Senior School Report

Message from the Assistant Principal - Senior School

Term 2 is a very busy time for Senior School students and staff, with our students working towards the successful completion of their first semester of studies at their respective levels in Senior School. 

Our year 10 and 11 students will shortly undertake their examinations, with the year 10 students undertaking an exam in each of their core, five subjects, and year 11 students undertaking an exam in each of their chosen VCE subjects. All year 12 students are now starting to prepare for the General Achievement Test (GAT) which will be held on Tuesday June 18th.

3-Way Partnership 

Parental engagement recognises the important role that both parents and teachers play in developing positive attitudes towards learning and education. Building students' motivation and confidence as learners, while fostering their enjoyment of learning is vital for success in the classroom. As a Senior School team we are focused on strengthening parental engagement through building our connected community. This includes providing information to help parents engage with their child's learning to create positive change. 

A key aspect of parental engagement involves family-school partnerships. Partnership with parents and families plays an important role in children’s learning, development and wellbeing, and research indicates that children generally do better when there are positive connections between the learning spaces at school and at home. 

ECSC supports students' academic achievement through the monitoring of Google Classroom, reviewing and discussing the most recent Progress Reports, encouraging them to actively study and learn at home; helping families to respond early to children’s learning challenges; and extending children’s learning around the things they are passionate about, such as extra curricular interests at school or beyond. 

Family Support of Senior School Students

• Attendance at the Year 10 into Year 11 Information Night (see Compass post) 
• Book your attendance at the Year 10 into Year 11 Course Selection Day via Compass
• Review your student's Term 2 Progress Report - how is their attendance going, are they on track to successfully complete subject/unit?
• Discuss with your child the upcoming examinations - how will they prepare, do they have a designated place to study?
• Support students with their studies by ensuring they are prepared for exams, they have the resources they need - highlighters, student work books, winter uniform etc.

Semester One Examination Expectations - Senior School

Senior School students will be sitting examinations at year 10 -12 this semester. The Year 12 students will be sitting the VCAA General Achievement Test (all students doing a unit 3/4 unit on Tuesday 18th June). Please support your child and the College to ensure your child successfully completes the examination period. 

Senior School expectations include:

• Students will only be permitted to enter the examinations in full school uniform. Students not in school uniform, unless prior arrangements have been made, will be required to sit the examination after school.
• All students will remain in the examination for the full duration.
• Students are unable to bring any non-approved electronic devices into the exam such as smart watches, phones, etc. These devices must be secured in student lockers or left at home. Students will have a final opportunity to declare and hand in their device at the commencement of the exam.
• Students found with an unapproved device after reading time, may receive a score of 0 for the examination.
• Approved items such as calculators for exams such as Mathematics. Subject teachers will inform students of the approved resources and devices for each exam.
• Students may only bring a clear water bottle, with no labels, into the exam.
• Students may only bring into exams pens, pencils etc. in clear plastic sleeve or bound with rubber band.
• Students who arrive 15 minutes late, will be unable to enter the examination.
• There will be limited opportunities for catch up exams because of extenuating circumstances. The exams are designed to allow students the opportunity to demonstrate their skills and understanding of subject or Unit.  

Year 12 Update

The Year 12 team is led by George Conway & Year 12 Coordinators Mel Broders and Viktorija Nikolovska.

Year Level Theme:  Unleash your Potential

Term 2 has been extremely busy and exciting for our Year 12 students as they now have less than 100 days left of official classes. We want to congratulate everyone, for their hard work and dedication during a busy term. This is a big milestone and as a College, we are proud of everyone's effort and resilience, as we begin to enter the spirit of the exam period. 

As a cohort, students have demonstrated their ability to ‘unleash their potential’ which is our fundamental theme this year. It has been a busy time in the life of a year 12 student at Edgars Creek Secondary College. Students have been busily working away to complete their unit 3 assessment and at this point, students are over halfway through their year 12 studies!

As we move into a very busy time for the students and their assessment, it is vital that students undertake the following advice:

1. Maintain a healthy study/life balance - study will be the priority for students at assessment time, but it is also important that students promote positive mental health. This can be achieved by ensuring that students dedicate some time to their hobbies, interests and other pursuits. This will help reduce stress and help students perform to their best ability on all assessments.
2. Continue to develop healthy study routines and schedules - as students will be continuing to spend a large amount of their time studying and preparing for assessments, it is important that they have a routine that they follow for study, and that they study in a quiet and clean area.
3. Space study out over the week - research shows that students will learn best, and remember more content, when they study for a subject in smaller blocks, multiple times a week (spaced learning). 4 x 40–50-minute study sessions, will allow students to learn more than cramming for three or four hours one day a week.

We are excited to announce that bookings are now open for parents/guardiansto book a place to attend the Year 12 Valedictory Dinner. 

The Valedictory Dinner is a unique and important event in your child’s life, the celebration of their academic achievement and dedication to their studies over the past 13 years. 

The event will be held at the Grand Reception Centre, on Friday 6th December, 2024. The event will include a three course meal which will be served with soft drinks. 

Please see Compass posts for further information on booking details.

Year 12 students have been involved in many excursions and opportunities this term including: 

• Health and Human Development - TAC exhibition
• Business Management - Yakult factory tour
• English - Framework of Ideas 'Personal Journey' incursion
• VM PDS - Excursions to the city and trades hall

Other excursions that are coming up include a Chemistry excursion, VCE Biology excursion, and presentations from external presenters regarding study and stress management.

Health and Human Development - Road to Safety 

Students had the opportunity to go to Melbourne Museum to experience the Road to Safety program run by the Transport Accident Commission (TAC). Students engaged in activities that further developed their skills regarding safety of Victorian roads for their upcoming Area of Study 2 SAC, commencing in Week 7.

