Year 10 Pastoral Guardian

Parent engagement in learning is known to lead to improved outcomes for students of all ages.   Parents play an essential role as the first educators of children, therefore ongoing active engagement of parents, families, and communities has a major impact on a child’s success at school and beyond their schooling years.  Teachers and schools can support parent engagement in learning by building partnerships to connect learning at home and at school.  At Mount Alvernia College, there are many opportunities for you to be involved in your daughter’s school life, both in and outside of the classroom.  To ensure that you are up to date with your daughter's learning, you are able to access her Moodle pages for all her subjects and to download her Assessment Calendar.  Attending Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences and being in regular communication with teachers is a vital way to keep up to date with your daughter’s academic progress.  Parents' involvement can include volunteering to work at La Cucina, volunteering to coach or manage a sporting team, attending sporting games or drama and music performances, or becoming a Pastoral Parent for the Year 10 cohort. 

Many Year 10 students are striving to raise the bar every day, both in and outside the classroom.  Following are stories of some students who have recently embraced opportunities offered to them within the College.

At assembly last week, six Year 10 students were acknowledged as being chosen to be the Clare School Leadership Team.  I look forward to the dedication and initiative of these girls throughout the year.  Congratulations to Sneha Reju, Charlotte Russell, Alana Twedell, Samantha Maguire, Laila Powell, and Rhianna Janas. 

Each year, the Brisbane City Council offers high school students an opportunity to be part of several programs that assist student to develop leadership, team building, and resilience skills.  The Lord Mayor’s Youth Advisory Council (LMYAC) provides a forum for young people to discuss issues that are important to them, directly with the Lord Mayor and Civic Cabinet members.  This year Gabby Reis has been selected to represent Mount Alvernia College.  Another program offered to high school students is the Green Heart School Student Environment Leadership Network (SELN).  This year Hannah Schaper and Jillian Effeney have been selected to be part of this program.  Their first task will be to identify an environmental issue at our college or in our local community, and suggest actions they can take to improve this.   Gabby, Hannah, and Jillian will all attend several meetings throughout the year to share ideas with other high school students and contribute to the success of these projects.  Congratulations to all three girls for their interest, dedication, and being selected for these programs.  I wish them all well for their future meetings and look forward to hearing all about it and the positive initiatives that can be used at Mount Alvernia College.   

Congratulations to Samantha Maguire, Jillian Effeney, Erin King, Ella Bull, and Caitlin Hind who recently volunteered in the Clean Up Australia activity at the Grange, which was organised by the Rotary Club of Brisbane North.  These girls were the first volunteers to arrive at this event, and they made a very large contribution to helping their local environment. 

On 3 March we participated in Clean Up Australia Day.  It was a wonderful experience that helped us feel motivated to help keep Australia clean.  Together, we learnt that all types of rubbish can be found even the unlikeliest of places.  This event helps people be aware of how much waste is produced a day and where it ends up.  Altogether we collected around four bags worth of rubbish, from cans and glass bottles to food packaging and even an engine.  Clean Up Australia Day inspires and empowers our community to clean up, fix up, and conserve our environment.  It was a very memorable experience and we hope that more people will contribute next year.                                       Ella, Erin, Jillian, Sam, and Caitlin

I would like to wish Year 10 students the best of luck for all assessments and extra-curricular competitions for the rest of the term.   I challenge each Year 10 student to aim high and Raise the Bar.   I look forward to hearing more success stories throughout the year.

Teena Christofis

Conversation Starters

How are you raising the bar inside and outside the classroom?

What are events that you are involved in within school that I can come to watch?

Have you printed the Assessment Calendar and highlighted your subjects?

Can you show me your Moodle pages for all your subjects?

Academic Profile

Over the next few weeks of Term 1, your daughter will be provided with a printed version of her academic profile.  This details a transcript of most recent results, a comparison with previous results, and a comparison with the cohort in terms of academic GPA.  NAPLAN results are also included, again with a comparison to the cohort.  This information is utilised by a range of academic staff at the College, including, but not limited to, your daughter’s teachers, her Teaching and Learning Guardian (ie me), and the Learning Area Advisors across all subjects.  With our focus on Raising the Bar this year, it is essential that you and your daughters have the full picture, in terms of academic achievement.  I would encourage you to discuss this profile with your daughters and together consider areas of strength and areas where improvement is needed.  Should you wish to follow up with your daughter’s teachers or with me, you would be most welcome.  Through strong and positive parent, teacher, and student connections, we can achieve so much.

Sacha Carney

Teaching and Learning Guardian for Clare School – Years 9 and 10