Deputy Principal

Upcoming Assessments

As we approach the middle of the term, your sons will have learnt enough content and will soon start getting assessment tasks to complete. What is important to note is that your son must have clear study routines in place to ensure academic success. Just like practicing the piano or passing the ball in basketball or hitting the ball in baseball, all these skills take practice. You do not get to become the best baseball player overnight. It takes a lot of time and effort to ensure that you keep improving.

The same applies to your sons’ academics. Staying up the night before and trying to complete an assessment task or studying for a test only the night before does not lead your son to do his best. Study skills take time to perfect and setting up good routines is critical.

It is important that you sit down with your sons if they are in Years 5 -10 and work through their weekly routine. This routine needs to involve time for family and friends and co-curricular. Importantly, study and homework must be part of this routine. Often, we hear our young men say to their parents: “I have no homework; I finished it in class.”  Well then - this is where they need to take time to do some study. They need to go over what they have done in class or start their assessment task that is due in the coming weeks. 

In Years 11 and 12, our young men should be more self-sufficient, they should be in good routines. They need to be working towards three hours study per night from Monday – Thursday and then at least another three hours over the weekend. This is hard to do if they are not in a routine from their earlier years of school. 

Importantly, study and homework must be free of distractions. This is a time when their phones should not be next to them. If possible, it should be done in an area where you can monitor from a distance as it is too easy for them to flick their computer screens to the latest episode of the series they are watching on Netflix.

As the world continues to evolve, one thing stays the same, that is, in order to succeed, our young men must work hard, and the setting up of good routines will ensure that their continued practice of their academic skills will then lead to success.

Adrian Byrne

Deputy Principal