Curriculum News

Ms Jennifer Smeed, Mrs Roxanne Rosenberg and Mr Adam Knight

Head of Senior School Curriculum - Ms Jennifer Smeed 

Year 10-11 Exam Block – Week 9

Year 10 and 11 Exam Block starts next week and is an opportunity for students to study for their exams from home when they are not required on campus. Year 10 Exam Block will run from Monday 6 – Thursday 9 September, with students returning to normal timetabled classes on Friday 10 September.

 

Year 11 Exam Block runs across the whole of next week (Monday 6 to Friday 10 September). Year 11 students will return to normal timetable class on Monday 13 September. 

  

It is important to note that the exam block is a privilege provided to students who are up-to-date with assessment for all subjects (including their certificate and work skills modules). If your son has not submitted an assessment or completed the tasks to a reasonable standard, he will be required to remain at school over this exam block in order to catch up on this work. You will be contacted before the commencement of exam block via email if this applies to your son. If you have any questions about this process please do not hesitate to contact the Secondary Learning Leader, Mr Adam Knight or the Head of Senior School Curriculum, Ms Jennifer Smeed.

 

When utilising the exam block to study at home, the expectations are as follows:

  1. Normal College rules apply when on campus
  2. Boys must arrive to and from school in full school uniform
  3. Boys are to travel directly to and from school without congregating at shops, outside other schools or the like
  4. Boys must arrive 15 minutes prior to their scheduled exam
  5. Boys must bring all required equipment (calculator, pens, highlighters etc)
  6. Boys must adhere to the exam coordinators’ instructions at all times.

Boys are also encouraged to bring their equipment in a clear plastic sleeve or container and that their water bottle should be clear. This is great practice for external assessment in Year 12.

 

Optimus Breakfast 

Thank you to the Year 12 parents and students who attended the Gold Optimus Award breakfast last Wednesday. It was a lovely morning celebrating our current highest academic achievers and their Unit 3 results. Our guest speaker, Professor Ian Frazer addressed the group outlining the importance of setting oneself a mission and vision and working hard to achieve these. He also spoke of the importance of giving back to others along the way. We thank Professor Ian Frazer for taking the time to celebrate our Gold Optimus Award recipients with us.

 

A very big thank you to Mr Gary Keown and the Hospitality students for the amazing breakfast and service. Also, to Mrs Kim Rabie and Ms Inekah Doyle-Virtue for their work with the organisation of the breakfast under ever-changing COVID-19 restrictions. The morning wouldn’t have been as special without the hard work of these people behind the scenes. 

Well done to all of the Year 12 Gold Optimus Awards recipients for 2021. 

 

External assessment invigilators for QCAA 

The QCAA appoints members of the Queensland community to observe the administration of assessments. The invigilator role is independent; they are appointed to observe and report on the administration of the external assessments. Invigilators play an important role in promoting public confidence in the Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE) system and ensuring that proper and fair administrative procedures are implemented. 

 

Invigilator roles 

Applications from Queensland community members for invigilator roles are now open. Invigilators are appointed as casual employees. 

 

Role summary 

Invigilator duties and eligibility requirements are detailed in the External Assessment invigilator: Position description located at https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/senior/assessment/external-assessment/external-assessment-invigilators. In brief, invigilators are required to attend allocated assessment sessions at assessment venues to observe the administration of assessments. Invigilators report their observations to the QCAA after each assessment session by completing an online Invigilator report. Invigilators do not move or distribute materials, participate in or assist with any aspect of the administration of assessments, supervise or have any contact with students, or provide advice or feedback to staff at assessment venues about any aspect of the administration of the assessment 

 

Eligibility 

To be eligible to apply for a QCAA invigilator role, community members must hold a current, paid blue card, or, for teachers with a current Queensland College of Teachers (QCT) registration, an exemption card from Blue Card Services. Applicants must be at least 18 years old and eligible to work in Australia. They must possess personal attributes of discretion, tact, attention to detail, and an ability to maintain confidentiality, as well as meeting straightforward requirements for identification and access to technology. 

