The College Courier

Important Announcements

“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.” (Helen Keller)

 

Our 2024 College theme, 'Be the Change', is so apt given our College’s vision to make a positive difference in the world, and it is obviously critical that we not only support our students to access knowledge to see where change might be needed but, equally importantly, support the development of the capabilities that will empower them. Those capabilities include, for instance, the ability to think critically and creatively, to be able to problem-pose and problem-solve, to collaborate and negotiate, and so on.

 

But what use is any of this if our students do not have a sense of optimism? A sense that they can, in fact, make a difference and help create a better world. 

 

Optimism is integral to empowerment and I fear, from talking with some of our students, that optimism is in short supply at the moment with many students reeling from the daily news of wars, of climate emergencies, of radicalized teenagers in their own neighbourhood, of domestic violence against women and children and teenagers and so on.

 

“If it bleeds, it leads” is a well-known news industry catch cry: bad news sells. And, while I am not one to advocate putting one’s head in the sand about life’s realities, if you tend to have the news on TV for much of the time at home, perhaps limit this so that our young people are not surrounded by constant messages of doom and disaster.

 

Further, good news is out there. Sometimes, we have to explore widely and dig deeply to find this gold, so essential to fuelling optimism, amidst the many bad news stories, but it is out there. While I am a fan, and seek the balance, of the BBC’s “The Happy Pod”, it is not the only podcast provider of good news. And it is important – in the absence of our news broadcasters providing a balanced perspective of events – that we, as the significant adults in our young people’s lives, strive to provide that balance in order to ensure our young people’s mental wellbeing as well their sense of hope and optimism that “we’ve got this”!

 

On that, a recent TED Talk Daily podcast by journalist, Angus Hervey, reminded me that our sense of optimism or pessimism about the world probably depends on from where we get our news.  Hervey aimed to redress the imbalance in our news. For instance, he said, some updates achieved across the globe in the last 12 months:

  • There are 50 million more girls in schools today than there were just under a decade ago;
  • At least 10 countries have passed laws expanding the rights of women, including France which recently became the first country to enshrine reproductive rights into its Constitution;
  • Extreme poverty declined to its lowest level in human history – an estimated 8.4%;
  • Deforestation across the Amazon Basin declined by 55%;
  • Violent crime in the USA declined to its lowest level since the 1960s;
  • A record number of countries have eliminated a disease;
  • Global AIDS deaths have declined to their lowest level since the 1990s (this was once the world’s deadliest infectious disease, and now we have the power to end it);
  • Carbon emissions in advanced economies declined back to the same level as 59 years ago;
  • Cancer death rates in the USA and Europe declined again;
  • Air pollution is falling in 21 of the world’s 25 largest cities;
  • We introduced that much wind and solar power that it changed the trajectory of our climate future, with China’s carbon emissions now predicted to start declining from this year;
  • A car powered by electrons was the world’s best-selling vehicle;
  • Batteries are now the fastest growing technology since humans made aircrafts in WWII;
  • 2023 was our greatest year in terms of conservation, with huge tracts of land protected in Alaska, the Amazon and southern Africa…

…and so the good news goes on.

 

Despite the many challenges facing the world over the past 12 months, still we have managed to make improvements, proving that progress is possible, and we need our young people to know and believe this. We know the importance of optimism to our wellbeing, so let’s make sure we find and tell the good news stories to our young people…and perhaps we can even ask for such balance from our news broadcasters as well.

 

“If we want more people to devote themselves to the task of making progress, then maybe we should be telling more people that it’s possible to make progress.” (Angus Hervey)

 

Belinda Provis

Principal

From the Director of Senior School (Teaching and Learning) – Ms Shannon Armitage

COURSE CHANGES

Please note that Semester 1 course changes for students in Years 9–12 are no longer possible. Year 12 students who wish to withdraw from a subject still have until August to make their final decision. The next opportunity for Year 11 students to make course changes will be in Week 8 of Term 2, immediately following the Semester 1 examinations. Year 9 and 10 students may request changes to Semester 2 options at the end of this semester.

 

YEAR 11 THREE-WAY INTERVIEWS

The Year 11 Three-Way Interviews, on Monday 10 June (4.00pm–8.00pm) will be virtual (online) conducted through Microsoft Teams. 

 

Teachers will call students through Teams, so students need to be ready to receive and join a call in Teams.

 

Parents who have a request for contact from a teacher in the Interim Report (released on Friday 24 February) are encouraged to make an appointment to see the relevant staff. If no contact has been requested in the report, it is not essential to attend the interviews, but parents are welcome to book an interview time.

