Learning and Teaching News

NAPLAN – Years 7 and 9 

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests for Years 7 and 9 will take place in Weeks 7 and 8 of this term. These assessments are an important way of tracking your child's academic progress and identifying areas for improvement. To help ensure your child feels confident and well-prepared, we encourage them to take part in practice sessions. The public demonstration site (https://www.nap.edu.au/naplan/public-demonstration-site) offers valuable resources where students can access practice questions and familiarise themselves with the test format. Our students will also continue engaging in literacy and numeracy initiatives during their classes to support their preparation for the upcoming tests. 

In Week 2, students in Year 7 and 9 participated in NAPLAN Readiness Testing. If your son was absent, please note that this event was primarily for system testing and for students to become familiar with the platform. He can still log on to the public demonstration site (link above) to practice and get familiar with the format. 

The specific testing schedule for NAPLAN has been sent to parents of Years 7 and 9 students via email (and is also listed below). 

A reminder that students will need to bring: 

• A fully charged laptop 
• Charger (for IT support) 
• Wired headphones/earphones 
• A pen 
• A water bottle 

If you have any questions about NAPLAN, please contact Mrs Leigh Jackson, Assistant Head of College – Learning and Teaching – Middle Years, at jacksonl@marash.qld.edu.au.

Head of College Award winners

Classroom learning culture is one of the cornerstones for success. We congratulate the following boys for achieving an A in all behaviour, application and effort rating areas in their 2024 Semester 2 report: 

Year 7, 2024

Severiano Ahlholm, Jacob Ashton, Benjamin Arcus-Simpson, Samuel Bennett, Julian 

Bishop, Oscar Broad, Angus Burton, Pedro Chadud, Nicolas Cienfuegos, Ned Clifford, Jayden Cooper, Jimmy Corbett, William Croft, Jack Donohue, Morgan Elphinston, Oscar Elsworth, Louis Fornazaric, Brasco Forrest, Patrick Garton, Isaac Gervais, Thomas Graham, Jayden Graham, Frankie Hain, Jack Hamilton, Harry Heather, Xavier Hill, Mitchell Hind, Alexander Holding, George Holland, Xavier Hunter, Dillan Keane, Luke Keir, Hunter Kayra, Casey Kuhnert, Henry Mackay, Quinn Mahoney, Cormac McKenna, Hamish McAndrew, Caleb McCluskey, Lachlan McDonough, Joshua McLean, Toby Mill, Flynn Mohr, Ethan Moody, Thomas Munro, Isaac Nicholson, Leo O'Rourke, Oliver Petrie, James Phelan, Quinton Reibelt, Sean Rennick, Toby Russell, Ronan Sadimenko, Jack Somerville, Charlie Spokes, James Stute, Kobe Summers, Jed Taylor, Joseph Tickle, Preston Ryder, Noah Watherston and Ethan Wu.

Year 8, 2024

Isaac Bell, Andrew Boys, William Broughton, Nathaniel Christison, Jack-Dylan Cootes, Thomas Davis, Oliver Davis-Dodd, Teo Dehamel, Remi Dehamel, Leo Doolan, James Doolan, Jack Dunstan, Caleb Fuller, Jackson Harney, George Henderson, Jakob Ibrahim, Darcy Jackman, Mitchell Keen, Yuvraj Keeney, Charlie Kelly, Xavier Kelly, Jack Lambley, Felix Law, Barnabas Leadbeater, Hayden Lockhart, Ethan Londema, Isaac Long, Liam Lunney, William Marshall, Hudson Melrose, Lewis Neighbour, Aarav Patel, Riordan Patterson, Gabriel Pua, William Quinn, Thomas Ryan, Remington Sakzewski, Thomas Shaxson, Parker Stayte, Maverick Tucker, Xavier Tyndall, Henry Walker, Jesse Walter, Timothy Watts, William Webster and Lucas Weigl.

