SENIOR School

Dear Parents/Carers and Students 

Term 3 is a nostalgic time on the Senior Campus. This is the final term of full learning for our Class of 2024. You can see the excitement and reflection on their faces as they consolidate their plans for their first chapter out of formalised secondary school studies. Our Year 11 cohort also feel the impact of this transition period as they start to prepare to be the leaders of the school as the Class of 2025. In this newsletter addition, I provide some important reminders about the September Holiday Practice examinations for any student studying Unit 3 and 4 and VTAC applications.

A note to the Class of 2024. As I write this, our Year 12 students are busy finishing content and final assessments before they commence preparation for their September Holiday Practice Examinations in advance of their VCAA End-of-year examinations. Our VCE VM students are also completing their VET, Structured Work Placements and final assessments before they complete structured classes. I’m incredibly proud of our Year 12 VCE and VCE VM students. They continue to grow and improve and demonstrate the fundamental qualities of a Frankston High School Graduate. They are kind, respectful to themselves, each other and our community and strive to achieve Optima Semper, Best Always. I wish them all the very best as they prepare for their end-of-year examinations or into further studies and work. 

For our Year 12 students, as you prepare for your final examinations, I encourage you to stay focused and dedicated during this crucial revision period. While it is important to give your studies your best effort, remember to balance your hard work with moments of rest and relaxation. Take care of your health, both physically and mentally, and stay connected with the relationships that support and inspire you. We are all incredibly proud of the journey you’ve taken to reach this point, and we have every confidence that your determination and resilience will lead to success. Best of luck, and remember, your well-being always comes first.

A heartfelt thank you to our incredible Senior Team: Ms Kelly Mitchell, Ms Kate Burgess, Mr Jack Barbour, Ms Brittany Harvey, Ms Kerryn Elrick, Mr Alex Trickovic, Ms Tina Thomas, Ms Carolyn Mciver, Ms Sharon Bourne, Ms Michaeli Lyon, Ms Jessica Bambridge, Ms Claudia Tymms, and Ms Melissa Donegan, for their unwavering support and encouragement of our Year 11 and 12 students throughout Term 3. Your dedication has made a lasting impact, and we deeply appreciate your commitment to guiding our students through this pivotal stage of their studies.

Enjoy a restful holiday and we will see you back on the Senior Campus in Term 4.

Ms Tiffany Greenhill

Campus Principal

Looking ahead

Included below is a list of key days that could use useful for Year 11 and 12 families. 

Year 12 September Holiday Practice Exams

Starting on Wednesday 25 September, the first week of holidays, all students studying a Unit 3 and 4 Year 12 subject will be sitting practice examinations. These examinations play an integral role in preparing students for their end-of-year VCAA examinations. From these, their teachers and the student identify strengths in their learning and gaps which should help focus their study. Teachers also draw on these, in addition to their results throughout the year, to develop their Indicative Grades which are provided to VASS/VCAA. The primary purpose of collecting these indicative grades is to support the quality assurance procedures for marking external assessments. They help to identify possible anomalous marking of individual student responses. Indicative grades will also be used in the calculation of the Derived Examination Score (DES). 

If a student is absent from a practice exam due to illness, they will be required to reschedule the missed exam to the next suitable practice exam block with a corresponding reading and writing time. 

The Principal Team will be facilitating the Practice Examinations during the holidays working with the Chief VCAA Examination Supervisor and their team exam supervisors. 

Year 12 VTAC Course Applications 

During our Term 3 Student Voice classes, their Year 12 Course Counselling with Ms Sharon Bourne and Ms Michaeli Lyon and in Year 12 assemblies we have been supporting students to create their VTAC account and submit their course preferences via the application system on VTAC.

An important reminder that the VTAC application fee is $60 for a timely application and must be paid by 5.00pm 30 September.  Remember we want students to apply well before this date.   It rises to $150 from 5.15pm 30 September.  Very late applications will cost $195 from 5.15pm 1 November. 

Our advice is for students to submit an application and complete payment by the last day of term, 20 September, in case they experience any issues where they may need our help to resolve them, before we commence the school holiday break. 

It is also important to know that applicants can submit their application but continue to make changes up until the change of preference deadline which is 14 December (12.00 pm), prior to the offer round in December. 

Students and parents/carers are encouraged to engage with the comprehensive updates from our Careers Team via Compass and the Frankston High School Careers Website.         

Thank you to the work of our Careers Team – Ms Jessica Bambridge, Ms Sharon Burne and Ms Michaeli Lyon - for supporting our Year 12 students to prepare for their next steps after Secondary Educations.            

VTAC continue to offer online seminars for students and parents about VTAC processes. See links below.

Study Tips

During a Year 12 Term 3 assembly, the Year 12 Psychology teaching team provided the students with evidence-based studying tips. Included below is a summary of these relevant for all Senior Campus students.

Importance of Sleep 

• Adolescents require 9-10 hours of sleep per night
• REM Sleep: Important for consolidation of learning/memories. (if students do not have enough sleep, they will not create the neural pathways they need to remember content/concepts).

An infographic to strategies to improve sleep hygiene.

Train the way you play:

Students are encouraged to revise in a way that mimics the conditions of the exam. This could include external cues like clocks and smells. After the second week of Term 4, Year 12 students do not have structured scheduled classes and will have revision periods. Students are encouraged to study at the same time of their VCAA examinations. 

Students have been given their VCAA exam timetable. Here is a digital link to the VCAA timetable: Pages - VCE examination timetable (vcaa.vic.edu.au)

Ditch digital distractions:

A study by Professor Michael Posner at the University of Oregon found that if you are focusing on something and you get interrupted, on average it will take 23 minutes for you to get back to the same state of focus (Stolen Focus, Johann Hari). Students are encouraged to:

• Turn off notifications so that they don’t see them pop up on the screen
• Turn their phone to grey-scale so it is not as tempting to look at
• Log out of social media apps so that it will take more effort to check them
• Set up focus mode on phone
• Set aside timed 'study breaks' to check phone. But also use this time to keep your focus up. For example, grab a drink of water or take a short walk.

Active Revision Techniques 

Historic research that demonstrates the ‘Forgetting Curve’ highlights how important multiple reviews of information is at enhancing retention. The graph below shows the importance of active revision strategies over passive learning. Some active revision techniques are included below.

• Teaching someone else (a peer, a willing family member, work colleague or pet!) a concept aloud helps a student identify what they do know. Especially if they can ask follow up questions. Gaps in understanding will be obvious, as they will have nothing to say.  If they don’t know the answer to their question, this will be obvious.
• Complete practice questions and exams. This allows students to see how the content will be assessed. It helps identify their strengths and weaknesses. It is also good for practicing time management. Students can do these one of 3 ways:
  • Open book, open time (great for revision/application)
  • Open book, closed time (notes but you have time limit)
  • Closed book, closed time (exam conditions)

Students are reminded about the importance of getting practice questions corrected either by self-marking or getting teacher feedback. Students are encouraged to use the marking guides on the VCAA website: Examination specifications, past examinations and examination reports (vcaa.vic.edu.au). Just make sure they double check the year of the Study Design.

Senior Canteen Operating Hours During Term 4:

Tuesday 29 October: CLOSED

Monday 4 November: OPEN during RECESS ONLY

Monday 11 – Thursday 21 November: OPEN throughout Year 11 exams

Friday 22 November: CLOSED

Monday 25 – Friday 29 November: OPEN throughout Early Commencement