Principal's Report

Dear Families,
I hope the year has started well for your family. The start of a new school year is an opportunity for a fresh start, for renewal and for establishing patterns of behaviour that will result in success as the year progresses. Students have been encouraged to develop a study timetable for home. A home study timetable is not only for the individual student, it is something that an entire family should be aware of and have some input into when being developed. In VCE, students in Year 11 should be completing an average of 3 hours of home study each weeknight. In Year 12, students should be aiming to complete 4 hours of home study each weeknight if they are looking to achieve an ATAR above 80.
Home Study is a little different to Homework. Homework tends to be set by teachers and may include unfinished class work and / or specific tasks to be completed in order to prepare for the next lesson. Homework tends to be tasks that require completion in order that students understand the next phase of in class learning. Home Study tends to be more self directed by students and must include the consistent and constant revision of work already covered so as to keep the information at hand when the exam period commences.
Home Study must always include completing set homework as the first task. The work should not stop there though as there is always more to do especially when in Year 11 or 12 VCE. Students should maximise their chance for success by completing the full 3 hours each night and making up any time missed during the week over the course of the weekend. After completing set homework, students should work on any set projects / folios / SAC preparation plans – the bigger more long term tasks that need to be worked on over an extended period of time. Revision is the third task which will include revising previous content or preparing for a test SAC. The revision task can be followed by spending time reading over texts used in class and may include newspapers as often the curriculum requires a level of understanding of current world and local affairs. There should never be a time where student’s state that they do not have any homework as there is always work that can be completed at school.
Home Study timetables should have blocks of 30 minutes with 5 minute breaks to get a glass of water and some fresh air. Family time is important to include, especially dinner when families can hear about each others’ day. We understand that many students have part time jobs so including the shifts students work balanced by the time necessary to keep up with school work should also leave time for family and of course friends. The Home Study program works best when there is a balance achieved. Allowing time for all of the activities which may also include sport and other club based commitments may reveal that too much is trying to be undertaken. In such cases, something will have to give and it should not be the hours of sleep that students require.
Eight hours of sleep a night is recommended for students. This is unbroken. The recent Resilience Survey revealed that most students are not even getting 6 hours with some as low as 4. This is unhealthy and will adversely impact not only results but also their health. Sleep is essential. 7 to 8 hours should be the norm with 6 the exception. This is about balance, health, wellbeing and managing what is already a challenging 2 year period.
In late February, the Victorian Government announced a revue of the VCE and intimated that they were considering the inclusion of a literacy and numeracy test for all students in Year 12 who were to complete and be issued with their Victorian Certificate of Education. I have serious misgivings about such a proposal. The English / EAL / English Language and Literature exams are all literacy tests of a kind, what is wrong with these? In States where this has already been introduced the impact has been detrimental with schools appalled at the policy. I felt so strongly about this matter that I have written to local State politicians and penned a letter to The Age. This letter appeared in The Age during the same week.
The Age - 1st March 2018
The VCE and indeed the VCAL are already challenging. There is no need to add an additional level of complexity and stress for students. The levels of anxiety and stress reported by adolescents in Years 11 and 12 is on the rise. I for one will be taking a stand against this policy bubble that appears to have been thought up by those who spend the least amount of time in schools or educating young people and more time deciding what schools, students, the teaching profession and even parents ought be doing. Enough!
Brendan J Watson OAM
Principal