Learning, Teaching and College Operations

Congratulations to the Year 11 and 10 students on the way they approached and conducted themselves during the exam period. Exams are an important part of Assessment in the senior years, and can be stressful times for students. One of the reasons we have exams in Years 9, 10 and 11 is to start the preparation for students early, so that when their exams in year 12 do come around, the students have developed study techniques that work for them, and that they are familiar with exam processes as well as command words in exams. 

Senior School and Term Zero

Our Year 12 students are now well entrenched in Term Zero and have all successfully started their 2023 classes. I would also like to draw your attention to the Edrolo program we use to support our student in the VCE. 

What is Edrolo?

Edrolo is a comprehensive, premium, interactive online video and exam simulation resource for the VCE, providing our students with the best opportunity to perform to their potential throughout the year. We have extensively assessed the resource and are confident it is an extremely valuable investment for our teaching and learning culture.  

You can see Edrolo in action by visiting this link: edrolo.com.au/parents/

How do students use Edrolo?

Edrolo is currently used by over 500 schools and 60,000 students. Crafted by outstanding VCE teachers (including exam assessors and textbook authors) and built-in accordance with VCAA Study Designs, its curriculum-specific and engaging content will provide our students with a differentiated and targeted level of support as they prepare for their most important examinations.

How will our students and teachers use Edrolo?

We will use Edrolo as a tool to further enhance what our teachers are doing day-to-day. 

Our teachers are provided with training on how to best utilise the resource, and you should expect them to guide students to make full use of Edrolo in a range of ways across the year, including:

• holiday homework;
• pre-class work;
• post-class consolidation;
• assessment preparation; and
• exam revision.

Edrolo has been deemed an outstanding VCE resource, providing our students with the best opportunity to perform to their best with the support of our fantastic teachers. 

Edrolo Textbooks

There are a number of VCE Science and Humanities subjects that are using Edrolo textbooks for 2023. Please note that the cost of these books includes a printed textbook as well as the complete digital textbook with access to video solutions to every question in the book, exemplar solutions, and hundreds of exam questions. Staff also have access to digital data on how students are tracking including their understanding of content (strengths and weaknesses) as well as completion of class work. Please note the cost of the subscription is subsidised by the College, there will be a subject levy invoiced to families at the end of Term One, 2023 for these subjects in lieu of a cost on the booklist.

Booklists and Stationery Lists

Booklists and Stationery lists for 2023 are now available on the College Website.

https://www.mackillopleongatha.catholic.edu.au/discover-2/learning-and-teaching/school-resources-list-booklist/

Stationery lists need to be ordered by Friday 9th December to avoid a late fee. Stationery will be home delivered for a flat rate of $9.95.

Booklists need to be completed online by Friday 2nd December to avoid additional fees. 

If purchasing second-hand online, please be sure to check the current booklists to ensure that you are purchasing the correct editions.

Year 9 Exams 

Our Year 9 students are about to embark on their first exams next week. Exams will run from Wednesday 30th November to Friday 2nd December. All students would have received an exam timetable with specific times relating to their individual subjects. Students have been taken through a series of lessons on exam revision techniques and a number of key revision tools have been provided to them. There are a number of benefits to completing exams; they are an important role in the process of learning, they are a great way to assess what students have learned in their studies, and strengths and weaknesses can also be assessed through exams. 

Handy tip for students

REVISION & PREPARATION:

• Make a list of the main topics/criteria/key knowledge for the unit of work for each of your subjects 
• Prioritise the topics from weakest to strongest in relation to confidence and comprehension – then start from the weakest and work your way through revisiting and refreshing your knowledge of each topic Revision strategies:
• Re-read over notes or textbook 
• Create cue cards, mind maps, posters, etc.
• Complete practice Questions –chapter review questions, workbook questions, relook at past assessments, topic tests, etc. 

WELLBEING:

• Ensure you get plenty of sleep the night before your exam
• Ensure you have a healthy breakfast and/or lunch on the day of your exam
• Bring the appropriate materials – check with your subject teacher about what you can bring 
• Be confident – use the exam as an opportunity to showcase your knowledge 

READING TIME:

• Use reading time productively – try and read the whole paper at least once 
• Take note of the questions they feel most comfortable with and respond to those first 
• Confirm which is the last page of the question and answer booklet

INTERPRETING QUESTIONS:

• Read the whole question at least twice to ensure they have interpreted it correctly 
• Take note of how many marks are allocated to each question – this is usually an indication of how many pieces of information they are required to give
• Never leave a question unanswered – especially multiple-choice questions
• Decode the question – use a highlighter to identify action words in the question to inform what length of detail your response requires – e.g., explain, discuss, compare, describe, state, define, rank, list, identify, etc.

Year 10 Work Experience 2023

If you are able to help by placing a student in the week of Monday 19th June to Friday 23rd June 2023, please let Jenny Damon know via email on jdamon@mmcrc.catholic.edu.au

Good luck to all our students as they prepare for their final assessments.