Business Management - Yakult and Atura Hotel 

In Business, students are currently focusing on Operations Management. In week 4, students had the opportunity to experience a manufacturing and service based business in real life, at Yakult and Atura Hotel. Thanks to the Yakult factory, students were able to link skills regarding the operations in the manner of Yakult product production. Additionally, Atura Hotel allowed students to see how service businesses run, and link it back to knowledge learnt in the classroom, to further support them in their studies.

Chemistry excursion:

· Date: Thursday, 13 June 2024

· Students involved: All Year 12 Chemistry students

· Consent date: Friday, 07 June 2024

· Excursion details: Students will travel to Melbourne University to participate in interactive experiments investigating organic chemistry.

Year 12 VCE English practice exam:

·    Date: Monday, 11 June 2024

·    Time: 1:00 pm – 4:30 pm

·    Purpose: Students will sit an English practise exam. This will give the students the opportunity to receive feedback about their progress in English, as they enter Unit 4.

General Achievement Test (GAT)

·       Date: Tusday, 18th June 2024

FAQ’s – frequently asked questions

Why is the GAT important?

·    VCE students: For students completing VCE, the GAT is used for the following components. If a student is unable to sit their final external exams, then their GAT score will be a major component in deriving their study score for a subject. The GAT may also have a small influence on moderating a student’s study score for a particular subject. The GAT is also used to state whether the student has met the literacy and numeracy standards for a year 12 student. This may have an impact on any TAFE or university applications.

·    VCE VM students: If a VCE VM student chooses to apply for TAFE then they will need to state whether they have met the year 12 literacy and numeracy standard. This will be an important section of any TAFE application. 

Students are encouraged to review pass test papers.

·    Past GAT papers: https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/assessment/vce-assessment/general-achievement-test/pastGAT/Pages/index.aspx

Please see Compass Post for further information.

Year 11 Update

The Year 11 team is led by Sam Ritter & Year 11 Coordinator Casey Donohue 

Year Level Theme: White Water Rafting

The year 11 theme for 2024 is white water rafting. Students and teachers are being reminded throughout the year that like a rafting team going down dangerous rapids, “every person has a role to play in achieving success”. Teachers, students, the year 11 leadership team and everyone else in the school needs to work together so we can all achieve our goals.

On Thursday May 9th, Darren Pereira visited our college and presented his VCE Success Strategies seminar to our year 11 VCE students. Darren works internationally, as a motivational speaker and coach. The students were engaged by Darren's presentation using music, visuals etc. They then completed a workbook to guide their thinking and engagement.

This day was just small a part of our program to inspire and motivate our young people to strive for success! The motto of the session was... "To achieve great things in life is a choice. It's never whether you can. It's always whether you will". We know that our students got a lot out of the seminar and will utilise the skills and strategies throughout their VCE journey, as the feedback received was overwhelmingly positive.

Year 10 Update

The Year 10 team is Led by Hassan (Hass) Mansour & Year 10 Coordinators Jacqueline Marouche and Adam Ammouche

The School Formal is an important event and milestone for young people studying in Senior School. This special event is only open to year 10 students and will provide our students with opportunity to attend a formal dinner with their peers. The night involves students dressing up in formal attire (suit, tie, formal dress), with contemporary music, and a two course meal. The event will be supervised by school leadership, and there will be strict protocols to ensure the event is held in a safe manner. Please ensure you consent and pay by July 31st to avoid disappointment.

To be promoted into a Senior School certificate program such as VCE or VCE Vocational Major (VM) at Edgars Creek Secondary, year 10 students must achieve the following:

• Attain satisfactory completion of at least 4 of 6 subjects in semester 1 2024
• Attain satisfactory completion of at least 5 subjects in semester 2 to achieve 9 subjects over the year
• Attain satisfactory completion of English or EAL in semester 1 & 2
• Attendance rate of 85% in semester one and 90% over the academic year
• For Year 11 VCE Vocational Major entry (only)
  • Attain satisfactory completion of at least 3 of 6 subjects in semester 1
  • Attain satisfactory completion of at least 4 of 6 subjects in semester 2
  • Satisfactory completion required in EAL or English semester 2 is a prerequisite for entry into VM
  • If English or EAL is not successfully completed, additional testing will be required to determine the student’s readiness to proceed into a Senior Pathway Program
  • Attendance rate of 80% in semester one and 85% for academic year

The college will hold an important information night to outline the range of programs available for year 10 students moving into year 11 in 2025. 

The range of courses includes: VCE, VCE Vocational Major (VM), VET, Vocational Pathway Certificate (VPC), school-based apprenticeships/traineeships (SBAT), TAFE courses or a combination of these. Students choices must meet tight timelines, or students may miss out on preferred choices due to limited places. 

See the Compass post for specific details and to register.  

The Year 10 into Year 11 Course Selection Conference bookings are now open. 

All Year 10 students are required to attend an individual face to face course selection & counselling, with their parents/guardians. All families are required to make an appointment via Compass to attend, which will be held between 10:30 am - 6:00 pm on Wednesday July 24th. 

• I encourage you to book early to ensure the time is most convenient
• Student course and subject requests must be approved by parent/guardian.Each Year 10 class has been assigned to a specific Course Selection offer for the session but parents and students will also have opportunity to discuss courses and pathways with other key staff who will be present
• 2025 Course Selections will be based on Semester 1 results.Students who do not meet the criteria will be supported with course and career support, and may be provided with provisional places                
• Parents/carers can request an onsite interpreter to support them in the meeting via the Compass App. Parents, students and carers will also have access to specialist staff on day.