From the Principals' Desk
Leisure and Pleasure
In a presentation by trauma specialist Dr Rob Gordon last year, school leaders were encouraged to acknowledge the cumulative toll which the uncertain state of our lives has taken on our stamina and wellbeing. I'm sure that our parents, as much as our staff and students, are finding that the fatigue of coping with 2020 seems to be carrying forward - in some arenas, at least - into 2021. There is only one solution to this situation, and it is one which was recently emphasised by Kristen Douglas, the National Manager of Headspace Schools: to actively schedule consecutive days of leisure and pleasure.
As we move into the holiday period, I encourage all of our staff and students to make a deliberate choice to protect their own wellbeing by scheduling at least five consecutive days that are officially work free and, importantly, guilt free. The demands of Term 3 are well established, especially for our senior students. For our Year 12 students, this is the last substantial break between now and their end of year examinations. It is essential that they give themselves permission to recover their energy and enthusiasm by resting, and by making time for things that they love.
Holiday Homework
In the context of the vital importance of rest during this holiday break, it seems timely to recall the school's expectations in relation to holiday homework. A guide to how much holiday homework is reasonable appears in the table below.
I know that some students may also want to "catch up" over the holidays, and they might choose to commit some extra time to this pursuit, but it ought not to be at the expense of having a proper break. Indeed, it may in fact be more fruitful to re-work their study timetable for Term 3 to factor in small but regular additional sessions for subjects where they are concerned about their progress. This will permit steady, ongoing improvement rather than trying to "cram" information in. The research on the benefits of distributed practice is quite clear, and I encourage students to give this model serious consideration.
Terminus?
As we approach the end of Term 2, we do so with a sense of pride in the resilience which both staff and students have shown over the last few weeks, and admiration for the unfailingly high level of work pursued in every domain of the school.
The end of a semester always carries a certain level of stress: semester-length subjects move towards their final expression, and year long subjects often benefit from the focussed reflection which summative assessment can provide.
Over the last several weeks, our students and our teachers have been very much focussed on the measurement of learning. That's as it should be, but it's also important to remember the ultimate purpose of all this measurement: to map out the current landscape of a student's knowledge and skills so that the way forward is made clear. This is not the end of the learning journey for 2021. I encourage our Year 10 students, in particular, to consider how they might transfer the advice from the teachers of the subjects which have recently finished forward into their next fields of study.
Reports and Course Confirmation
The publication of our Term 2 reports has unfortunately had to be delayed slightly due to the impact of the lockdown earlier this term. As a result, they will be published to parents and students on Monday 28 June at 12:00pm.
At about the same time, the booking sheets for our annual Course Confirmation Day will be opened for parents. This pupil free day will occur on Wednesday 28 July. Remember that you only have to make one booking per student, and that you don't have to worry about which teacher you will be speaking to. We will provide more information about how to attend this online event early in Term 3.
In support of the Course Confirmation process, students were recently provided with a copy of the Senior Subject Handbook 2022 in either electronic or print versions, depending on their year level. We encourage our parents to take the opportunity over the next several weeks to talk to our students about their goals and aspirations, but also about what they enjoy and value. Success is much easier to pursue when we are motivated and engaged, so encouraging our students to choose subjects that they enjoy and are good at is an important way to help maximise their learning outcomes.
Rescheduled Events
In addition to its impact on our reporting cycle, the lockdown has had an impact on a number of planned events. Perhaps most significantly, it led to a postponement of the General Achievement Test (the GAT), a compulsory examination which all Unit 3 & 4 students (i.e. about half of the school) has to sit each year. The new date for the GAT has just been announced. It will be held on Thursday 29 July (i.e. the day after Course Confirmation Day). This is not ideal, but is certainly better than having it deferred any later, as was the case last year. Again, we will inform parents of the consquences of this change of date early in Term 3.
Finally, it is pleasing to announce that our tour of Central Australia will, hopefully, be going ahead during Term 3. We look forward to bidding 40 of our Year 11 students farewell at the end of July and hearing of their adventures in the outback when they return a week later.
Building Better Brains: A Nossal PFA Presentation
In the context of rescheduled events, I offer a reminder about the Building Better Brains presentation being made this Wednesday 23rd June. In conjunction with the Nossal PFA, Nossal's Student Wellbeing Team have arranged for a special parent workshop that we think will be of great interest and benefit for our school community:
Building Better Brains - Building Resilient Families;
Toward Community Recovery - Parent Workshop
This event was intended as a face-to-face presentation, but due to Victoria's current health and safety restrictions, it will now be an online live-streamed event.
This workshop will begin at 7.00pm. If you booked a ticket through Trybooking to attend the onsite event, your ticket is still valid. There are limited additional places available on the live stream and only one ticket per device is required. Ticket holders will be sent the link to the event closer to the date.
Ticket bookings are available at https://www.trybooking.com/BSABP
Mobile Phones in Schools: Feedback Sought
The Department of Education is seeking feedback from various groups about the introduction of the mobile phone ban early last year. Links for the student and staff surveys will be distributed via Teams, but parents are encouraged to spend 5 - 10 minutes contributing to this review by following the link below and answering the associated questions.
Parent Survey: Mobile Phone Ban Review
https://survey.websurveycreator.com/s.aspx?s=873dbaf7-7bcb-4ac7-9c2d-d3c3807e0450
Tracey Mackin
Assistant Principal