Marrung Education Plan

The Department of Education and Training introduced a 10-year Marrung Education Plan in 2016 with a view to educating school communities about Australia’s first settlers and supporting students with a Koori heritage to experience success throughout their schooling.

To maintain momentum for the program, and energise schools to best support all Koori students, this week, the North-eastern Victorian Region held a forum for Marrung Leads to share their strategies for supporting students in their learning, and to increase parental engagement with schools.

Scoresby Secondary College is excited to continue to build on the increasing positive supports for our Koori students. This forum enabled connections to be made with local Elders and Koorie support staff. This will assist the Vocational Major (VM) students as they work with and local Elders to plan for, and construct, a Yarning Circle within the school grounds. Accompanying this, VM students will develop a strategy for informing the school community about the purpose of such a circle and how it relates to the past and to today’s society.

Artificial Intelligence (AR)

Artificial Intelligence is rapidly becoming the go to software for some school and business users. During Term 1, the Department of Education (DET) restricted access to ChatGPT within Victorian government schools because the terms of service restricted access to those aged 18 years and over.

These conditions have now changed to permit access to those aged 13 years and over and as a result, the department has determined the interim restrictions on the use of ChatGPT should be lifted. Schools can now access ChatGPT through department servers.

A letter outlining the use of AI in schools will be available on Compass before Monday.

Women in Trades

There is currently a strong push for more women to pursue careers within the trades. To expose students, particularly females to the valuable careers that they can enjoy within the trades, a Young Women in Trades and Tech expo will be held at The Melbourne Exhibition Centre on the Wednesday 10 and Thursday 11 May. Some of our students have registered to attend this expo and will provide a report about their experience in the next newsletter.

2023 Student Attitudes to School Survey (AtoSS)

Scoresby Secondary College values student voice as a means to improving student engagement, wellbeing and quality instruction. For this reason, we are conducting a survey to find out what your child thinks of their school.

The AtoSS is an annual student survey offered by the Department of Education to assist schools to gain an understanding of students' perceptions and experience of school. Students will be asked about their thoughts and feelings in relation to their school, their learning, peer relationships, resilience, bullying, health and wellbeing, physical activity, and life in general.

This year, the AtoSS will be conducted within one class between the period commencing Monday the 22 May through to Friday 9 June.

When undertaking the survey, students are asked to think generally about the school, their classes, teachers and peers. This will provide us with an overview of the school climate across all classrooms and all year levels.

Mr Ayman Youssef

Assistant Principal Teaching & Learning

As part of our student leadership development, our college and sub-school assemblies are planned and run by our student leaders, providing our leaders, performers and other interested students, the opportunity to present in front of an audience. Assemblies are also an opportunity to deliver and communicate information to a larger group of students at once, as well as recognise and celebrate the efforts and achievements of our students.

Please regularly check Compass for the schedule of Assembly dates and locations.

Exams

Exams for students in Senior School will begin on Tuesday 6 June & Wednesday 7 June respectively. There are particular requirements for each year level – and a letter explaining all requirements will be sent out by Ms De Boer in due course.

The scheduled exams are designed to assess students’ learning over the course of the semester. Exams will be conducted in exam conditions, similar to the VCAA (Year 12) exams, to ensure students are prepared for these exams in the future. Our aim is for all students to build their confidence in sitting exams as well as develop the appropriate skills in preparation for exams, supporting and ensuring that they achieve their best.

10 Exam Tips for Students

Prior to the exam period, students are encouraged to follow these tips to ensure they are prepared, with minimal stress.

Before the Exam

1. Develop an exam study timetable

Once you have your exam timetable, plan when you will study for each exam. You will need to take into consideration all of your other activities (sport, work, family duties etc.). Don’t cram for exams – some people will claim they work best by cramming; however, this can cause increased stress levels on the body and this stress could be carried through to your exam; where you are more like to make errors through a lack of concentration.

2. Ensure there is a balance between studying and breaks

Study in sessions for about 1 hour, then take a break. For a break, get up out of your seat, move around the room/house, get a drink or something to eat and return to studying.

3. Organise a Study Space

Set aside a space in your house/room where you can study. A study with a desk and chair is ideal; however, the kitchen table might have to do. Studying on your bed is not conducive to achieving your best performance. Make sure you have enough space to spread your textbooks and notes. Ensure there is enough lighting and your seated position is comfortable. The space should be quiet, if this is not possible wear ear plugs.

4. Eat Well and Drink Plenty of Water

It is very important to ensure you are eating nutritious food and having a balanced diet. A well-balanced diet can assist transform a nutritionally imbalanced student into a healthy one. It is important to remain hydrated – water is the best for this. Drink plenty of water during exam revision and on the day of the exam.

A poor diet can impact on your blood sugar levels and effect your concentration.

5. Avoid Distractions

If you don’t need your computer, iPad/table, phone etc. to study then remove them so you can concentrate. If you can place your computer, iPad/table, phone etc. in another room then you should do this. Screens can stimulate the brain resulting in your focus being on the screen and associated applications rather than the task at hand. If you need to access your device to assist with your study, it is encouraged that you only have the applications you require open eg: turn off notifications, messenger etc.

6. Avoid too much caffeine

Some people think that drinking caffeine drinks (coffee, cola) and high energy drinks (V, Mother, Red Bull) can help stimulate the brain and keep you up so you can study for longer. These drinks are designed to stimulate the brain and body and therefore can affect the body’s natural rhythm so when it is time for the brain to relax and sleep it has difficulty doing this. This can make you feel tired the next day and your brain and body may not get the rest it requires for optimal performance.

7. Sleep

Staying up late the night before an exam is worst thing you can do. There will come a point where your productivity will decline. The body needs time to rest and recover after a hard day of studying to ensure it is refreshed for the exam ahead.

On the Day of the Exam

8. Eat Breakfast

Ensure that you eat breakfast on the day of the exam. For some exams, you will be sitting for 1½ hours up to 3+ hours for the GAT. It is important to be concentrating on your responses rather than your stomach.

9. Be Prepared

Ensure that you have the required materials for each of the exams eg: pens, pencils, ruler, eraser, and calculator (make sure that is it working) etc. Be aware of what materials you are allowed and not allowed to take into the exam room. Eg: calculators, mobile phone, specific materials etc.

Arrive at least 30 minutes prior to the start time of the exam. It is better to be early and waiting rather than arriving just on time or late and stressing about it.

10. Use Reading Time Productively and Read Questions Carefully

For all exams there is a period of time allocated for reading. This time is set for you to settle down and begin to understand what you are about to undertake. You should read all of the instructions of the exam and then begin to skim over the questions preparing yourself for what is about to occur. For essay base exams (English etc.) it is a good time to mentally prepare what you are going to write etc. opening paragraph, body text, etc. It is also important to read questions carefully as this is important in understanding the key terms and what the question is asking of you.

Information Nights

Planning for 2024 has begun. To ensure parents are well informed we will be holding Information Evenings early in Term 3.

Please see the dates below:

Year 11 and 12, 2024 (current Year 10 and Year 11 students) – Tuesday 18 July

Year 9 and 10, 2024 (current Year 8 and Year 9 students) – Tuesday 25 July August

Please be aware that subject selection forms will be due shortly after the information nights.

Mr Mark Corrie

Assistant Principal - Operations

Resource Centre

Term Two