Learning and Teaching

at MFG

Year 12 Final Assembly & Year 12 Celebration Day

Our Year 12 students celebrated a wonderful end to their time at MFG with two key events – their final Assembly and their Celebration Day.

We thank our Year 12 students for enjoying their final day safely, respectfully and with lots of fun!

Final assembly

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1inbXFV5wu2AQrgEyfnMJYN8bvzRdRYG7/view?usp=sharing

Term 4 Dates

Friday 20th November – Curriculum Day (student free day – no classes)
Wednesday 25th November – Early Commencement Program (ECP) Change-over day (Student free day – no classes)
Thursday 26th November – ECP Starts (2021 timetable and classes)

Early Commencement Program 2020 for 2021

In week 8 our 2020 classes come to an end for students in Years 7 to 11. On Wednesday 25th November we have our Early Commencement Program Changeover Day. There will be no formal classes and no students will be required at school on this day. On this day we move from the 2020 timetable to the 2021 timetable and plan for the start of our Early Commencement Program (ECP).

On Thursday 26th November we start the Early Commencement Program. All students in Years 7-11 will commence their 2021 learning program and timetable.

The students will be in their 2021 classes with their 2021 teachers (as best as we can ensure). For the students moving into Years 11 and 12, their ECP ends on Friday 4th December. The ECP ends for the students moving into Years 8, 9 and 10 on Wednesday 9th December. This is followed by one Activity Day for students currently in Years 7, 8 and 9 on Thursday 10th December.

The reasons for having an ECP include:

to improve learning outcomes for VCE students and go beyond an ‘introduction’ to VCE
provide engaging, purposeful and meaningful learning programs and transition for Middle Years students until the end of the school year
to provide a learning program that addresses the ‘wind-down’ usually associated with the end of the school year
to help our students adjust to changes to their programs and classes and Summer holidays with a positive mindset about the 2021 school year.

The ECP gives every student an opportunity to make a smooth transition into the next level of learning and helps our students adjust to any changes for 2021 including new classes and new subjects. Our ECP includes the completion of at least one main assessment task which gives each student an opportunity to demonstrate their understanding, knowledge and skills developed during the ECP. The feedback we collected from the students in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 about their ECP experiences was very positive and students generally feel it was a worthwhile and beneficial program.

EXAMS – Year 10, 11 (VCE Unit 2) and 12 (VCE Unit 4)

Students in Year 10, 11 (VCE Unit 2) or 12 (VCE Unit 4) are just about to start their Semester 2, Unit 2 or Unit 4 final exams.

We wish all of our students the best of luck with their exams – particularly our Year 12 students!

Year 10 and Year 11 (Unit 2) exams run from Wednesday 11th November until 19th November.

Video Tribute to Freda Wright

Grace Robson initiated a video tribute to celebrate Freda Wright’s 50 years in education. Check it out – it’s pretty special.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZlAI8UUca9bn5Z-dg7FCBDHcgUv-zE-v/view?usp=sharing

Victorian High Ability Program (VHAP)

The Victorian High-Ability program will provide up to 48,000 high-ability students in Years 5 to 8 at government schools the opportunity to participate in 10-week online extension and enrichment programs, in English and mathematics. We have 2 students selected to participate in the program – one in Year 7 (English) and one in Year 8 (Maths). Students’ selection in the program was based on their performance on NAPLAN in previous years.

The virtual program, delivered by Virtual School Victoria, will focus on extending and developing students' mathematic and English abilities.

After completing the virtual program, students will participate in a face-to-face masterclass with other high-ability students from schools in their local area. All masterclasses will incorporate the latest COVID-19 advice and risk mitigation strategies to maintain a safe environment for students and staff.

We are currently planning a full day narrative writing Masterclass in conjunction with North Geelong SC which will focus on the theme: ‘Hope in Dystopian Times’.

VCE GAT (General Achievement Test)

All students studying a VCE Unit 3-4 subject sat the GAT on Wednesday 7th October at St Mary’s Sports Club Rooms (Kardinia Park) and at MFG. St Mary’s Club Rooms will be the main Yr 12 examination centre this year. This year’s VCE exams start on 10th November.

https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/administration/Key-dates/Pages/VCE-exam-timetable.aspx

The GAT is an essential part of the VCE assessment procedure. Although GAT results do not count directly towards VCE results, they play an important role in checking that School-based Assessments and external assessments have been accurately assessed. GAT results are used in the calculation of the Derived Examination Score (DES).

More information about the GAT and the role that it plays can be found here:

https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Documents/handbook/2020/11assessgatadhb20.pdf

Most of our Year 12 attended a preparation (online) workshop with a current GAT assessor titled ‘Successfully Navigating the GAT Writing tasks’ which explored previous years’ GAT writing tasks, writing samples and exemplars, strategies and things to avoid.

Consideration of Educational Disadvantage (CED)

In recognition of the disruptions to learning caused by coronavirus (COVID-19) and the differing levels of impact at the school and individual student level, the VCAA have introduced a new “Consideration of Educational Disadvantage” process when calculating VCE scores.

This process will require schools to provide the VCAA with information on students and school circumstances to help calculate their study scores.

This will include information about the circumstances and impact of the disruption on students, as well as additional data, such as estimated assessment scores.

To ensure the fairness of final results, the VCAA will consider all available information, including the General Achievement Test (GAT) and appropriate comparisons of performance across all assessments and schools.

Based on this analysis, disadvantage will be factored into students’ final scores, which will then contribute to the study score calculation. This approach will ensure that Victorian students are not disadvantaged in comparison to interstate students in the calculation of their individual ATAR.

Mr Damien Toussaint

Assistant Principal , Learning and Teaching