PAC

Pastoral Academic Care (PAC) Focus

Skills and Achievement - TEEL Paragraphs

Wellbeing Element: Skills and Achievement

Character Strength: Creativity

Parent Wellbeing: Your self-belief is built upon you mastering things and this relies on you setting goals to achieve, called creating willpower and waypower. Describe how you currently set goals and what you could do to how you do this. (Acknowledgement: Rievich, Shatte and Synder)

Focus - What is TEEL?

The ability to construct well structured and logical paragraphs enables students to clearly express the message they wish to convey in what they are writing about. The T.E.E.L. method builds this capability.

All too often, students may have investigated a topic or created a story very well, but through their inability to construct meaningful paragraphs, their efforts are not rewarded. A step by step intelligent plan to follow creates new brain pathways which become faster and stronger every time they use it, which enables them to confidently and capably construct paragraphs.

T.E.E.L. stands for:

• TITLE – the first or topic sentence explains to the reader what the paragraph will be about

• EXPLANATION – expand on the Title sentence and discuss your thoughts, reasons and arguments about the topic

• EVIDENCE – provide support for your thoughts and reasons as proof to the reader

• LINK – one or two sentences relating back to the Title or topic sentence.

T.E.E.L. is also a very effective strategy to use when reviewing their notes and revising for assessment tasks and tests, because it organises and codes learnt material logically in students’ minds.

“Well done is better than well said.” Benjamin Franklin

Year 7

Welcome back to Term 3. Thank you to Mrs Katie Biddle for acting as Year 7 Pastoral Academic Care Leader while I was away at the end of last term. She did a fantastic job of supporting Year 7 and continuing our focus of strength in kindness. How lucky are we to have Katie as part of our pastoral team?

Students have made a positive start to the term. Congratulations to those students who have already received commendations and to Heather and John for receiving Principal’s awards.

Student Led Conferencing is approaching fast. Year 7 have been practicing talking about the work they are proud of and identifying where they might require some support. Students have spent a lot of time preparing for their conference. How exciting for our students to have a conference where the focus is on them and their learning? The students are looking forward to having their personal voice heard and having the opportunity to discuss their learning in a safe and supportive learning environment. O’Connor will be holding three afternoons / evenings for parents and carers of Stage 4 to book and come in to discuss their child’s progress. I am so excited for this new approach to meetings and I hope you are too. It is a real positive for our students to take control of their learning and have their voices heard. If you haven’t booked in with your child’s pastoral teachers yet, make sure you do soon before this fantastic opportunity passes by. Bookings are made via the SOBS website, you can find a link via the school website, under the parent link. If you have any trouble booking in or are unsure about the conferencing please don’t hesitate to contact me on the school’s phone number or by my email address ykreuzen@arm.catholic.edu.au.

A reminder about the importance of being in the correct uniform. As we head into the last few weeks of winter a reminder that the correct uniform is still the winter uniform.

Year 7 have come up with a great initiative for our cohort. The students have put their heads together to come up with a way of collaborating and sharing the success of the year group. Year 7 are going to have their own school-based newsletter. The students will publish work they are proud of: photography, writing, drawings and much, much more. A link to the newsletter will be published via the newsletter for everyone to enjoy on a regular basis. Keep your eyes out for this great initiative!

It is great to see everyone back and ready for a term focused on their learning. I can’t wait to see what this term has in place for Year 7.

Yolanda Kreuzen

Year 8

Welcome back to Semester Two at O’Connor, I hope everyone had a safe and productive holiday.

Congratulations to all the Year 8 students who took part in the Founder’s Day concert. The 8.4 band was a real crowd-pleaser! It was awesome to see everyone up there rocking out.

