Secondary School
From the Head of Secondary
I have had the privilege over the last week of spending some time with two groups of Year Twelve students. On Friday, I caught up with the Year Twelve students that were not in the English exam and they shared reflections on their journey through GSG. While giving me some constructive feedback about some of our Year Eleven and Twelve programmes including Work Ready Life Ready and the alternate Year Eleven programme that ran while exams were on, I was impressed with the positivity of this group of students and their excitement for life beyond GSG. Even though they are only halfway through the year, they are already talking about the things they will miss after they have left.
One of the more striking points made by this insightful group was their desire to have had more wisdom as a Year Eight or Nine student. They talked about all the encouragement they were given by the school to work hard and develop good study habits but despite this, several of them were certain that they could just ‘start working hard and studying outside of school’ in Year Ten. They reported that by Year Ten, it is often too late and they wished that they could go back and set up good habits earlier.
I asked them what more we, as a school, could have done to support them with their study habits. The students said that there was nothing that they could think of. With the introduction of vertical Homerooms, I urged the Year Twelve students to really target Year Eight and Nine students in their Homerooms this week and talk to them about what they are currently working on and which assessments are on the horizon. I challenged the Year Twelve students to try to make the difference for this next generation of Year Eight and Nine students to create positive study habits. They are going to report back to me next week!
In the meantime, we have engaged the services of Elevate and introduced a period of Careers into the Year Nine program to help our students create enduring study habits. I wonder what our current Year Nine students will have to say when they are in Year Twelve.
On Sunday, I spent some time with another group of Year Twelve students who came into school to study in the Library for their exams. This group is also excited about their next steps beyond school and are learning some crucial skills around balancing study, wellbeing, paid work and other opportunities. This group is relatively inexperienced at managing the impact of being away at multiple camps, negotiating with their workplaces and keeping on top of their study and assessment schedules – a legacy of the COVID-19 years. However, they are learning quickly and on the whole, I have been impressed with this energetic cohort who are constantly putting their thoughts and ideas into action.
During our brain break, we also reflected on times gone past and how quickly they have found themselves in Year Twelve. They vividly remember their first day at GSG, camps and the fun they have had as a group progressing through the school.
Our Year Seven students are preparing for their camp later this term and I look forward to hearing their memories when they are Year Twelve students.
Elevate
We’re excited to announce that Elevate Education will be hosting a free webinar for our parents on Wednesday 7 June.
Elevate Education works with our students, delivering high impact workshops on study skills, motivation, wellbeing, and exam preparation. By tuning into their webinar series you will learn how you can help better support your children at home through reinforcing the skills they learn at school.
How to Help Your Child Prepare for Exams
Wednesday 7 June, 6.30pm (AEST)
Click here to register for free
In this webinar, we will be discussing:
- high priority work: the kinds of work students should be focusing on in the build-up to exams to maximise marks
- time management: how to ensure your child has enough time to prepare for their exams
- practice papers: how to prepare effectively using past questions and practice papers
Mrs Victoria Turnor | Head of Secondary
