Hello to all families and welcome to issue #3 of the BK newsletter. We have an exciting few weeks ahead of us, including the first of our Parent/Teacher/Student (3-Way) interviews, the Family Welcome Picnic and the opening of our five-week progress reports.

Parent/teacher/student interviews

Parent/Teacher/Student (3-Way) interviews will be held on Wednesday 13 March and Thursday 21 March from 1.30pm to 8pm. This is an important opportunity to meet with teachers, together with your child as an active and essential part of the interview.

The Compass portal will be open from Friday 8 March to book times using your login. If you have any difficulties please email me.

Progress reports

At Preshil, assessment is student-focused, thoughtful and carefully considered. It requires a balance of observation, one-on-one conferencing, monitoring, recording and formal analysis. Assessment is supported by secure and nurturing relationships; a feature of a Preshil education.

Our first assessment for the year is feedback on your child’s progress in their approach to learning. Progress reports will be open for parents’ access via Compass from Monday 4 March.

Study support

This year we have launched our Study Hall for all students in Years 10 to 12. It has been encouraging to see students attend these sessions, to work independently or receive academic help from a teacher.

When: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday 3.30pm to 4.30pm

Where: Upstairs in Kalimna

Who with: BK teaching staff – teacher on duty is notified on Compass

Study skills

On the recent camp, our Diploma students received training in study skills and self-motivation. The feedback we got from these sessions was overwhelmingly positive, with students reflecting that they learned skills they wish they had heard about years before.

Following this training the course provider, Elevate Education, offers a supplementary parent seminar. This session discusses the skills that students learned in the session, as well as how parents can find the best balance between giving direct support and encouraging their child to work independently.

For all parents who would like to know how to best support their child to develop effective study habits through the Diploma, we warmly invite you to attend the Parent Evening: study support at home.

When: Monday 18 March 6pm - 7pm

Where: Library

Your 2019 classroom parent representatives

Many thanks to the wonderful parents who have volunteered some of their time to undertake this important role:

Year 7: Voula Gabriel and Kyla Marston

Year 8: Chloe Currie and Zoe Ryan

Year 9: Jaye Morey, Sue Hannan and Alyson Murray

Year 10: Amanda Crowley and Fiona Cowell

We are still looking for classroom reps for Years 11 and 12. Please email me if you are interested.

Family welcome picnic

Our annual Welcome Picnic for all Preshil families takes place on Friday 15 March on the front lawn of Blackhall and we look forward to your company.

This is a wonderful opportunity to enjoy family time in a very relaxed environment; a chance to catch up with old friends and make new ones. It’s also a chance for staff to connect with families.

Fresh air and late afternoon sunshine after a busy day does good things for our soul. From 4pm to 7pm, we can take away happy memories and a good feeling of belonging to this amazing community. I hope to see you there.

Final thoughts

At Preshil we pride our community as a place that encourages our young people to have the

courage to question.

Courage is an interesting word. It has its root in old French: coeur (“heart”) and from the Latin word for heart, cor. In order for one to demonstrate courage, it often means we challenge ourselves to work through feelings of fear, to embrace a space of vulnerability, to be strong enough to receive feedback from others. It’s not always easy to be courageous! And yet, daily at Preshil I’m completely in awe of our students who challenge themselves, often demonstrating the courage to learn something new, to question an issue of concern, to speak up and to act on one’s beliefs.

For many of our students who recently attended camp, they were challenged to step out of their comfort zone and be courageous, participating in a range of activities which required them to not only trust themselves but the people around them. I hope over the past week you have had an opportunity to chat with your children and hear their stories of grit and determination as they faced a multitude of challenges that come with being away from home for a week. They truly are quite remarkable young people, willing to step into being “uncomfortable” and explore what it really means to have courage.

Before Yvette went on leave she let me know of yet another example of our students having the courage to step up and have a go. Congratulations to Angus Cunliffe (Yr10) and Milli Barker Hussar (Yr 9) on their successful applications and subsequent interviews for the Australian Centre for Contemporary Arts' ACCADEMY program.

ACCADEMY is a program for 14-17 year olds wanting to tackle challenging tasks, develop new skills and engage with Arts industry professionals including artists, curators, educators and writers. Angus and Milli will take part in six sessions with other keen young artists to be held at ACCA from March through to August this year, and we look forward to learning about their experiences.

Have a lovely fortnight.

Jen Buchanan

Acting Head of Campus (Secondary School)

jen.buchanan@preshil.vic.edu.au

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