The start of second semester has brought with it a uniform crackdown. A reminder that every Year 8 student should only wear their sports uniform on days they have PDHPE practical lessons. So that everyone is aware, the days Year 8 have PDHPE practical lessons are:

8.1 Tuesday 1, Wednesday 1, Tuesday 2 and Thursday 2

8.2 Monday 1, Thursday 1, Tuesday 2 and Thursday 2

8.3 Wednesday 1, Monday 2,Tuesday 2 and Thursday 2

8.4 Monday 1, Monday 2, Wednesday 2 and Thursday 2

Please remember, the sports jacket or hoodie can no longer be worn under a blazer. The correct winter uniform is the woollen jumper, shirt and tie under the blazer. Students in the incorrect uniform will be spending their lunchtime doing community service with Ms Menz and Mr Roff.

PAC time this week has been spent preparing for Student Led Conferencing. Year 8 has been collecting work samples and identifying areas for improvement to discuss. Parents, when you received your child's Semester 1 report you would have also received a letter from Ms Menz outlining the Student Led Conference process. You are able to book online via the SOBS website (link via school website).

If you have questions or are unable to attend during the allocated days, please do not hesitate to contact either your child’s PAC teachers or myself via email or phoning the front office to arrange another time.

Lloyd Honnery.

8 PAC

Year 9

It’s Term three already. Doesn’t time fly when we’re having fun and let’s face it; school should be fun. Fun learning, fun with friends, fun times.

Students have been busily preparing for their Student Led Conferences this week. We are looking forward to greeting parents over the three afternoons / nights; Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, set aside for this exciting new initiative to take place. I sincerely hope you have taken the opportunity to share your child’s learning with them during this process.

On Thursday August 1st, students took part in ‘Get Talkin’ sessions run by Batyr. Batyr is a purpose preventative health organisation, created and driven by young people, for young people. They give a voice to the elephant in the room by smashing the stigma around mental ill-health and empowering young people to reach out for support. They help create communities that support young people’s health and well being. In partnership with Batyr was NSW Rugby. They ran skills coaching sessions along with conversations around wellbeing.

This week’s PAC focus is T.E.E.L paragraphs. The aim is to develop skills and achievement by learning how to write quality paragraphs. Writing a high quality paragraph is a difficult thing to do and as such, we need to learn more intelligent ways to do so. T.E.E.L. is a dependable method to achieve this and stands for Title, Explanation, Evidence, Link.

It is always important for students to remember the three words that Ms Menz spoke about on the first day back this term. Ready, Respect, Safe.

Ready - be prepared, organised and willing to learn.

Respect - for self, other students, family and teachers.

Safe - ensure physical and mental safety at school and at home.

Have a great term. Thanks for your support.

Peter McLeish

Year 9 PAC Leader

(on behalf of the Year 9 Pastoral Academic Care team)

Year 10

Welcome back to a new semester. It’s already a busy start to Term 3. This week was set for SLC (student led conferencing) with PAC teachers and parents. This was an important time for students to reflect upon their learning and efforts within their specific subjects. I encourage all students and parents to be open to this new interview and reporting experience . It should have also informed parents about suitable subject selections for next year in Year 11.

There will be a parent evening and subject fair held next Monday 5th August to give specific information to parents and students about year 10 into year 11 next year. This will give a good snapshot about what to expect and what is on offer for students. I hope to see as many students/parents/carers that can make it along to this important information session.

Mark Fulloon

Year 10 PAC Leader

Year 11

Welcome back to the final term of Year 11 studies. I hope that all students are ready to attack the term with enthusiasm and excitement.

As part of Marriage and Family Week celebrations, many of our students were privileged to attend a presentation by two married couples who have a strong connection with our school and Church communities. The level of maturity displayed by the students during this session was extremely commendable.

Exams for Year 11 are all of Week 9 (16th September). It is never too early to start revising and making summary notes. Much of our PAC time will be helping to prepare for the exams - what are our learning strengths? How can we maximise our memory retention? Strategies/techniques/tools that might assist in preparation. How can we work together to help each other to move the learning forward? Completing past papers is another great form of revision. Your subject teachers will also guide you through the time leading up to the exams, so try not to get too overwhelmed just yet.

