Senior School

Carmen’s Road Safety

On Thursday 30 May, John Maher visited St Patrick’s College to deliver his presentation “Carmen’s Road Safety” to our Year 11 boys.  John’s message about road safety is a very personal one as he relates his own experiences. 

In 1993, John was involved in a car accident where a ute being driven by a young 18-year-old lost control and ended up on top of his car as he approached in the opposite direction.  He suffered significant injuries that continue to impact him to this day. 

Sadly, his lived experience with traffic accidents does not end there.  In 1995, his daughter fell asleep at the wheel on a country road after dropping a friend in town, and subsequently died in the resulting accident.  

An emotional message for the boys was clear, asking them to take care on the road when they are driving and to consider who they have in the car with them and if they are a passenger, who is driving the car.  

Through an emotional presentation he emphasised the devastating impact that his daughter’s accident had on his family, and the broader community that his family is associated.  As most of the boys in the room currently have their Learners, the message is timely.  We thank John for his dedication to road safety and the impact he is having on young people by sharing his story.

Unit 1 Exams

The end of semester exam period commences on Friday 14 June.  Last Thursday the Year 11 cohort had some time with their Homeroom Teachers considering how they are preparing for the upcoming exams.  They were provided with an A3 planning sheet so they could organise their time for the exam period, ensuring that they know when they will be studying and when they have time to relax.  We encourage you to touch base with your son and ask how his preparation is going for the upcoming exam period in two weeks’ time.  

It is important that they are focused on the process rather than the outcome, a student who puts in maximum effort will gain the best of their capacity and therefore the outcome will take care of itself.  In addition, the grades students receive in Year 11 do not go toward their results at the end of their schooling in Year 12, rather they are working toward gaining a Satisfactory for Unit 1, and Unit 2 later in the year. 

This exam period is a great opportunity for each student to familiarise themselves with the process of revising a large body of work in preparation for an assessment that is longer than they usually complete in class during the Semester.  They can focus on their preferred revision strategies and ensure they are using these effectively, for example, using flash cards for retrieval practice.  They can look to practicing strategies to assist in dealing with the stress that assessments can bring, enabling them to develop a resilience to stressors they are likely encounter in Year 12 and life beyond the school gates.  Finally, they can rehearse their exam technique in preparation for the end of year exams next year.  Good luck to all the boys over the exam period.