Dean of Middle Years 

As Dean of Middle Years, it has been wonderful to regularly talk to students about their academic wellbeing. It is encouraging that many students are taking agency over their own learning, articulating what is going well, and what and how to improve.

Year 7

This term Year 7 are assessed formally on all subjects, excluding electives. This assessment includes assignments in English, History, Science, Religious Education and Health and Physical Education, and a 70-minute exam in Mathematics. Most subjects have been handed in, with Maths and Health and Physical Education still to come. Early in Term 3 students and parents will receive the Semester 2 assessment calendar. To help with time management and planning, these calendars should be kept in a handy location. 

At the start of next term, I will meet with the Year 7 cohort to analyse their semester one data and help them develop SMART goals. 

Year 8

The theme for Year 8 is One More …  The students have been asked to consider the impact doing one more thing can have on their understanding and outcomes. One more can take the form of any or all of the following.

One more …

• proofread of my draft
• minute of study
• article to read for my research activity.
• question in the maths exercise
• practise of my speech
• check of the marking criteria

The students in Year 8 set goals for themselves at the beginning of the year. These goals included working in partnership with parents, teachers, and their class members to extend themselves, to ask for help, to be organised and to regularly revise. 

Year 9

In the PD program Year 9 have been hearing about future pathways and subjects on offer in the senior school. To support this there is a Subject Selection Evening on 13th June at 7pm and each student will have a 30-minute SET planning session with a parent and their Homeroom Mentor teacher. We are encouraging students to be aspirational, to select subjects they enjoy while considering the prerequisites and recommended subjects for universities. 

The theme for Year 9 this year is: Engaged or Compliant? 

We will unpack the notion of attentive listening, actioning teacher instructions, active and on-task questioning to clarify understanding, and proactively adding information in response to feedback or discussion. All of these are attributes of an engaged learner.

I am grateful to work in partnership with parents in a high support and high challenge environment in the middle years.