If you are interested in invigilator positions within the school community or you worked as an invigilator in 2020, you need to reapply for 2021. Prospective applicants should follow the below steps:

  1. Read the attached External assessment invigilator: Position description and the frequently asked questions, available on the QCAA website at: https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/senior/assessment/external-assessment/external-assessment-invigilators/external-assessment-invigilators-faqs
  2. Obtain your paid blue card (or exemption card for teachers) from Blue Card Services.
  3. If necessary, register for a QCAA Portal account, following the instructions in the External assessment invigilator: Position description.
  4. Submit your application for a QCAA invigilator role via the Assessor Jobs app in the QCAA Portal. To find out more please email externalassessment@qcaa.qld.edu.au or phone (07) 3074 7570.

Head of Middle School Curriculum - Mrs Roxanne Rosenberg

NAPLAN results 2021

NAPLAN assesses literacy and numeracy skills that students are learning through their regular school curriculum.  This assessment provides us with an understanding of how individual students are performing at the time of the tests.  It also provides our College with information on how programs are working and if our students are achieving educational outcomes in literacy and numeracy. 

 

NAPLAN results across the nation have now been released. This year, our results have demonstrated progress across all testing domains.  Of significant importance has been our boy’s improvement in writing. Writing was our College focus for 2021 and significant growth was achieved across all three-year levels.  All boys are to be congratulated on this achievement, along with their teachers. 

 

Students who have demonstrated progress and outstanding achievement will be recognised on assembly in the coming weeks. 

 

Individual student reports will be posted home upon delivery to Marist College, Ashgrove.

 

Year 7-9 Exam Schedule

This week your son will receive his exam schedule for Week 9. During these times your son will sit these exams and then return to the normal school timetable

 

Sitting cohort exams provides practice for our students to sit these tests in an environment that mimics senior exams (Years 10-12) as well as providing assessment integrity.  Your son is to ensure that he has all the necessary equipment for his exam days. This includes:

  • 2B pencil
  • Sharpener
  • Eraser
  • Blue, black and red pen
  • Calculator
  • Water Bottle

Year 7-9 Student Tracking

Over the past week I have met with several of our Year 7-9 students to discuss their academic achievement and how we can support them to continue meeting their learning goals.  It was pleasing to hear of ways in which they are regulating their own learning to achieve success.  Some of these include:

  • Using online platforms (e.g. Khan Academy) if they come across challenging problems
  • Summarise notes at the end of each week into a study booklet
  • Organising a study schedule early in the term to ensure that assessments are completed in time
  • Complete all set homework
  • Attend Study Hall to help with organisation
  • Attend CLE for maths tutoring, especially around exam block
  • Do a little bit of study each day so it doesn’t build up at the end of the term
  • Ask the teacher for help if homework tasks are not understood
  • Listen and focus in class

These are all great tips and I thank the boys for sharing with me the strategies they have in place to achieve their goals.  I encourage your son to choose one of these strategies, or perhaps another, that they can implement to achieve their learning goal as well.

Secondary Learning Leader - Mr Adam Knight

Students should now be coming to the peak of their study and review schedule. They should be in full revision of exam content and concepts, be looking to refine any skills or processes needed, and be accessing their teachers to consolidate understanding. With this in mind, our young men should be looking at the following in the lead-up to their exams, to help get the most of their revision and active study time:

  • Continue their study schedule. This should prevent procrastination from a change in routine, and familiarity can bring comfort and control into pre-exam anxiety.
  • Whilst extra study time will be needed (and should be done) in the lead-up to exams, “cramming” is not what we want to see happen. This is the time where student-created ‘visual’ study notes (eg. summaries, revision notes, flash-cards, question books, etc.) should be refined and revisited, learning questions formulated, and boys should be giving themselves the hard questions that they can take to their teachers to fill-in any remaining gaps of knowledge.
  • The study environment should be distraction-free. Mobile phones should be in another room, alongside gaming control pads and other items of distraction. Those who have trouble with this should be studying in a quiet yet public area (eg. dining room) where screens can be seen by parents.
  • Group study, done productively, can be highly effective. Brain scans have shown major activity when students attempt to ‘teach’ another the content, as opposed to just reading or reciting the content on their own.

Getting enough sleep and eating a healthy, balanced diet is essential to make sure that our boys can fire on all cylinders come exam time. 

 

The Academic Care team wish all our boys the best of luck in their preparation for exams. Work hard boys – effort reaps rewards.