Promoting high achievement

Year 9

Congratulations to Year 9 for a great start to the year. They have now completed five weeks of Year 9 and one-eighth of their educational year.

As a year group they have earned 2464 CHAMP points in total and it was great to be able to acknowledge many of them for receiving Bronze and Silver Awards at the CHAMP Assembly last week. So far this year, 1472 CHAMP points have been issued to students in Year 9 for being SUCCESSFUL, 615 CHAMP points for displaying RESPECTFUL attributes and 377 CHAMP points for showing they are RESPONSIBLE students and learners.

Congratulations to the following Year 9 students who are the top CHAMP point recipients so far this year:

Assessment tasks

Students have begun to receive notifications for their first assessment tasks as Stage 5 students. It is important that they understand that all of their classwork and assessment tasks will contribute to the final Record of School Achievement (RoSA) Grades they will receive for each subject in Year 10. 

Some facts about the RoSA

• The NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) issues the RoSA to eligible students who leave school before completing the Higher School Certificate (HSC).
• The RoSA is a cumulative credential, meaning it contains a student’s record of academic achievement up until the date they leave school. This could be between the end of Year 10 up until and including some results from Year 12.
• The RoSA records completed Stage 5 (Year 10) courses and grades.
• The RoSA is useful to students leaving school prior to the HSC because they can show it to potential employers or places of further learning.

Year 12

Year 12 students are now almost halfway through their HSC courses and should have set up good study and rest routines to sustain the demands of the year.

In total, they have earned 1068 CHAMP points this year:  712 for being SUCCESSFUL learners, 206 for showing they are RESPECTFUL and 150 for evidencing they are RESPONSIBLE.

The top CHAMP point recipients so far this year are:

HSC Assessment Tasks

It is imperative that students follow the principles and practices of good scholarship. This includes understanding, valuing and using ethical practices when locating and using information as part of their HSC studies.

The NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) states that good scholarship means three things:

1.Being honest and ethical: students must be honest about what is their own work and what isn't, and about where they got their information.

2. Listing all their sources: research using different sources of information is an important part of HSC work. Being an ethical researcher and a good scholar means listing all sources and correctly citing each source.

3. Using their own words: students must communicate what they have learnt in their own words. This isn't always easy to do, but it is very important and really worth the effort.

Key attributes of good scholarship are:

• being an effective researcher
• applying effective study habits

Some key questions for students to ask for their assessment tasks are:

1. What does the question ask me to do?
2. What are the key terms?
3. What do I think about this?
4. What information is out there?
5. Which information is best?
6. How can I put this in my own words and how can I acknowledge that some of these ideas belong to other people?
7. Have I answered the question?
8. Have I acknowledged my sources?

Important Dates for Year 12

TERM 2, 2021

Thursday 29 April:

• Personalised 2021 HSC written examination timetable released (via Students Online)
• 2021 HSC written examination timetable released

 TERM 3, 2021

• Monday 26 July: Society and Culture Personal Interest Projects due
• Monday 26 July to Friday 6 August: Trial HSC Examinations
• Thursday 5 August: Industrial Technology (Timber and Multimedia) Major Projects due
• Friday 13 August: English Extension 2 Major Works due
• Monday 16 August: Drama Projects due
• Thursday 19 August: Design and Technology Major Projects due
• Monday 23 August: Visual Arts Bodies of Work due
• Monday 30 August: Music Submitted Works due
• Monday 13 September: Picnic Day
• Tuesday 14 September: Graduation at 6.00 pm at Manor on Elizabeth, Wetherill Park
• Wednesday 15 September: Formal evening at Le Montage, Lilyfield

Please note: completion and hand-in date

Projects must be handed to the supervising teacher on this date no later than 3.00 pm. NESA states that students must not work on their projects after this date and time.

TERM 4, 2021

• Tuesday 12 October: HSC written examinations commence
• Thursday 4 November: HSC written examinations conclude
• Friday 10 December: HSC results released

NESA Students Online

It is crucial that students regularly log into their NESA Students Online account. This is where their personalised HSC Written Examination Timetable can be found and will be available from 29 April. This is also where their HSC results will be released on 10 December. Students should check their confirmation of entry to ensure their name, courses, address, email, and phone number are correct. 

Graduation

This year we will be holding the Year 12 Graduation Ceremony in the evening on Tuesday 14 September at Manor on Elizabeth in Wetherill Park to enable students to bring up to four family members. We will provide more information once it is determined but please keep the date free. We will also endeavour to livestream the event for those unable to be there in person. 

We're here to help!

As always, if you have any questions or concerns regarding your child’s learning or welfare needs there are plenty of points of contact, including:

• Classroom teachers
• Head Teachers of faculty areas
• Senior Co-ordinator – Mr Alfonsi
• Careers Adviser – Mrs Reid
• Year Advisers – Mrs Green and Mrs Norton
• Learning and Support Teacher – Ms Kalinski
• School Counsellors – Ms Simone or Mr Attard
• Student Support Officer – Mr Brancati
• Head Teachers of Welfare – Mrs Randall, Mr Floriano or Mr Dunn

As you can see, there is a wealth of support for your child.  Of course, you may also contact me. I know that the next two and a half terms will be busy and stressful for students, but I hope it will also be memorable as students can see the evidence of their learning and feel a sense of accomplishment and achievement.

Mrs Denise James

Deputy Principal Years 9 and 12