Leading Teachers Report 

Leading Teacher: Junior School Report

Students and teachers have hit the ground running at the start of Term 3. We held a Junior School assembly on the first day back to welcome everyone and to discuss how we can all have an enjoyable and successful second half of 2022.

I reminded the students to read through their Semester 1 reports, take on board teacher feedback and use that as a launching pad for their learning in Semester 2. We talked about our College values of High Expectations, Respect, Responsibility, Resilience and Team Work and that these are the values we live by every day at South Oakleigh. I also asked students to review what their homework schedule looks like and that every student needs a routine at home to consolidate their learning.

Our Year 7 students partook in Pi Day on July 22 (22/7 for the mathematicians amongst you). Thanks to the brilliant organisation of Mr Fernandez all students partook in various activities including a scavenger hunt, reciting Pi to as many digits that they could remember, and of course eating a free pie for lunch! A thoroughly enjoyable day.

Our Wellfest activities held last week provided all students with the opportunity to focus on their wellbeing and enjoy different experiences focussed on areas such as mindfulness and self-care. We hope that all students took something away from the week to help them manage their health and wellbeing.

I look forward to talking to many parents on Monday August 8 as part of our Parent-Student-Teacher Conferences. Bookings are open so take this opportunity to discuss your child's progress with their teachers.

George Tzimourtas

Leading Teacher: Junior School

Leading Teacher: Middle School Report

Over the past few weeks, our middle school has been active in further developing relationships within our school community and working on study skills that will assist them as they move into senior years. The year 9's begun the term with an interactive workshop run by the Reach Foundation on Peer Dynamics. The workshop aimed to encourage empathy, mutual respect and awareness of self-others. Overall, feedback was positive from our year 9's as they explored the social dynamics of the cohort. 

More recently, our year 10's travelled into the city to explore the CBD and undertake a study skills research workshop that provided them with the foundations to undertake more effective research. The workshop investigated the life of escaped convict William Buckley and his relationship with the Wathaurang people. Students also explored the history of architecture in the CBD, including its development and how to identify important buildings from different eras. 

As we look towards the middle of term, we continue to develop our study skills with Elevate sessions running for both year 9 and 10 students. These sessions follow up from our workshops that were run in Term 2 prior to exams. These will focus on time management and developing better study habits. It is also timely to remind students to apply their best, as they strive to meet our College values, including "High Expectations".

Leading Teacher: Senior School Report

Our year 12s have reached the home stretch. The exam season is steadily approaching and our Year 12s have started heads down books up.

Through this term, we will have revision sessions on the GAT and subject-specific SWOT. Our tutoring team is also hard at work preparing our students for their exams.

Some of our high-achieving VCE students have shared their key study tips.

Fenia: The best way of studying for me is repetition. I start with continuously recalling the content to build a foundation. To continue, I then practice linking topics to each other to progress my knowledge. I then apply this to practice questions to test my ability to apply content. 

Eleni: 

How I study:

when I have a sac coming up with the week, I'd grab just questions for me to test me on the topic.

I don't rewrite, in fact I don't take notes at all. I use the resources provided on PowerPoints and the textbook.

I also use past VCE exam questions from Cambridge checkpoints.

I have a schedule in front of me just so I can write important dates when I have a sac and what I have to study for within the week. 

Dimitri: 

I like to study by reviewing the content that I went over in class on that day as soon as I get home. When planning the rest of the week to study, I focus on the things that have a sooner deadline and how long it will take to accomplish the task. Music is the main thing that helps keep my motivation levels up when studying to stay in a positive mindset and work effortlessly. 

Our 40+ Club Tutors. 

Hi, we are Kristin and Burgess, the tutors here at South Oakleigh Secondary College. We both graduated from this school and studied at the University of Melbourne. We are here 2-3 days a week, holding the "40+ Clubs" after school that work in groups of VCE students who aim to achieve high ATAR scores at the end of the year. 

After school, we hand out worksheets comprised of past VCAA exams and textbook questions and assist students with problems they find puzzling. Since there are less than 100 days left till the exam, we hold supervised mock exams during the club for students who want to try and familiarise themselves with exam conditions. We join and support the VCE classrooms by answering the students' questions and enhancing the classes' efficiency. In doing so, we also learn what topic the class is doing and create the corresponding worksheet. Being high ATAR achievers and experienced tutors, we are confident in guiding the students through their VCE journey and helping them achieve the ATAR they desire.

Grace Terdich

Leading Teacher: Senior School