Strategic Development & Organisation
Ms. Jodie Connell - Deputy Principal
From the Deputy Principal – Strategic Development & Organisation
Welcome to Term Three. I hope everyone was able to enjoy some downtime over the break and that students are feeling refreshed and renewed as they begin their studies for the final semester of the school year.
End of Semester Reports
At the end of last term, you would have received an email alerting you to the availability of End of Semester Reports through the PAM portal. I want to remind parents of the importance of looking at these results to discuss your child’s progress and take an active role in encouraging them to perform to the best of their ability.
VCE and School Assessed Coursework
As we work through the second half of the year students are beginning to prepare for or complete assessment tasks. Many of our VCE students are currently undertaking School Assessed Coursework (SACs). Parents are encouraged to use the online portal, PAM, to regularly check for work tasks and access student results for assessment tasks including SACs. Teachers provide students with feedback on their assessments. This may be in the form of an attached rubric, written comments on the task, or as teacher feedback through PAM. This feedback is about improvement and acting on feedback from teachers allows students to move forward and become more independent learners.
Subject Selection
Your child’s subject selection for the 2025 school year is of critical importance. It is why we invest so much time and energy into making this an engaging process for our students. It is important because students will succeed most in a subject when they do something they enjoy, are good at, and/or need for their chosen course or occupation.
At Mary MacKillop Catholic Regional College, the subjects we ultimately decide to run are determined by what students elect to study. If enough students do not choose a subject, then it will not run. Consequently, subject selection and submitting preferences is critically important for your child to:
- Avoid subjects not running, when students in fact want to do them
- Ensure we run an adequate number of classes for popular subjects
- Ensure that the timetable is constructed to maximise access to the subjects that students choose.
- Avoid missing out on doing subjects if they want to change subjects at a later stage
- Minimise the number of subject changes so that students do not miss valuable lessons.
Your role in this process as a parent or caregiver is important. Firstly, I would like to encourage you to ensure that it is your child’s dreams and choices that you should foster, not your dreams or choices for your child. You can do this by listening carefully to your child, asking probing but non-threatening, non-judgemental questions, and challenging them to be open and inquiring about their future options. Their goals can be achieved through many different pathways so students must choose courses and subjects realistically and base this upon their passions and strengths.
Over the coming weeks, students will be introduced to subject selection 2025, and what programs are on offer at each year level. The sessions will provide specific subject advice and the chance to ask the subject teachers questions.
We will be running a Subject expo for students currently in Years 9 and 10 to explore what is on offer for their studies in Year 10 and 11 in 2025. Students will have time allocated throughout the day on Monday 29th July to visit the stands and ask questions of the relevant key staff. The displays will remain open for parents to visit after school and parents will also have the opportunity to speak with staff about the curriculum offerings and pathways available for students in 2025.
Year 10 students will have an individual course advice session on either Monday 5th August or Wednesday 7th August. These meetings will help clarify the course of study for students and provide a final opportunity to have any questions answered before submitting their web preferences. Bookings for these sessions will be done via PAM. More specific information will be sent out over the coming weeks.
Practice Papers
The two most important words for Year 12. Research shows that practice papers are the single most significant thing a student can do to increase their performance in their final year. It is unequivocal. The top students do more practice papers than other students. Indeed, the number one variable for accurately forecasting a student’s performance in Year 12 is the number of practice exams they do.
It is never too early for Year 12 students to be putting revision notes together and starting to complete past exam papers. Speak to your teachers about how best to revise. This should be a slow and steady preparation for exams, not a sprint at the end to be exam-ready.
Elevate Education Parent Webinar Seminars
Elevate Education continues to provide parents of Mary MacKillop Catholic Regional Student College exclusive access to their Parent Webinar Series for Term 3, 2024.
To reserve your spot, you can register for free below,
Wednesday 7th AugustHow to Get (And Keep!) Your Child Motivated!
Click here to register for free
Here’s what Elevate will be covering on the night:
✅ What impact does praise and reassurance have on your child’s motivation?
✅ What are the best type of goals to be setting with your child?
✅ How can you help your child create meaningful and lasting motivation?
Wednesday 21st August How You Can Make Technology an Ally (& Not the Enemy!)
Wednesday 4th September How To Help Your Child Improve Their Note Taking
Wednesday 18th September How You Can Support Your Child During Exams
The webinars are run live online from 6.30 pm – 7.30 pm (AEST) where the presenter will share Elevates 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.
✉️ auscoaching@elevateeducation.com