Learning and Teaching News

Subject changes for Semester 2

The Year 8-10 subject change window for Semester 2 will be open until Friday 21 July (end of Week 2). If your son is considering changing elective subjects or would like to discuss this, please direct him to visit the Studies Office to see a member of the Academic Care Team.

Year 10 SET Plan interviews 

Thank you to the Year 10 parents/carers and students for your attendance at SET Plans interviews recently. These interviews are important conversations not only to discuss senior subject choices but to look at the progress and pathway of each individual student. I thank the staff who were involved in the training and preparation of these interviews. 

If you have any further questions or would like to discuss anything from SET Plans further, please contact curriculum@marash.qld.edu.au.

Year 9 Performance and Pathway Conversations 

Year 9 Performance and Pathway Conversations will be taking place during Weeks 3 and 4 of this term. These conversations provide a valuable opportunity for our students to engage in meaningful discussions about their subject selection for 2024.  The conversations will involve 15-minute interviews with individual students and their parents, during which they can discuss their sons' academic achievements, strengths, and aspirations. Parents, please note that interviews are optional for you to attend but are encouraged.

Emails were sent to all students last week containing a unique link and login code for Web Preferences.  These are now open and interview times are filling quickly.  Please ensure you take action on this as soon as possible. 

Your son will be able to select subject preferences for 2024 through this online system, and then book a time during Weeks 3 and 4, Monday 24 July to Friday 4 August, to meet with a staff member who will provide guidance on these selections and address any questions. These times will be available for booking through the Parent Portal - ‘Book a Parent or SET Plan interview’ icon. 

Further information on this process will be shared via email from MCA Curriculum. We encourage all families to actively participate in this important process and take advantage of this opportunity to shape their sons’ educational journey. 

Student Monitoring Week

Throughout Weeks 2-3 students across the College will take part in student monitoring in pastoral groups.  This is where boys will have the opportunity to reflect on their Semester 1 results and set academic goals for Semester 2.   

These are now written electronically through the Learning Analytics platform. Students are formulating goals based on their Semester 1 Report card. They have been asked to write MARIST (Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Improvement focused, Specific, and Time bound) goals to promote academic improvement throughout Semester 2. Parents are encouraged to view their sons' academic goals to promote accountability and support. These can be accessed by clicking the chart symbol in the top right corner of Student Cafe. 

Parents and Caregivers are encouraged to sit down and discuss these goals, in particular looking at strategies to achieve these.

Tutoring at the College

Tutoring at the College is available for all students, and outlined below are faculties where your son can receive assistance.

*Other faculties by appointment with classroom teacher.

Additionally, the CLE run touch-base tutoring for specific students in the College. For more information, contact CLE@marash.qld.edu.au.

If you would like an external tutor, please find a list of Old Boy tutors.

Year 11 and 12 – registering for myQCE

The QCAA is running a competition to encourage all Queensland students to sign-up to myQCE – a platform to allow them to access key information and results as they progress to their attainment of a QCE by the end of Year 12. The myQCE competition opens on Monday 10 July and closes on Friday 15 September. It offers Year 10–12 students a chance to win one of four prizes: a MacBook Air and three Sony WH1000XM5 Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones. 

To enter the competition students must: 

• follow the myQCE Instagram account 
• like a myQCE Instagram post 
• tag three friends in the comments 
• register for the Student Portal (if they haven’t already), log in and check/update their information such as their personal email address and phone number.

Students can enter the competition and find more information at: https://myqce.qcaa.qld.edu.au/get-motivated/get-involved. The QCAA will contact the four winners by email, and their names will be published on the myQCE website, myQCE Instagram account and in the Term 4 myQCE update.

Senior Library Hours      

Our senior library is open from 7.30am every morning until 5.00pm Monday-Thursday. It closes at 3.30pm on Fridays.  

Your son is encouraged to head to the library before and/or after school to complete his homework or study, free from the distractions at home. 

Study Tips

Active Study – Note-taking

Study, as well as being planned and scheduled, should also be active and involve producing something ‘visual’ (eg. notes, mind-mapping, transferring from pictures/graphs to paragraphs, etc.). Note-taking from material presented in and after class is an important skill that boys need to master. Research has found it to be a highly effective way of learning and committing information to memory. Note-taking during study can follow the “6 Rs”:

• Record the notes from class notes, text books, teacher lectures, Moodle, OneNote on a page and look for connections
• Reduce the essential ideas by reviewing these notes a day later, and rephrase the ideas as questions
• Recite the answers to these questions aloud whilst making sure all the recorded notes are covered
• Reflect by asking oneself about how well it is understood, and devise clarifying questions for teachers to bring to school
• Review in subsequent study times
• Recapitulate main ideas by summarising again.

The Academic Care office is here for any boy who would like any extra help and guidance in his study preparation.

Study Hall    

Year 12 Night Study Sessions     

The Night Study Sessions are weekly study times available to Year 12 students who wish to work in collaboration with their peers for assessment, complete revision, revisit classwork or work on external exam preparation.      

When: Every Wednesday during term time from 5pm-8pm

Where: Senior Library

Who: 2023 Year 12’s only 

Requirements:     

• Current ID card is to be presented on arrival     
• All students must sign in and out of the library     
• All standard library rules are to be followed (including no eating)     
• Normal student behaviour expectations apply; if these cannot be met, students will be prohibited from returning to future sessions     
• Students are free to wear full College uniform or plain clothes     
• Students are free to arrive and leave as they see fit. Supervision is only provided in the library between 5-8pm.     
• Students are to be in the library only. This is not a time for sport or social gatherings.

A librarian will be on duty from 5-8 pm to assist if required; however, these are not tutoring sessions. 

Accessing Student Results 

Student results and feedback for assessment items can be accessed by parents on Parent Lounge. Please follow the steps below which highlight how to access your son’s results and feedback.

1. Open parent portal and click on “Parent Lounge”   

2. On the left-hand tab select “Curricular Activities Due” and select “view all activities” on the top right-hand side of page.    

This will take you to a screen that lists of your son/s assessment to complete or has been completed.   

3. Click on a subject to view feedback.    

4. Once you click on the subject you will be able to find the following information:   

1. Task sheet for assessment – this will outline what your son needs to do to complete the task successfully 
2. Draft due dates and due dates
3. Criteria sheet
4. Feedback 
5. Result