Senior School Report

Now that we come to the end of the Term, it’s a great opportunity for our Year 11 and 12 students to take stock, relax for a short while, and then take the time to get on top of things. VCE and VCAL often feels like a big jump for students, with stress levels increasing and workload growing every week.

To assist with this, we are currently putting together our “Term 2 SAC Outline” document, as we did for term 1 which was positively received. We are planning to have it available at Parent/ Teacher/ Student Conversations for collection, as well as posting on compass newsfeed. They won’t be posted home anymore, however, if you require a hard copy please don’t hesitate to contact us.

We have many students in the senior school working towards their life goals and achieving success.

We would like to explore the question, “What does it take to be successful as a Student?”.

Plenty of studies have been done around this, and I just thought it would be useful to summarise a couple of key points for parents and students to think about:

Above all, successful students are extremely hard-working students!!! The best VCE marks don’t always go to the brightest students – the best marks go to the students who work the hardest.
Successful students understand that obtaining a 90+ ATAR takes a huge sustained effort. That means working virtually every night, every weekend and during holidays.
- School is not a sprint – it’s a marathon. Slow and steady wins the race.
Successful students are positive thinkers – they are confident they will succeed.
- Remember, however, like a successful athlete who’s training is the main reason they do cross the line first, above all, successful students put in a huge amount of hard work. That is:
  - Without the hard work, “positive thinking” is merely “wishful thinking”.
Successful students have a well-balanced life. More often than not, the students who do well are the ones who also participate in the schools’ extra-curricular activities, are part of the local community and/or are involved in social groups.
Successful students care about their own health and well-being.
- While caffeine-fuelled candle-burning study sessions may seem necessary from time-to-time, making a habit of it will upset your sleep cycle, disrupt your eating patterns and damage your immune system. Lots of all-night parties have a similar effect, too.
- Combining exercise, a healthy diet, and adequate sleep will increase your ability to concentrate for sustained periods.
Successful students understand the benefits of working in a team. They listen with interest to others' points of view in class and are often involved in homework groups where ideas are shared.
Successful students set “process goals”. Process goals are the small habits and/or activities that are put in place to ensure that the bigger outcome is achieved. There is much truth in the statement “Get the processes right and the outcome will look after itself”. An example of a process goal could be:
- “This week I am going to study for 2½ hours per night Monday to Friday, four hours on Saturday morning, and four hours on Sunday morning.”
Successful student practice exam questions regularly.
- Know that examiners expect answers to be written in certain ways specific to each question and that this requires extensive practice.
- Seek feedback from their teachers about their responses and how they could be improved.
Successful students understand that fear in exams is failures best friend. Fear leads to the “fight” or “flight” syndrome. A little fear going into an exam is good – it readies you for the “fight” (i.e. readies you to perform at your peak in the exam). Too much fear and you are ready for “flight” – your brain begins to put most of its energy into fleeing the fearful situation thereby shutting down your memory resulting in a feeling that you have forgotten everything.

Enjoy the holidays' everyone, and I look forward to seeing you all fresh and ready to go in Term 2.

Regards,

Justin Rea

Senior School Manager

VCAL Term 1 Update

It has been a busy start to the year for the VCAL students and team. There are a number of exciting projects taking place both around the school and in the community. It is fabulous to see students working hard and making a positive contribution to our College and the Community.

Students have benefited from a number of industry specialists coming in to present to them. To date we have had a work safe inspector and a resume/ job application work shop, with more to come next term. Thank you to Kirsty Mitchell for her support in organising these events.

VET courses and structured workplace learning programs are in full swing. Most students are enjoying these hands-on opportunities to develop their employability skills and gain valuable on-the-job training. A reminder that all students who are not participating in these programs are expected to attend school on these days.

There are a number of exciting projects currently being planned for Term 2 and I look forward to bringing this news to you in the next newsletter.

Pictured are some Year 12 VCAL students on their excursion to the Melbourne Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Regards,

Kristy Bannister

VCAL Manager