Curriculum
2023 Stage 5 and Stage 6 Subject Prospectuses and Parent Information Evenings
This is just a reminder that the 2023 editions of the Stage 5 and Stage 6 prospectuses on subjects for Years 9 and 11 respectively were posted on the TASS Parent Lounge for parents/carers and the relevant Canvas Year pages for the students.
As mentioned in the 22 June issue of the Especean last term, a thorough and sequential subject selection process is in place and details of this process will be given at the appropriate times. This Wednesday 20 July, an information evening will be held firstly for parents/carers of Year 8 commencing at 6:00 PM and concluding at 6:45 PM and then for parents/carers of Year 10 commencing at 7:00 PM and concluding at 8:30 PM. Both information sessions will be held in the College Hall. Students are not required to attend.
Parents of Years 8 and 10 should take note that given the current spike in COVID-19 cases, parents and carers are encouraged to wear masks at these two information sessions.
Subject information sessions will also be held in the same week on the mornings of Tuesday 19 and Wednesday 20 July for Year 10 students. An elective subject information morning for Year 8 students will be held on Thursday 21 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.
Parents of Year 10 boys should also note that there is a change of date for the parent-son-teacher subject selection interviews, now scheduled for Tuesday 23 August (NOT Wednesday 24 August). The interviews will be held before and after normal timetabled lessons on this day. It will be a normal school day for Year 10.
Both Year 8 and Year 10 students must complete their subject selections online by
9:00 AM, Monday 1 August. The instructions on how to complete subject selections online will be explained to students at their respective information sessions.
Assessment Tasks for Semester Two
Welcome back to Term 3. The following is just a reminder to parents/carers and boys, that information covering assessment for Years 7 to 12 is readily available on the respective Canvas Year pages. In particular, the College’s Assessment Policy outlines clearly and explicitly well-established protocols governing assessment. I urge all parents/carers and their sons to reacquaint themselves with the College’s Assessment Policy in preparation for assessment tasks in Semester 2.
Essentially, the College’s Assessment Policy is drawn up with the clear intention of being considerate and just to all and ensures a level playing field for all boys. It protects the great majority of boys who consistently do the right thing by:
- applying themselves with diligence to all set tasks
- thoroughly familiarising themselves with the academic expectations of the College
- following all examination rules
- submitting their own work by the specified due date to the specified teacher
- providing advanced notice, where possible, of absence for an assessment task
- providing appropriate medical documentation to the relevant teacher immediately on return to school when work is not submitted on the due date
- discussing the result of a task, with the relevant teacher, at the time the task is returned.
Boys who are absent on the day an assessment task is due, can expect to submit the task on the day of their return to school.
In addition, it is important for all parents/carers to note that the College Reception has never been and will never be a place to submit assessment tasks. Should parents/carers wish to submit tasks on behalf of their sons, for whatever reason, then a courtesy phone call to the relevant teacher or Studies Coordinator is required and a mutually convenient appointment time made.
College Reception will not accept assessment tasks from either parents/carers or students.
Parents/carers who just ‘drop in’ and insist on leaving tasks at College Reception will incur at the very least a 20% deduction for their sons and risk the tasks not being processed with absolutely no recourse for appeal.
Ignorance does not constitute a reasonable or valid excuse to breach any of the above-mentioned procedures. It is unfortunate when individuals, accepting of high academic expectations and standards, take exception to the application of these standards to them. Fortunately, parents/carers and boys are very appreciative and supportive of the College’s high academic expectations and standards.
Michael Cutrupi
Director of Curriculum
Contributing to Community Discussion and Sharing Wisdom
On the first Tuesday night of the holidays, myself and the other students from Ms Daley’s SOR2 class attended a community discussion on the role of environmental ethics in our modern society at St Patrick’s Parish, Mortlake. Lead by community member Trent Moy as well as local priest Father Thomas Stevens, the talk was largely based upon developing a collective understanding of how we can individually work towards upholding our social obligation to sustaining the environment. To start off the night, Trent introduced the congregation to the Wiradjuri phrase ‘yindyamarra winhanganha’, which is the wisdom of respectfully knowing how to live well in a world worth living in. He explained that a world worth living in is one where we, as humans, live in harmony with nature, a world where an open-mindedness towards care for the earth is commonplace. Using knowledge learnt from our study of Christian environmental ethics from the SOR2 HSC course, the boys from St Patricks actively contributed to the discussion and were left with a developed appreciation for the church community that welcomed us, as well as our need to care for the earth.
Jai De Lisser-Howarth
Year 12 Student
