From the Head of Senior School

Post Exam Reflection    

This week has been an important week in the school calendar with the completion of Semester One exams for students in Years 7-11. For our Year 7 cohort, this was their first experience sitting an extended assessment in a formal setting. Exams serve as a critical assessment tool to evaluate students' knowledge and identify areas where they may need to improve. Regardless of their future educational path, whether towards University, TAFE, or another further education institution, students will inevitably encounter assessments to gauge their understanding of their studies.  

Following this week's exams, students will receive their marks and grades from their teachers for an opportunity to get feedback on their exams. Students should reflect on their results by considering the following aspects. 

• Reviewing aspects of the exam to see what they got correct or did well in. Your child should celebrate this as a positive. 
• Reviewing the questions they got wrong or did not answer. They should seek guidance from their teacher to determine how to answer these questions or see where they made errors in their responses. 
• In preparation for semester two exams, your child should also reflect on their strategies of approach to their exams, whether they were effective, and whether they need to change their approach for future exams or tests.  
• If your child did not perform as well as they hoped, there can be many reasons, and you can discuss the possible causes with your child. Typical reasons may include: 

1. Insufficient study for the subject 
2. Exam nerves 
3. Not studying effectively 
4. Spending too long on questions and not enough time on others 
5. Studying the wrong topics 
6. Not enough practice on skills

We recommend that parents encourage their children to make incremental improvements for upcoming assessment tasks, drawing from the lessons learned from their exams. By prioritising a series of small adjustments, this approach can ultimately result in significant enhancements, as smaller changes are typically more manageable and swiftly executed. 

The exam week finished with activities tailored for Year 7 to Year 9 students. These activities encompassed a range of STEM-based initiatives, seminars on vaping, discussions on utilising values to shape one's future world, and strategies for maintaining online safety. Additionally, a special "Elevate" day was arranged for our Year 9 cohort, focusing on fostering self-awareness, empathy, and understanding through interactive sessions and conversations. This workshop encouraged Year 9 students to explore their purposes and aspirations. 

Ms Dawn Davis

Head of Senior School