools all across Victoria and to gain insights into tertiary institutions as they complete their VCE studies. Students are selected to be a part of this program when they are in Year 10 and continue in the KLD Young Scholars program through Years 11 and 12.

To be accepted into this program is a significant recognition of the student’s application to their studies and their contribution to their school community as a leader.

We are very proud to announce that Lily Garth has been accepted into the Kwong Lee Dow program for 2024/25. Congratulations Lily.

Another cause for celebration was the announcement that Sharni A, Shanikka P and Ruby M have been successful in winning the National Cows Create Careers schools competition with their video which highlighted how much St Augustine’s loved our cows. The prize of $3000 will be used to help develop the school’s Agriculture/Horticulture programs. Congratulations to Steph Challis and the 9/10 Ag/Horticulture class.

Years 10 and 11 Exams commence next week and will continue through until 5th December. Completing exams in these years is vital in preparing students for the requirements of their Units 3 & 4 VCE subjects. To that end, we will follow the type of processes and conditions that students will encounter when they do their final VCE examinations. We are sure that students will learn a great deal from this experience.

As you will have noted from the exam timetable and Early Commencement Program (ECP) Operoo letter sent to families earlier this week, Wednesday 6th December has been designated a Study Day in preparation for the Early Commencement Program that runs from Thursday 7th December through to Friday 15th December. Students may opt to study off-site on that day, or study at school, under the supervision of staff. To assist with our planning, we ask that parents/caregivers indicate whether their child/children will be studying at school or off-site on that day. This can be done through the Google Form link sent to families in the Exam Timetable/ECP Operoo letter.

The aim of our Early Commencement Program is for staff and students to get to know each other in preparation for a smooth start to the 2024 academic year. Staff will have the opportunity to learn about their students' different learning styles and develop strategies that might be used to help plan curriculum and learning activities for the following year. To enable students to get the most out of their ECP classes, we ask that students come to classes with all of the necessary textbooks, equipment and stationery to begin their classes. If any families have encountered delays in receiving their booklist orders before ECP begins, please let your TAs know so that we can provide assistance.

As we approach the end of the year, we encourage students to continue their positive focus right until the end. This has been a very positive year for the members of the 9-12 Community who should be proud of how they have supported each other and managed themselves. With only a few weeks to go until the end of the academic year, we encourage all of our students to set themselves the goal of finishing their year well.

Michelle Downie Brad Downie

9-12 Community Leader 9-12 Community Leader

Wellbeing and Community Student Learning and Professional Practice