From the Head of Senior School

It has been another action-packed two weeks of school events and activities. At the end of Week 2, I was fortunate to be invited to the Year 12 VCE Conference Dinner. It was a wonderful opportunity for me to meet the Year 12’s in a formal yet relaxed setting. Over the coming weeks, I have set a goal to meet individually with each Year 12 student to discuss their future ambitions and academic progress.  

Weeks 3 and 4 saw the return of face-to-face Parent-Teacher Interviews in the Naunton Family Building. Feedback about your child’s learning and development in their subjects is a crucial element of the incremental process of ongoing learning and assessment. Providing frequent and continuous feedback is an effective means of improving achievement in their education. Girton Grammar offers these opportunities by continuously reporting your child’s assessment achievements, effort and dedication reports, and final semester reports, which give an overall summary transcript of your child’s results. Effective feedback assists the learner in reflecting on their learning strategies so they can make adjustments to make better progress in their knowledge and understanding of a subject.

In the preparation and lead-up to the Semester 1 examinations, I have been meeting the Year 7 students to provide information and strategies for developing good study habits. Studying is an essential skill used in education and day-to-day life. It builds on the knowledge and understanding of a subject area. Studying is necessary for educational development and building personal skills. Developing good study skills can improve confidence, competence, and self-esteem and helps reduce stress and anxiety around deadlines and exams.

In the first study session, students were provided with access to a blank timetable template so that they could create a study timetable to plan their revision schedule. We discussed the importance of having a regular place set up in the home that is free from the distractions of social media and television; advance planning to determine how much time is to be devoted to revising for subjects; reviewing and making notes after class; seeking teacher advice, and categorising and prioritising their subjects for revision purposes. The second session of these study skills focussed on the variety of tools and strategies students can use to assist their revision, such as cram cards, memory techniques, reading and reviewing or highlighting text. A copy of both presentations, relevant for all year levels, is also available on ASTRA on the "Study Advice" page. 

I had the great pleasure of attending my first Foundation Day church service on Friday 13th May. The beauty and splendour of the Cathedral, the exquisite singing of the School Choir, the performances of the School orchestra, and the readings by staff and the Junior and Senior School Captains truly reflected the symbolic reverence and long-awaited nostalgic tradition of the anniversary of the School’s founding. To see a whole community gather together for such an important event after two challenging years of lockdowns and restrictions certainly made the evening much more meaningful in its purpose. Dr O’Rielly’s reflection focused on the history of Girton from its humble beginnings as a College to the modern era of a Grammar School. Her unwavering commitment to ensure that staff remain firmly committed to your child’s education and pastoral care through continued relationships will further strengthen the ties within the School community. 

Ms Dawn Davis

Head of Senior School