 

The booking system will be available via the Parent Gateway on MyASC until Wednesday 5 June.

 

Year 10 accelerated students (enrolled in Year 11 courses) and parents are invited to attend the Year 11 Interviews, but it is not essential unless there is a concern regarding their progress. 

 

Further information on booking interviews and joining the Teams interview can be found on MyASC. 

 

Please be in touch with the Curriculum Support team should you have any questions or concerns regarding the Three-Way Interviews. 

 

SUBJECT SELECTION FOR 2025

The Years 9 and 10 Academic Handbooks will be available on MyASC during Week 7. Families can then discuss the subjects that the students would like to take in 2025. 

 

Early in Term 3, Year 8 students will meet with their Tutor teacher to discuss their Personal Pathway Plan and submit their preferences for their Year 9 program. 

 

Early in Term 3, Year 9 students will meet with their Head of House to discuss their Personal Pathway Plan and submit their preferences for their Year 10 program. 

 

Tutors and Heads of House will contact the students regarding a suitable time to meet in due course.

 

The recorded Information Sessions held online earlier this week will be made available to parents shortly. 

 

YEAR 10 FAMILY COURSE GUIDANCE DAY – Monday 17 June

On Monday 17 June, 8.30am–3.30pm, there will be a Family Course Guidance Day in the CPA Upper foyer, where students and families will have the opportunity to meet face to face with a member of the Course Guidance Team to discuss their course selection for Year 11. Students and families will be advised of their Counsellor and meeting times later in Term 2.

 

The Family Course Guidance Day booking system will be available Friday 7 June – 

Friday 14 June through the Parent Gateway.

 

YEARS 7–10 THREE-WAY INTERVIEWS – Tuesday 16 July 2024

Our Years 7–10 Three-Way Interviews to be held on Tuesday 16 July 2024, 9.00am–7.00pm will be virtual (online) conducted through Microsoft Teams.

  • It is not essential to attend the interviews.
  • Interviews for Mathematics, English, Science and Humanities will be for all year groups.
  • Interviews for French and Chinese will be for Year 8, 9 and 10 students. 
  • There will be no interviews with Tutors.

Please note that interviews will be 5 minutes long, and we ask that you do not make back-to-back bookings, to allow time for logging in and out of meetings.

 

The booking system will be accessible for parents to arrange interviews from 4.00pm on Thursday 20 June to Sunday 14 July at midnight.

 

Further information on booking interviews and joining the Teams interview can be found on MyASC.

 

TEACHING AND LEARNING POLICIES 

All school policies and procedures, including the current Senior School Assessment Policies, can be found here on MyASC.

 

Chaplain's Chat

It’s been a while since I’ve written for the Courier, but much continues to happen in the Chaplaincy space at ASC. It’s a joy to be in this role!

 

This term in chapel, we have begun thinking about what it means to belong to something – specifically, what it might mean for Christians to belong to their faith. Last week, we thought about how choosing to become a Christian is a bit like joining a team or club. In both cases, there are opportunities for learning, growing, building relationships, working with others, and connecting with the community.

 

We’ve also talked about how belonging to the Christian faith can involve making a public declaration through baptism, connecting to God in prayer, and sharing hope and love with others through word and action.

 

Along those lines, I would like to offer an opportunity for any students who may be interested in baptism or confirmation to spend some time with me to explore what this is all about. Following this, there would be an opportunity to be baptised or confirmed in the College Chapel at a special service with family and friends present.

 

Students of any age are able to be baptised, but confirmation is generally offered to students around 15 years of age and above (although some more mature students may be ready earlier). Confirmation is when a person confirms the promises made on their behalf if they were baptised as a baby or young child.

 

Please do get in touch, or encourage your student to get in touch, if they would like to discuss this opportunity.

 

And, of course, please do get in touch with me about anything else too. Let me know how I can pray for you or your family, if there is particular support I can offer, or tell me if you have an idea to share. I’d love to hear from you.

 

Peace and blessings

Rev. Liz

Chaplain

How to Access Pixevety

What is Pixevety?

Pixevety is a photo-sharing platform used by All Saints' College. Photos and videos of events and activities at the College are uploaded to Pixevety, where they can be viewed by students, parents and staff. Pixevety offers real-time, consent-based technology that customises the visibility and permissions of images and videos according to the wishes of parents and guardians of the children in the images.

 

Accessing Pixevety

  • Visit MyASC. 
  • Find the Yellow link icon (Quick Links) in the top right corner and click.
  • Select Pixevety in the drop down. 
  • You will be redirected to Pixevety and automatically logged in.