Curriculum and Learning
Years 7 to 11 Parent / Teacher Interviews and Student Academic Reports
By Friday 21 June, the Semester 1 Reports on students of Years 7 through to 11 will be available online to parents/carers via the TASS Parent Lounge.
The Year 11 Parent/Teacher interviews will be scheduled for the evening of Monday 24 June from 3:40 PM to 9:00 PM. The Years 7 to 10 Parent/Teacher interviews will be scheduled for the afternoon and evening of Thursday 27 June from 2:00 PM to 9:00 PM and on Friday 28 June from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM.
Parents/carers may book interview time slots themselves via the TASS Parent Lounge using the interview tab from 5:00 PM, Wednesday 12 June. The College will not be allocating interview times.
Parents/carers need to ensure Year 11 interviews are booked by no later than 9:00 AM, Monday 24 June and Years 7 to 10 interviews are booked by no later than 9:00 AM, Wednesday 26 June.
All interviews will be conducted on site. The Year 11 interviews are for 6-minutes and the interviews for Years 7 to 10 are for 5-minutes. 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 their sons’ teachers. There is also an expectation that students are present for the interviews.
Michael Cutrupi
Director of Curriculum
Year 8 Science: Heart Dissection
Last week, 8 Science 2, as part of their Semester 1 Biology Unit completed a dissection of a sheep’s heart. The class undertook the practical lesson to understand the components of hearts and where the parts of the heart such as the left and right ventricles are.
The class was split into groups of four and each group was given a sheep’s heart, scissors, cutting mat and a pointer to locate the parts of the heart. In previous lessons the class studied the heart and through the dissection we got to understand how the heart worked including the muscles and the directions of blood flow as we had studied in theory lessons.
Before the dissection we learned how to operate the equipment used and all the safety procedures while in the labs. The class thoroughly enjoyed the heart dissection lesson, and we are more enlightened now about how the heart works and what is inside the heart, this also means we have now completed our first dissection.
Jack Hannan
Year 8 Student
da Vinci Decathlon Final Results
The remaining results of the da Vinci Decathlon were published this week. Adding to the delight of our Year 10 team’s success, our Years 7, 8 and 9 teams achieved the following placings:
- Year 7 - 11th in Cartography and 12th in Code Breaking
- Year 8 - 8th in Creative Producers
- Year 9 - 14th in Legacy.
Once again, a huge congratulations to our Year 10 team for their outstanding achievements. In addition to their 1st place in the Ideation discipline, they also achieved 6th in Creative Producers and 11th in Mathematics. This helped the team to secure 14th place overall in the competition. A very impressive effort!
All students on the day enjoyed thrilling mental challenges as they competed against more than 60 other schools. Their achievements reflect the dedication and hard work of our students and the high standards of academic excellence we continue to strive for at the College. Congratulations to all for their efforts!
Here’s what Oliver Avvenevole, Lachlan Wodson and Roman Petrolo of Year 10 had to say:
Participating in the Da Vinci Decathlon was an extremely enriching experience as it challenged us with a variety of complex problems that required critical thinking and teamwork. We are extremely proud of our efforts as we were up against various schools of high calibre.
In the Ideation paper, we were tasked with designing a system in which Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) could enhance learning in schools. We proposed integrating A.I. into the education systems of specialised schools, to support students with disability and communication difficulties. Our paper outlined a vision statement for the outcome of our idea, we analysed and expanded on our initial thoughts, and created a prototype of the refined system. Our system involved implementing A.I.-powered technology—a tablet device—allowing students to clearly express their thoughts, feelings, and emotions to their teachers. Additionally, it provided learning enrichment and mental stimulation through various tailored activities and games. The day was enjoyable overall because of the sense of camaraderie and collaboration.
Felicia Ho and Heidi Viney
Learning Enrichment