Learning and Teaching 

Congratulations to the Year 12 and 11 students on the way they approached and conducted themselves during the exam period. Exams are an important part of Assessment in the senior years and can be stressful times for students. One of the reasons we have exams in Years 9, 10, and 11 is to start the preparation for students early, so that when their exams in Year 12 do come around, the students have developed study techniques that work for them, and they are familiar with exam processes as well as command words in exams. 

Senior School and Term Zero

Our Year 12 students are now well entrenched in Term Zero and have all successfully started their 2024 classes. I would also like to draw your attention to the Edrolo program we use to support our students in the VCE. 

What is Edrolo?

Edrolo is a comprehensive, premium, interactive online video and exam simulation resource for the VCE, providing our students with the best opportunity to perform to their potential throughout the year. We have extensively assessed the resource and are confident it is an extremely valuable investment for our teaching and learning culture.  

You can see Edrolo in action by visiting this link: edrolo.com.au/parents/

How do students use Edrolo?

Edrolo is currently used by over 500 schools and 60,000 students. Crafted by outstanding VCE teachers (including exam assessors and textbook authors) and built in accordance with VCAA Study Designs, its curriculum-specific and engaging content will provide our students with a differentiated and targeted level of support as they prepare for their most important examinations.

How will our students and teachers use Edrolo?

We will use Edrolo as a tool to further enhance what our teachers are doing day-to-day. 

Our teachers are provided with training on how to best utilise the resource, and you should expect them to guide students to make full use of Edrolo in a range of ways across the year, including:

• holiday homework;
• pre-class work;
• post-class consolidation;
• assessment preparation; and
• exam revision.

Edrolo has been deemed an outstanding VCE resource, providing our students with the best opportunity to perform to their best with the support of our fantastic teachers. 

Edrolo Textbooks

There are a number of VCE Science and Humanities subjects that are using Edrolo textbooks for 2024. Please note that the cost of these books includes a printed textbook as well as the complete digital textbook with access to video solutions to every question in the book, exemplar solutions, and hundreds of exam questions. Staff also have access to digital data on how students are tracking including their understanding of content (strengths and weaknesses) as well as completion of class work. Please note the cost of the subscription is subsidised by the College, there will be a subject levy invoiced to families at the end of Term One, 2024 for these subjects in lieu of a cost on the booklist.

Year 10 Exams

All Year 10 Exams are conducted in Rooms 22-25. Students must wear their correct school uniform to each exam. Students who do not have a scheduled exam are required to be in the supervised study space (Rooms 38-39). 

All students would have received an exam timetable with specific times relating to their individual subjects. Students have been taken through a series of lessons on exam revision techniques and a number of key revision tools have been provided to them. 

Year 9 Exams

Our Year 9 students are about to embark on their first exams in the coming weeks. Exams are a summary of student learning that has taken place over the Semester and are used, along with Assessment Tasks, to determine a student's overall result for the subject.

Exams will run from Monday 4th December to Tuesday 5th December and will be held in Rooms 22 - 25. All year 9 Exams will have 10 minutes of reading time and 80 minutes of writing time

All students would have received an exam timetable with specific times relating to their individual subjects. Students have been taken through a series of lessons on exam revision techniques and a number of key revision tools have been provided to them. 

There are a number of benefits to completing exams; they play an important role in the process of learning, they are a great way to assess what students have learned in their studies, and strengths and weaknesses can also be assessed through exams. 

Handy tip for students

REVISION & PREPARATION:

• Make a list of the main topics/criteria/key knowledge for the unit of work for each of your subjects 
• Prioritise the topics from weakest to strongest in relation to confidence and comprehension – then start from the weakest and work your way through revisiting and refreshing your knowledge of each topic Revision strategies:
• Re-read over notes or textbook 
• Create cue cards, mind maps, posters, etc.
• Complete practice Questions –chapter review questions, workbook questions, relook at past assessments, topic tests etc. 

WELL BEING:

• Ensure you get plenty of sleep the night before your exam
• Ensure you have a healthy breakfast and/or lunch on the day of your exam
• Bring the appropriate materials – check with your subject teacher about what you can bring 
• Be confident – use the exam as an opportunity to showcase your knowledge 

READING TIME: 

• Use reading time productively – try and read the whole paper at least once 
• Take note of the questions they feel most comfortable with and respond to those first 
• Confirm which is the last page of the question and answer booklet

INTERPRETING QUESTIONS:

• Read the whole question at least twice to ensure they have interpreted it correctly 
• Take note of how many marks are allocated to each question – this is usually an indication of how many pieces of information they are required to give
• Never leave a question unanswered – especially a multiple-choice question
• Decode the question – use a highlighter to identify action words in the question to inform what length of detail your response requires – e.g. explain, discuss, compare, describe, state, define, rank, list, identify, etc. 

Booklists and Stationery Lists

Booklists and Stationery lists for 2024 are now available on the College Website.

https://www.mackillopleongatha.catholic.edu.au/discover-2/learning-and-teaching/school-resources-list-booklist/

Stationery lists need to be ordered by Friday 22nd December. The Collection Day will be Wednesday 24th January from 11am – 3pm and will take place in the 7/8 Building. 

Booklists need to be completed online by Friday 1st December to avoid additional fees. 

How to place your order - Campion Education

Ordering FAQ's - Campion Education

If purchasing second-hand online, please be sure to check the current booklists to ensure that you are purchasing the correct editions. Please note Edrolo books are reprinted and updated yearly, they will be distributed by the College at the beginning of Term One, 2024.

Elevate Education Parent Webinar Seminars

Elevate Education are continuing to provide parents of Mary MacKillop Catholic Regional Student College exclusive access to their Parent Webinar Series for Term 4, 2023. 

To reserve your spot, you can register for free below,

Click here to register for free

Wednesday 6th December

Setting up for Success

Here’s what we’ll be covering on the night:  

✅Effective Note Taking 

✅Deliberate Practice and Implementing a System of Review 

✅Extra Reading, and How to Read Around a Topic 

The webinars are run live online from 6.30pm – 7.30pm (AEST) where the presenter will share Elevate’s key research and skills, and will conduct a live Q&A so you can ask them questions directly. If you are unable to make the webinar, don't worry! If you sign up to attend, you'll receive the webinar recording on Thursday morning.

Should you have questions or would like to contact Elevate directly, their details are listed below.

📞 1300 667 945

✉️ auscoaching@elevateeducation.com 

💻 https://au.elevateeducation.com

👍 https://www.facebook.com/ElevateEd/

Year 10 Work Experience 2024

If you are able to help by placing a student in the week of Monday 3rd June to Friday 7th June 2024, please let Jenny Damon know via email jdamon@mmcrc.catholic.edu.au

Good luck to all our students as they prepare for their final assessments.