Year 10, 2024

Aiden Agnew, Benjamin Allpass, Joshua Bellett, Oliver Bishop, Ky Campbell, Tyson Cooper, William Davis, James Dee, Lucas Dempsey, Jack Duncan, Leonardo Duarte Schmidt, Oliver Eaton, Thomas Farrell, Levi Fisher, Harper Frazier, Benjamin Hawley, Tristan Huth, Alessander Javier, Dylan Jennison, Cade Kelly, Daniel Londema, Sebastian Martinuzzi, Toby McCormack, Max McGuinness, Ryan Mullin, Joseph Murphy, Lachlan Nisbett, Sean O'Riordan, Archie Powell, Henry Robinson, Max Russo, Samuel Smith, Ruben Smythe, Gianlucca Stacke, Matthew Stower, Daniel Thirgood, Isaac Ting, Caden Tucker, Nicholas Weaver and Harry Zappert.

Assessment Schedules   

Assessment schedules have been released.  This document outlines the dates of all summative assessments your sons will have throughout the term. Parents and students are encouraged to review these documents so our boys can manage their time effectively, plan their study routines, and approach assessments with confidence.  

Please note that assessment due in ‘Exam Block’ can take place any day during the exam block week.  Boys are to be ready for their exam from the start of the exam block. Year level specific exam block schedules will be released late next week. 

All students from Years 7-11 are expected to be present at school during the Term 1 exam block. Year 12s will not be required to be at school when they do not have an exam rostered but must be available during the entire exam block. For any student from Years 7-12, please do not arrange holidays during this time.  If your son is unwell, he will need to obtain a medical certificate. 

Boys will be able to locate the schedule in the Orbit app and Student Café on the portal under “Exam and Assessment Schedule Information”. Your son is encouraged to download this schedule and transfer assessment dates to his College Diary and any home planners. Please note that the Parent Orbit app will eventually become the primary source of this information, as the College will be moving to this platform in future terms. 

Tutoring – Marist Subject Support

Marist Subject Support will launch in the coming weeks. The launch of this tutoring program aims to support each boy from Years 7 to 12 with their learning across a variety of subject areas. 

Tutoring will be offered by a variety of people in our community including old boys, teachers, boarding tutors and other staff. Each of these experts will provide support to our boys and provide them with an opportunity to correct, refine and improve their academic achievement. 

Marist Subject Support will be offered in the library before school 7:30am to 8:30am or after school 3:30pm to 4:30 pm with the days TBC.

More information to follow.

Preparation for Academic Success 

At Marist College, Ashgrove, we believe that being prepared is key to academic success. It is important for students to arrive in class ready to engage, with all the necessary materials for each lesson. We encourage parents to help their children develop good habits by ensuring they charge their laptops, use their college diaries, and organise their work with the prescribed coloured folders. These simple steps can make a significant difference in supporting students' learning and helping them stay organised. 

In addition to completing homework assignments, we recommend that students review their classwork each night. This extra step can reinforce their learning, boost retention, and help them stay on track with their academic goals. 

Your continued support in fostering these habits will contribute to your child's success in the classroom!

Year 12 Study Session 

On Wednesdays 5:00pm – 8:00pm, Year 12 students are able to access the Library for their own private study. This is a privilege for Year 12 students in preparation for their senior assessment and a recommended study habit. In the past, students have used this time to work on their external exam study nights, prepare their drafts, or even create small study groups. Students will need to sign in and out. They can arrive and leave at any time between 5:00pm – 8:00pm; but they are not able to keep coming and leaving during the night.

Laptop - Condition and Usage

The laptops are a key learning tool and in today's learning environments, the laptop is an often used and essential tool in the classroom.  

As parents, monitoring laptop condition is essential and we ask that you sight your son's laptop, check the overall function and usability of the machine and check the condition.  

If a machine is damaged it needs to be reported to IT immediately, as per the school's Acceptable Computer Use Agreement.  

A reminder below of the agreement:

 Elevate Education - Parent Webinar Series

 Study Tips