Learning & Teaching

Building Learning Resilience in Secondary Students

Building success at secondary school starts from Year 7 through persistence, effort and learning resilience and we are noticing that in the VCE years many of our most successful students have maintained continuous effort, in and out of class, throughout their 6 years at the College. For Year 11 and 12 at this time of year, towards the end of Unit 1 and 3, we are also noticing several students finding it very difficult to muster the motivation to meet that satisfactory benchmark that VCE and VCE VM demands. 

As learning grows more complex in secondary school, students will face tougher coursework, heavier workloads, and moments of setback—disappointing grades, tricky group dynamics, or not meeting expectations of the course. These are not signs of failure; they are the training ground for resilience. 

And resilience—learning to adapt, persist, and grow—is one of the most important skills for school and for life.

To support being successful in VCE,  it's important to have a willingness to try again after a setback, and be open to feedback and able to act on it.

When your child experiences setbacks, the best advice we have is that learning is in itself the best antidote to low motivation and setbacks because well-structured learning creates quick wins that rebuild self-belief, which then fuels more effort—a positive feedback loop. Start small with little learning wins by: answering a question in class, completing a work sheet, finishing the set homework. 

These small, frequent successes will fuel your intrinsic motivation. Our most successful students also have a core belief that their actions and effort can change their results. Any action, however small, can help reduce the anxiety that students often feel from their mounting workload and academic challenge. Doing nothing feeds anxiety and does not address motivation. 

Selecting Subjects for 2027

Early next term, students will receive a copy of the 2027 Curriculum Handbook to support their subject and pathways selections into 2027. These are important decisions through the work of our pathways team Tanya Notman, Tim Knowles and Darren Hoogkamer. This team provide comprehensive careers education, particularly in Year 9-12, and access to the best careers and course advice. Please encourage your child to reach out to have a chat about the pathways and careers options that might suit their skills set. 

Please save the following key dates to support these important decisions:

Tue 21 July: Curriculum and Pathways Expo Evening

Thu 30 July: Course Counselling & Academic Review Conferences Day

More to come next newsletter about the timeline and activities in this year's pathway and subject selection process. 

Food for thought: Here is a link to an occupations shortages list to help stimulate discussions in your household about potential career choices:

https://www.jobsandskills.gov.au/data/occupation-shortage/occupation-shortage-list

VCE Students 

Here is the list of Learning Supports and Programs on offer for the remainder of the term and all the critical presentations, Workshops and Practice Exam dates. These Exam events are on compass and required student consent ASAP. Please Note the continuation of the Club 35+ workshops, which kick off again Period 4 Wed 1 June.

Natalie Manser 

Assistant Principal

mar@wantirnacollege.vic.gov.au