Marist College Ashgrove Newsletter

Curriculum News

Ms Jennifer Smeed, Mrs Roxanne Rosenberg and Ms Tara Franklin

Year 12 External Assessment

As we enter our last full week of Year 12 External Assessment for 2021, I would like to again congratulate the boys on the way they continue to tackle their exams. It is also great to see boys working really hard during the examination sessions including writing and editing their responses right up until the last remaining minute to ensure their best work is submitted. Well done, gentlemen. 

 

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 absentee 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.

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

 

Year 12 boys are also reminded that the Wellbeing Hub runs meditation sessions before each External Assessment. These sessions begin 35 minutes prior to the exam start time and run for approx. 15 minutes. They are designed to provide some stillness for students in order to help calm nerves before entering exams. There is no need to book, just turn up! If you would like more information please email Mr Ruiz at ruizj@marash.qld.edu.au 

Year 12 Prizegiving

At the Year 12 prizegiving next week, students will be acknowledged by the presentation of several academic awards. These awards include:

  • The Champagnat Award for Conspicuous Effort in Study is awarded to students who receive a minimum of 90% of A’s in Areas of Application throughout Year 12.
  • The Brother Cyprian Memorial Trophy for Conspicuous Effort in Study is awarded to a Year 12 student who demonstrates academic diligence and receives the highest percentage of A’s in Areas of Application throughout Year 12. In the event of a tie the following criteria are used in the following order to narrow the selection to one student;
    • Highest level of Pastoral grades throughout Year 12
    • Highest percentage of A’s in Areas of Application throughout Year 11
    • Highest level of Year 12 Academic Achievement
  • The Brother Harold Memorial Award for Applied Vocational Studies is awarded to a Year 12 student who has received a VET Award throughout senior and is enrolled in two or more VET Certificate courses. The recipient must have completed a minimum of three Work Experience placements through the College or have actively sought a School Based Apprenticeship pathway, secured an apprenticeship or is in a strong position to receive one in the future based on their hard work, perseverance and commitment.
  • First, second and third in subject awards are presented to students whose total marks in General and Applied subjects from Unit 3 and 4 place them as first, second and third of the cohort of students who studied this subject. In the event where there is a tie in Unit 3 and 4 marks (e.g. both students finish on 75/75) the marks from summative assessment across Unit 2 and 1 will be used to determine the placings.
  • The Brother Ignatius Memorial Trophy for Senior Proficiency is presented to a Year 12 student whose confirmed aggregate results from the internal assessment items of Units 3 and 4 rank in the fourth highest position.
  • The Brother Andrew Memorial Cup for Third Aggregate in Year 12 is presented to a Year 12 student whose confirmed aggregate results from the internal assessment items of Units 3 and 4 rank in the third-highest position.
  • The Thomas Foley Memorial Cup for Second Aggregate in Year 12 is presented to a Year 12 student whose results confirmed aggregate results from the internal assessment items of Units 3 and 4 rank in the second-highest position.
  • The Brother Terence Heinrich Memorial Prize for Frist Aggregate in Year 12 is presented to a Year 12 student whose confirmed aggregate results from the internal assessment items of Units 3 and 4 rank in the highest position.

Year 10 and 11 Exam Block

Year 10 and 11 Exam Block will run from Tuesday 16 November - Tuesday 23 November. The block provides students with the opportunity to study for their exams from home when they are not required on campus for exams. This exam block privilege is provided to students who are up-to-date with assessments for all subjects (including their VET courses and Work Skills modules). If your son has not submitted an assessment or completed the tasks to a reasonable standard, he will be required to remain at school over this exam block in order to catch up on this work. You will be contacted before the commencement of the exam block via email if this applies to your son. If you have any questions about this process please do not hesitate to contact the Secondary Learning Leader, Mrs Tara Franklin, at franklint@marash.qld.edu.au.

 

On Friday 19 November, there are no scheduled exams for students in Years 10 and 11. This is to allow these students to attend the Year 12 farewell celebrations. Students are expected to be at the College in full school uniform by 10:45am. They will need to sign in and out at the Champagnat Centre to show when on campus. Boys will be allowed to leave after the event has concluded at approximately 1:00pm.

Year 7 to 9 Exam Block

The Middle School exam block (Years 7-9) will run from Monday 15 November to Tuesday 23 November.  All students will remain in normal timetabled lessons unless there is a scheduled exam. 

 

If your son misses a scheduled exam due to illness or family matters, he will be able to make up this assessment on Tuesday 23 November from 3:00-5:00pm in the Senior School library.

Friday Academic Detention

As per the College Diary students will be placed on Friday academic detentions for not meeting classroom expectations.  This may be due to missed homework, incomplete drafts or non-submission of assessment to name a few. 

 

The College has introduced Pastoral Comment (PC) entries for Curriculum Leaders to enter details for Friday academic detentions.  This process will send automatic notifications to parents and students via Parent Lounge and Student Café.  Parents are asked to acknowledge notification of this detention when issued. 

 

Parents and guardians will be notified via email of a PC entry and will be directed to Parent Lounge to view and acknowledge the notification. 

Steps to follow are:

 

1. Parent Lounge: click on the notification tile 

 

2. A drop-down item will appear with details pertaining to PC Entry.  Click on ‘see more’ to read further details for the Pastoral Care Entry.

 

3. Once you have read the reason for the detention, please tick on the acknowledge box.  If you would like to see other PC Entries your son may have received please click on the ‘show history’ link.

Year 11 Academic Check-in meetings- bookings close at the end of the week

All Year 11 students are invited to book a time with a member of the Academic Care Team (Ms Jen Smeed, Mrs Roxanne Rosenberg and Mrs Tara Franklin) to discuss academic progress in Units 1 and 2 and set goals for Units 3 and 4.  ATAR eligible students will be given a prediction based on Units 1 and 2 progress. Please note final ATAR will be calculated on Units 3 and 4 so this prediction is a guide only.

 

Bookings are to be made by the student through the Marist Learning Portal:  Pastoral > ASH Program > Year 11 Academic Meetings or by clicking this LINK

 

Students, please note the following when booking:

  • You are welcome to invite your parents / guardians along to the meeting. Be sure to confirm that they are available before selecting your timeslot.
  • You will be given the option to select a suitable date, time and teacher.  It is first in best dressed.
  • It is your responsibility to notify your teacher if this meeting is during class time by showing them your booking page in Moodle.
  • Please take careful note of your date, time and venue and be punctual to your appointment.

Students who have not booked in after this week will be allocated a time after the block exam.

 

Meetings with Mrs Rosenberg and Ms Smeed will be located in the Studies Office.

Meetings with Franklin will be located in the Careers Information Centre.

 

Any questions please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Tara Franklin or Ms Jen Smeed.

Week 6 Study Tips @ Study Hall

In the lead up to Exam Block next week the Study Hall session will be covering completion of assignments, summarisation skills including specific techniques for mathematics and general tips for exams. Study Hall is on Tuesday 3:30pm-5:00pm and repeated Thursday 7:45am-8:30am.

 

We wish our students all the very best with their end of year assessments!