This term the PAC focus is RUOK and all factors relating to mental/ physical/ social health and wellbeing. What are the signs of a friend/ family member that might be struggling? How do we ask the question? Having the conversation. Looking out for our mates. What can we do to help? The importance of balance and a good level of physical activity to keep our bodies and brains active are all essential. These are some of the things that will be looked at this term. The RUOK website as well as Headspace have an abundance of information to assist with strategies.

I would like to thank the students and parents/carers who were very generous in opening up their homes to accommodate our visitors from St Ursula’s College, Kingsgrove during the last couple of days last term. The students travelled by train on the Thursday evening and were collected by their billets. They all attended the wonderful Founder’s Day celebrations on Friday. We all attended a lovely social gathering at the Mandarin Restaurant for dinner that evening. Saturday morning we said our goodbyes as we waved them off on the train back to the big smoke. I hope that the friendships formed will be lasting and we hope to have a reciprocal visit to Sydney in the future.

An email was sent to all parents/carers about the Senior Retreat that is planned for Week 9 of Term 4 (Tuesday the 10th of December to Friday the 13th of December 2019). A deposit of $200 is required by Friday, August 9th 2019. It is on this date that we will determine the viability of the retreat and make a firm decision to proceed with it. I wish to thank Mrs Denise Fittler for her organisation thus far in this important and very worthwhile event.

The final design for the Year 12 2020 jersey was chosen last week, with sizing and names also completed. Orders will now be placed and final details of payment will be advised shortly in the form of an email. Thank you to all of the students who helped put the design ideas onto paper and to all of those students who took the time to contribute to the voting process.

Lastly, it is imperative that our senior students are setting an excellent example in the wearing of correct winter uniform. I encourage all students to set the bar high by adhering to the uniform policy. Thank you to the majority of students who always look their best.

Here’s to some great learning this term.

Vicki Channon

Year 11 PAC Leader

Year 12

Welcome back for the culminating term of 13 years of education! I hope that all families have enjoyed a relaxing break and your young people have returned refreshed and motivated for a big effort as they finish up in class. The Yr 12 PAC Team are excited about the term ahead and all of the ‘lasts’ that await students - be it the last time they sit in maths, the last time they line up at the canteen, the last time they attend morning PAC or the last time that they supervise and encourage younger students in a study period. It is both a really exciting and slightly sad time as their time at school comes to an end.

As the end of Yr 12 draws closer, examinations are also quickly approaching. For many students this can be a time of high anxiety and stress and a difficult time to navigate. RUOK is our PAC theme for Term 3 and this is quite intentional as we endeavour to best support our students as they prepare for and complete final exams and assessments. During PAC times we will spend some time looking at strategies to manage this busy, high pressure period of time and ways for students to achieve their best learning outcomes. If you have any concerns regarding how your young people are coping with final exams and preparing for HSC, please contact their PAC Teacher or myself and we will provide the additional support needed. Also instrumental in the support process provided by the school, is the upcoming Senior Success Night. All parents, carers and students are encouraged to attend on Tuesday 6/08 at 5:30pm as we delve into the ins and outs of HSC and ATARS, look at strategies and tips for managing exam stress and answer questions around early entry to University.

During the final week of last term the Yr 12 Cohort were extremely busy preparing for Founders Day, raising money for the Red Cross and then participating in and co-ordinating Founders Day Activities. The Yr 12 run Op-Shop ‘Johnny De Lasalle’s’ was a highlight and an enormous amount of time and effort went into organising and running this. Students also baked sweets and ran an old school sweet stall and sold pizzas to raise funds for charity. Their participation and effort in this was outstanding. As always, Founders Day was an enormous success and it continues to be a highlight on the school calendar. Yr 12 students were awesome on the day and exceeded expectations in fulfilling their role of leading the school.

We really do look forward to this term and supporting our Yr 12 students towards an ending to their school journey that they can feel proud of. We also look forward to working together with each of you during this process and then at the close of this term, celebrating together the outstanding achievements and wonderful young men and women our students have become.

James Russell

Year 12 PAC

O'Connor Catholic College Newsletter

Issue 11 · 07 Aug 2019

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