Curriculum and Learning

Reminder: Year 12 Semester 1 Student Academic Reports and Parent / Teacher Interviews

As mentioned in last week’s issue of the Especean dated 27 March, Semester 1 Reports on students of Year 12 will be available online to parents/carers via the TASS Parent Lounge on Tuesday 9 April and Parent/Teacher Interviews will be scheduled for the following Thursday evening on 11 April from 3:40 PM to 9:00 PM.

There is still time for parents/carers to book interview time slots themselves via the TASS Parent Lounge using the Interview Tab. The College will not be allocating interview times. Parents/carers need to ensure interviews are booked by no later than 9:00 AM Tuesday 9 April.

All interviews will be conducted on site in the Mary MacKillop rooms. Interviews are for six minutes only. There is a two-minute break between each interview to allow the interviews to run smoothly. Please note that parents/carers cannot double book a teacher for a longer interview. Should more interview time be required, parents/carers may arrange with the teacher another mutually suitable time.

There is an expectation that parents/carers will book interviews with all of their sons’ teachers. There is also an expectation that students are present for the interviews.

For parents/carers encountering difficulties logging on to the TASS Parent Lounge, please contact the College’s IT Department via College Reception on 02 9763 1000.

If for any reason a parent/carer needs to cancel or change a booked interview time after 9:00 AM Tuesday 9 April, please contact the relevant teacher.

Michael Cutrupi 

Director of Curriculum

Year 12 Physics

In HSC Physics we are wrapping up Module 6, Electromagnetism, with applications of the motor effect. As part of this, we did a practical where we constructed our own motors. It's probably one of the most interesting and unique practicals we've done in Physics so far, with no written component as well so that's a plus (after the exam block). 

The practical required us to assemble a DC motor from some basic components: wire, magnets, axel, rubber bands, a cylinder and frame. Some students found the activity particularly tricky, as it is very small, fiddly and hard to construct if you have never done anything like this before. Despite this, Jonathan Lepessiotis was the first to get his motor fully operational. Darren Chou managed to make the best motor overall, and even added a second coil to improve the design.  

Overall, it was a fun and different practical that let us see a couple of the concepts we were learning about in practice. 

Max D’Ambrosio | Year 12