Learning  

Dear Parents /Guardians,

Welcome back to Term 4 and I hope you are enjoying the season of spring which is the time of growth and new life. We can see this at the college with the blossoming of white flowering cherry trees. We also see it in our college community; on Saturday 7th October we welcomed our Year 7 2024 students to the college to undertake the transition testing and last week we farewelled our Year 12 students as they become young adults. 

This year we moved online for our Year 7 2024 which allowed the testing to adapt and change according to each individual student’s level of achievement. Later in the year all our current Year 7 – 10 students will also complete adaptive testing so that we can measure their growth and determine their individual stage of learning and adapt our teaching to suit the individual needs of each student. 

It was an honour to hear from the fantastic 2023 Senior Student Leadership team and their inspiring speeches. While the current focus for Year 12s is their VCE exams, there is more to life and learning at the Academy than the VCE exams.  

We are proud of the wonderful group of young adults who are moving forward into their next stage of life as passionate young adults who are lifelong learners and have the skills and dispositions to make positive changes in their world. 

In addition, I would like to take this opportunity to pass on my congratulations to all the award winners and to all of the class of 2023, we are very proud of the young adults you have become.

Good luck to all students who are completing Unit 3 & 4 exams. There are bound to be a few nerves and feelings of stress or anxiety leading up to and during the exam period. Please rest assured that this is normal and a certain level of stress is a good thing.

Survival Tips 

Here are a few survival tips for students as they approach exams. These are relevant to all students completing exams not just Year 12s.

• Sleep is important, you should be aiming to at least 8-10 hours sleep a night 
• Drink plenty of water and eat healthily and try to keep up some exercise for a healthy body and mind
• Have a timetable which details how long, when and what you will study as well as planning enough break, rest and relaxation time to unwind
• Complete practice exams in exam conditions
• It is more important for you to review and respond to feedback on a few practice exams rather than churning out lots of exams without reviewing them and learning from them
• Make sure your read and take note of the advice in the VCE assessment reports 
• On the day of the exam avoid stressful situations - plan to arrive in plenty of time with the correct equipment and don’t do any last minute revision or discuss what you do or don’t know with other students
• After the exam, avoid looking for the solutions and worrying about what you got right and wrong. Continue to look forward to the next exam or celebrate the end of your exams.
• Remember your ATAR does not define you, there are many paths to get to where you want to be. As long as you have done your best, you should be proud of your achievements.

These exams are a culmination of many hours, weeks and months of hard work by students and teachers. I would like to thank all families and teachers who have supported the VCE students throughout their time at the College but especially this year. We are proud of our student body and hope that they will be proud of their efforts and be rewarded for them with their results.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or feedback.

Ms Lucy Neil

Deputy Principal, Learning & Teaching