Curriculum
2022 Stage 5 and Stage 6 Subject Prospectuses and Parent Information Evening
By the end of this week, the 2022 editions of the Stage 5 and Stage 6 prospectuses on subjects for Years 9 and 11 respectively will be posted on the Sentral Parent Portal for parents/carers and the relevant Canvas Year pages for the students.
A thorough and sequential subject selection process is in place and details of this process will be given at the appropriate times. On Wednesday 14 July, an information evening will be held firstly for parent/carers of Year 8 commencing at 6:00 p.m. and concluding at 6:45 p.m., and then for parents/carers of Year 10 commencing at 7:00 p.m. and concluding at 8:30 p.m. Both parent/carer information sessions will be held in the College Hall. Students are not required to attend.
Subject information sessions will also be held for Year 10 students in the same week. An elective subject information morning for Year 8 students will be held on Thursday 15 July. The purpose of the information evening and sessions is to complement and clarify the information provided in the subject prospectuses and to provide details of the subject selection process.
The Holidays and the Year 12 Trial HSC Examinations
Year 12 students are encouraged to use the upcoming holidays wisely and not to let time pass without having done substantial preparation for the Trial HSC examinations which begin Monday 26 July, i.e. third week back next term.
With just under six weeks to the Trial HSC examinations, the following is important information for Year 12 students and their parents/carers.
HSC Examination Marking Feedback and Sample Answers
Marking guidelines and sample answers for most HSC subjects from past examinations are available on the NESA website at:
Parents/carers of Year 12 must know that such resources are available and should encourage their sons to use them as part of their preparation for the Trial and HSC written examinations.
It is important to note that the sample answers provided are not student responses from the examinations nor are they intended to be exemplary or even complete answers or responses. Nonetheless, they are a most valuable resource for HSC students.
NESA publishes this information to assist teachers and students in understanding how the marking guidelines are implemented.
Checking HSC Details via Students Online
Year 12 students and their parents/carers are reminded that NESA’s Students Online facility is the students’ personal source for information about their HSC. It is imperative that every HSC student logs on to Students Online to check their personal details and ensure their name, courses, ATAR eligibility or status, address, email, and phone number are correct.
Change of address, email and phone number may be made in the personal details section of Students Online however, students, parents and carers are reminded that the College must also be informed of such changes. Changes to personal details are made via the College Registrar, Mrs Toogood, and course changes via the Director of Curriculum, Mr Cutrupi.
Year 12 students must note that personal HSC timetables are now available on Students Online. Their assessment ranks will be available after the last HSC examination has concluded on Thursday 4 November through to Tuesday 30 November and their HSC results will be released on Friday 10 December 2021.
Expressions of Interest
The NESA HSC Presiding Officer is seeking expressions of interest from current parents/carers at the College in joining the team to supervise this year’s HSC (and potentially other College exams) in 2021. As this is a paid role, a current WWCC (Working with Children Check) number is required. To be eligible, you must be available to work during the entire exam period which runs from Tuesday 12 October to Thursday 4 November. Current Year 12 parents/carers are ineligible to apply. Exam times run both in the morning and afternoon and no experience is necessary.
Please email the Presiding Officer, Jo Saric, for further details at joannepeter@bigpond.com.
Michael Cutrupi
Director of Curriculum
Year 10 Italian Interaction Day - Cerdon College
Over the past two years, Year 10 Italian students have been writing pen pal letters to students from Cerdon College, Merrylands. This activity was done to aid fluency in the key skills of writing and reading in Italian.
In Week 7, on Tuesday 1 June, the Year 10 Italian cohort along with Prof. Fisicaro went to Cerdon College for an interaction day with their Year 10 Italian students. This gave us a chance to meet our pen pals face-to-face.
We started off the day with an icebreaker activity in the drama room. We were then split into groups of two, one student from each school, and we were given a fact file to complete. This allowed us to share some information about ourselves with our partners and help us settle in.
After that, we were broken up into four groups for many activities, which included celebrity heads (in Italian), Tombola (an Italian version of bingo) and Italian charades. In one activity the boys were given a scene in English, and had to create a 30 second skit, spoken only in Italian. These were acted out at the end of the day in front of both cohorts. They were both very comical and interesting and helped us to improve our ability to speak in Italian.
For recess, we each enjoyed a bombolone (an Italian doughnut with filling) and for lunch we received pasta with garlic bread and pizza.
Overall, the groups from both schools had a fun day and it was a very enriching experience. It helped us learn more about the Italian culture and the practical use of the Italian language. We made many friends, and it was a day we will not forget. Many thanks must go to the Cerdon College Italian teachers and Prof. Capobianco and Prof. Fisicaro for organising the day.
Karim Lattouf and Justin Speranza
Year 10 Italian Students
