Secondary School
The long weekend gave many of us a boost and there was a buzz in the air of the Secondary School as stories were shared. There was an equal amount of excitement, too, for all of the camps and events we still have to look forward to this term.
We received news from the Tertiary Institutions Service Centre (TISC) this week, informing us that following the release of the Australian Universities Accord Final Report by the Federal Government, Western Australian Universities have decided to delay the commencement of Early Offers until Monday 2 September this year. Eastern states made this change last year so the change is not entirely unexpected.
Fortunately, the academic culture of our Year Twelve students, particularly over the last three years, has been positive, despite the onset of Early Offers, and our students remain engaged and strive to do well until the end of the year. Our current Year Eleven and Twelve students have started the year with the same positive attitude to their studies and while the news about the change of date for early offers is significant, the impact will be minimal for our students and programs here at Great Southern Grammar. Please do not hesitate to contact Renae O’Donnell or me with any queries about this news.
NAPLAN
We are all excited to be starting NAPLAN next week and look forward to the smooth running of this program. We appreciate your support with making sure that all students in Years Seven and Nine arrive at school with fully charged laptops and a set of earphones. Please see a reminder of the schedule below:
| 7A | 7B | 7C | 9A | 9B | 9C | ||
| Wed 13 March | Writing | WB 14 | WB 15 | WB 21 | PC 2 | PC 3 | PC 4 |
| Thu 14 March | Reading | WB 14 | WB 15 | WB 21 | TC 7 | TC 9 | TC 10 |
| Fri 15 March | Language Conventions | WB 14 | WB 16 | WB 21 | PC 1 | PC 3 | PC 4 |
| Mon 18 March | Numeracy | WB 14 | WB 15 | WB 16 | WB 19 | WB 20 | WB 21 |
Catch up sessions will be held each morning Tue 19 March to Fri 22 March.
A Learner’s Toolkit
I have had many examples of our Learner’s Toolkit being used over the last week. Mr. Ritche has built in SketchNotes from Visualise It and a Cornell Notes template from Read It into his fieldwork booklets.
Students in our Endeavour Boarding House have been using flash cards and Blooket Online quizzes from Jumble It to help them prepare for assessments. They have also been highlighting sections of their notes requiring clarification in their next Science lesson.
Did your family talk about A Learner’s Toolkit over the long weekend and the strategies it suggests to help our students with their learning.
Values and Christian Service (VACS)
Our Term One program is well under way and students have been enjoying their first rotation. Our students in Years Ten, Eleven and Twelve have been positive about the changes made to their Sport rotation following our review at the end of last year. Students now move through five sports with their team and play different groups of students from each House each week.
Students in Years Seven to Nine are engaged with their Arts and Culture rotation and thriving on working with teachers who are working in an area outside of their usual context. They also enjoy the freedom of working on something that will not be assessed and we coach them on enjoying the process, while exploring how our values of integrity, respect, commitment and compassion can be demonstrated.
Mrs Victoria Turnor | Head of Secondary