Deputy Principals

Uniform and Personal Presentation

It was wonderful to see our students arrive back to school so beautifully presented in their winter uniforms. What a great advertisement to our College! A reminder that the College blazer should be worn to and from school each day.

Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea

With 1 in 2 Australians diagnosed with cancer by age 85, most of us will be impacted by cancer in our lifetime. The Year 12 students would like to host a Morning Tea for the Cancer Council. This will take place during recess on Tuesday 22 May. For $4, students can purchase a drink (tea, coffee, milo) and a cake/slice. Tickets will go on sale from Wednesday 16 May. The following donations will be gratefully accepted: Tea, coffee, milo, milk, cakes, slices, scones, cake mixes, eggs, small paper plates. Please contact Jason Partridge via email jason.partridge@norbert.wa.edu.au if you can make a contribution. Well done to the Class of 2018 for this initiative.

Year 10 Information

This is a crucial term to begin the process of career decisions and therefore future academic pathways. There are some important events that are part of the subject selection process which are outlined below:

• Friday 18 May: Exam Preparation Session, Period 2, Xanten Theatre
• Monday 28 May - Friday 1 June: 2019 Course Information in subject classes
• Friday 8 – Thursday 14 June: Exams
• Friday 14 June: Period 3-Subject Selection Information, Period 4-Work Experience Induction (CAE students only)
• Monday 25 – Friday 29 June: Work Experience for Year 10 Careers and Enterprise students
• Wednesday 27 June: Year 10 Parent-Student Information Evening, 6:00pm, ORC
• Tuesday 31 July: Year 10 Subject Selection Interviews, 3:30 – 7:00pm, BP Forum

The School Curriculum and Standards Handbook offers advice to parents and students and has been uploaded onto SEQTA Documents.

Year 12 Important Dates

• Monday 1 – Tuesday 9 October: College Final Exams
• Wednesday 10 October: ATAR students return for Exam reviews
• Friday 12 October: All Year 12 students return for House Assemblies and Graduation rehearsal
• Monday 29 October - Friday 16 November: ATAR Exams

Early Offer - University of Notre Dame 2019

Are you a high-achieving Year 12 student who wants to study at a leading Australian university? Do you want to get a head start on your future? If so, you may be the ideal candidate for Notre Dame’s Early Offer Program.

The Early Offer Program is open to students who can demonstrate academic excellence and are motivated to make a special contribution to society, and/or who can show exceptional personal or leadership qualities. You can demonstrate this by your reports, your exam results, by your active contribution to school, church, or community, by your work achievements and by telling us about your personal or leadership qualities.

Applicants will need to demonstrate a predicted benchmark ATAR of 93 for the Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Physiotherapy; and a predicted benchmark ATAR of 90 for all other undergraduate programs. For academic capability, all offers are made based on Year 11 and Year 12 reports to date.

Such an offer means that you can sit your Year 12 exams with added confidence and reduced stress – it’s also a great way for schools to acknowledge their outstanding students.

Early Offer applications for Semester 1 2019 are due by 31 July 2018. For more information and an application form visit https://www.notredame.edu.au/study/early-offer/early-offer-fremantle

Parent Committee Meeting

All parents and guardians are invited to attend the Parent Committee Meeting on Tuesday 15 May at 6:00pm in the Koinonia Room (Boardroom in Main Reception). Planning will be done for the Celebrating Mums Breakfast (please see flyer). All are welcome and we would love to hear your ideas for the remainder of the year. Our next Parent Seminar is scheduled for Tuesday 19 June at 7:00pm. A guest speaker from Headspace will provide information for parents on Teen Mental Health issues. Please save the date.

Ms S Rainford (Deputy Principal 8, 10, 12)

Supporting the Home-School Partnership

When conducting enrolment interviews for potential students and their parents, I always emphasise the fact that schooling is a three-way partnership between students, families and the school. The benefits of a strong home-school partnership is critical with educational research consistently finding that teacher and family relationships are important for young people’s social and emotional wellbeing and academic achievement (Desforges and Aboucher, 2003). A vital component in this partnership is the development of open lines of communication between the College and the home. Teachers are encouraged to keep parents aware of the academic, social and pastoral development of the students that they teach. Similarly, parents are encouraged to ‘keep an eye’ on the progress of their children through logging into SEQTA Engage, attending interview nights and information sessions and, when necessary, making direct contact with their child’s teachers. Through regular communication, parents and teachers can work together to ensure that students are making the most of their educational opportunities.

On Tuesday this week, the College conducted our first round of Parent/Student/Teacher interviews using Edval Interviews for the first time. The night was a great success with 1257 interviews taking place between students, families and teaching staff. Some teachers were completely filled up on the night meaning that some parents were unable to get bookings with teachers they wished to see. In this situation, parents are encouraged to contact these teachers (via email or SEQTA direct message) to arrange an alternative way to discuss your child’s progress.

In order to facilitate better communication between families and the College, it is important that families update their contact with the College when changes occur. These changes may involve a new home address, a different mobile phone number or an updated parent email address. In the recent information sent to parents about the Parent/Student/Teacher interviews, a total of 38 emails were undeliverable and therefore weren’t received by parents. By updating family contact details, these types of problems can be avoided. It is also important for parents to ensure that the Emergency Contact details are kept up to date.  An ‘Update of Family Information’ form is available on the St Norbert College website under the ‘Forms’ tab at the bottom of the home page.

Mr P Hawke (Deputy Principal 7,9,11)