Curriculum News

Year 12 Masterclasses

Over the past two weeks, our Year 12 boys have been completing Masterclasses for General subjects in preparation for their external exams. I would like to commend the boys for the effort they put into making the most out of these sessions. I would also like to thank the Year 12 teachers for the time and effort put into preparing and delivering these important revision and exam strategy sessions. As students enter their last day of classes, we wish them all the best for their own revision which should continue at home. 

I would also like to congratulate the students who attended the VOC masterclasses. These classes were designed around the concept of life skills required after school and included sessions on cooking, renting your first place, being Marist outside of Ashgrove, buying a car, changing a tyre and reversing a trailer. 

Thank you to our Applied and Certificate teachers for arranging these valuable life skill lesson for our students and to Mr Peter Gaiter so his organisation of these.

Year 12 External Assessment

This Friday our Year 12 students will commence their External Assessment block. The Exam block timetable (including times and locations), Directions for students and Approved materials list has been emailed to all Year 12 students and parents. Please review these prior to your first exam.

Throughout the exam block, Year 12 teachers are available to further assist if boys have any additional questions. To access their teachers, boys need to email them in order to arrange a tutorial time that is suitable.

If a student is sick on the day of an exam, please call the College sick line as early as possible to inform us of his absence. A medical certificate will need to be attained to explain the absence. As per QCAA rules, the medical certificate needs to include:

• The illness, condition or event (including details of diagnosis). The medical certificate cannot say ‘being treated for a medical condition’;
• Date of diagnosis, onset or occurrence;
• Symptoms, treatment or course of action related to the condition; and
• Explanation of the probable effect of illness, condition or event on the student’s participation in the assessment.

As with other exam blocks, Year 12 students are only required on campus for their scheduled assessment. During this exam block all normal College rules apply including the wearing of full and correct College uniform. Students are also expected to travel directly to and from school without congregating at shops, outside other schools, etc.

I wish all the boys the very best with their study and the undertaking of these exams over the next few weeks.

If you have any questions or concerns about the upcoming exam block, please do not hesitate to contact Jen Smeed, Head of Senior School Curriculum at smeedj@marash.qld.edu.au

Year 7-11 Assessment Schedule

The assessment schedule for Year 7-11 has been released to Student Café and Parent Portal.  To access these schedules please use the following instructions located here. 

Year 7-11 Exam Block

Changes to Calendar

The Year 10 and 11 Term 4 exam blocks will run from Tuesday 16 November to Tuesday 23 November.  During this time these students will only need attend the College, in full school uniform, for their scheduled assessments. 

The Year 7-9 Term 4 exam block will run from Monday 15 November to Tuesday 23 November. During this time students will attend regular classes, unless in scheduled assessment. 

Catch Up Exams

Students who are unable to complete scheduled assessment during exam block in Years 7-9 will be required to make up these assessments on Tuesday 23 November from 3:30pm-5:00pm in the senior library. 

Year 5-11 Awards 

On Wednesday 27 October, the 2021 5-11 Awards ceremony will take place from 6:00pm. This ceremony recognises achievement across many areas of College life including mission, culture, sport, character and academics. The academic awards that will be presented on the night include:

• Year 5-11 Top of subject awards for the highest level of achievement in each subject. For the majority of subjects, this is based on results across Terms 1 to 3. However, for semesterised courses this is based on Semester 1;
• Year 5,7 and 9 high achievement in NAPLAN awards and Top of NAPLAN;
• Year 5-11 Dux (top of cohort based on GPA) and Proxime Accessit (2nd in cohort based on GPA) Terms 1-3 only.

We look forward to celebrating the academic achievements of these students next week.

High Achievers Morning Tea

On Monday 18 October and Wednesday 20 October, we congratulated our high achievers at a morning tea. The following students are to be congratulated on their strong academic achievement as outlined on their Term 3 (Years 7-10) or Unit 2 (Year 11) reports cards. 

Procrastination

Procrastination can be counterproductive as it can cause stress and guilt and make life more difficult in the long term. Seek Learning offers the following procrastination tips.

• Set goals and schedules - Your first step is to understand exactly how much study you need to do each week and make yourself accountable by setting specific, achievable goals and making a schedule. You’re far less likely to procrastinate if you tell yourself that you’ve allocated study for a specific part of the day than if you just promise to study sometime today.
• Eat the frog - The author Mark Twain knew about productivity, and famously advised people to “eat a live frog” first thing in the morning - figuratively, of course. The live frog is the biggest and most important task of the day, and it’s often the most unpleasant. Your ‘live frog’ is the task most likely to lead to procrastination if you don’t tackle it straight away. By eating the frog first, you can get on with your day knowing the toughest job has already been achieved.
• Dangle a carrot - Is there something else you’d rather be doing? Think of that more enjoyable activity as a carrot you can dangle in front of yourself. Promising yourself a reward after you’ve completed your study session can be a wonderful motivator to get it done.
• Eliminate temptation - What temptations usually lure you into procrastination mode? Figure out what they are and then eliminate them so you can focus on your study goals. For example, if you find it hard to sit down and study when you know household chores need to be done, take your books or laptop to the local library, where laundry and dishes can be put out of sight and mind. If you find yourself checking emails or browsing Facebook, download a productivity app that blocks certain websites on your computer for a set period of time.
• Forget perfection - Many of us procrastinate because we fear failure, we’re intimidated by a task, or because we put ourselves under pressure to do something perfectly. Instead of aiming for perfection or feeling overwhelmed, focus on just getting started. Simply read the first page of your textbook, or begin jotting down notes for your essay. Getting something done is far better than doing nothing at all and you’ll often find that once you get the ball rolling, your motivation to continue will increase.

Visit Seek Learning for more study tips.