Dean of Studies

Maintaining motivation

In previous newsletters, we have looked into the science of deliberate and purposeful practice to improve knowledge or skills, however, the extra challenge is to maintain motivation. Anders Ericsson poses this question that anyone engaged in practice will eventually face. As he notes:

“Getting started is easy, as anyone who has visited a gym after New Year’s knows. You decide that you want to get in shape or learn to play the guitar or pick up a new language, and so you jump right in. It’s exciting. It’s energising. You can imagine how good it will feel to be lighter or to play that new song you have learned. Then after a while, reality hits. It’s hard to find the time to work out or practice as much as you should, so you start missing sessions. You’re not improving as fast as you thought you would. It stops being fun, and your resolve to reach your goal weakens,” (Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise; pp.166 – 167).

In this instance, the focus should shift from willpower to motivation. Willpower can decrease when used often (like muscles after a workout) and so motivation supports the ability to develop a habit through routine. To achieve academic success, students need to develop and stick to a routine. Maintaining motivation, according to Ericsson, requires a routine where time is set aside for full concentration, removed from all distractions. This motivation consists of two parts: the reasons to keep going and the reasons to stop. When you quit something that you had initially wanted to do, it’s because the reasons to stop eventually outweighed the reasons to continue.

Successful motivation and effort requires a strengthening of one and weakening of the other, and so setting aside a regular and fixed time to practice and revise is the foundation of achievement. Designing a study plan that sets aside the best time(s) in your week to achieve this is the first step, followed by determining the right amounts of sleep, recreation and other commitments that is required to maintain balance. Good planning can help avoid many of the things that may take away time for practice and revision. And most importantly, it is never too late to start or make a change.

NAPLAN Schedule

Tuesday 15 May

Writing (40 minutes)

Language Conventions (45 minutes)

Wednesday 16 May

Reading (65 minutes)

Thursday 17 May

Numeracy (Part A) - Calculator allowed

(50 minutes)

Friday 18 May

NAPLAN ‘Catch-up’ (if required)

NAPLAN (Special Provisions)

Any student with Special Provisions will complete the NAPLAN Assessment in the Br Pat Forum (Year 7) OR with the Enrichment Class in T6 or P6 (Year 9). A Laptop/Scribe is ONLY used for the Writing Section, and Teacher Assistants will inform students of their specific arrangements prior to the NAPLAN assessment.

The Teacher Assistants will collect a laptop (with full charge) and the NAPLAN Assessment Paper(s).

Externally Set Task (EST) – Year 12 General Courses

The ESTs are assessment tasks for each Year 12 General course that are developed by the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (SCSA) and distributed to schools for administering to students. The EST is included in the Assessment Outline of the Year 12 General syllabuses for all courses as a separate assessment type with a weighting of 15 per cent for the pair of units. The purpose of the EST is to:

assist to ensure the fair assessment of student achievement in Year 12 General courses
have an educative role in establishing common understandings among teachers of the course standards and related content
provide access to feedback which will encourage teachers to review and, where appropriate, adjust their marking
model best assessment practice which teachers can apply to other school-based assessment tasks
assist to inform the Authority’s other moderation activities.

The EST is administered in the subject lesson time and marked by the teacher/s delivering the course using the marking key provided by the Authority. The school provides to the Authority the total raw mark for each student. Following the marking of the EST by the teacher/s, the Authority reviews a sample of EST scripts from each school delivering each course. Schools are required to provide the scripts of a prescribed number of Authority-selected students (i.e. normally six from each class) for independent marking. The feedback provided in the Authority’s SIRS reports enables the teacher/s of the course at the school to reflect on their marking practice and on occasions, the Authority may initiate a grading review based on the EST data. The EST Schedule for Year 12 Generalcourses St Norbert College will be as follows:

Wednesday 9 May - English

Monday 14 May - Religion and Life

Tuesday 15 May - Mathematics Essentials

Wednesday 16 May - Integrated Science

Monday 21 May - Computer Science; Drama

Tuesday 22 May - Career and Enterprise; Dance

Wednesday 23 May - Health Studies; Materials– Wood;

Visual Arts

Semester One Examination Timetable (Year 11 – 12)

The Semester One Examination Timetable has been finalised and distributed for Year 11 and Year 12 students. Please note that students are required to be at the College only for their examinations. Students should arrive no later than 8:30am (morning examinations) or 12:30pm (afternoon examinations).

All Year 11 or Year 12 students with overdue assessment tasks (including certificate courses) must attend the College until all tasks are up to date.

St Norbert Day – Friday 15 June

The celebration of the entry to eternal life for St Norbert is June 6 and it is traditional for the College to mark the occasion with a day of celebration. This year the College will celebrate St Norbert Day on Friday 15 June (Week 7) with the following arrangements:

8:45am - Homeroom

9:10am - College Mass

10:15am - Morning Tea – House Gathering

10:40am - St Norbert Day – Activity Group Meeting

11:10am - Staff vs Students (Soccer / Netball)

11:50am - Depart for St Norbert Day Activity

3:15pm - College Dismissal

Further details regarding sign up for St Norbert Day activities will be distributed via MCB.