Year 11 Exams

The Year 11s had their first real experience of exams last week. They showed great stamina and resilience as they had a taste for what is to come. This is the start of the students’ preparation for the Unit 3/4 exams in 2024. The more opportunities we give them to practice this form of assessment, the more likely they will perform to their potential. No stage show succeeds without rehearsal and no sporting team wins a premiership without the foundation training and practice. These exams increase student familiarity with the format and behaviour expectations, and help to reduce their anxiousness and concerns. 

Many thanks to those who made this work, in no particular order: 

• Megan Michalaidis, Evan Pyle, Bernie Brennan, Alex, Christian and the IT team for their initial planning of the events and support throughout the week. 
• Trevor, Marcus and Lincoln who coordinated the set up and pack up of 240 tables and chairs for the students. Thanks also to Dale and Macca’s classes for their help. 
• The Neighbourhood Assistants and Admin team who helped to set up and pack up the gym. 
• Jo Ash for her phenomenal work behind the scenes making sure attendance was accurately recorded. 
• Alicia C and the PE staff for the use of their gym, in what turned out to be a very wet week. 
• Sam and the canteen gang for opening up outside of hours for the Year 11s. 
• Devon and Rhiannon for organising the supervision and providing the CRTs for supervision. No task was too big!
• The team of CRTs who continually went above and beyond to support students and help ensure the week was seamless. 
• Keegan for organising all the room changes and a space for Year 11 students to study. 
• Liz Adams for her constant help in coordinating the exams and making sure every student had a labelled exam. Her patience was unrivalled. 
• The teachers who helped with supervision across the week – this allowed the students to have a realistic experience. 
• All the other staff at GSSC who helped to keep the junior students away from the gym and out of mischief’s way!
• Year 11 teachers for having their exams ready to go. This makes the job a lot easier. 

and of course...

• The Year 11 VCE students for the way they participated in what, for many, was a new experience. They showed that they were prepared to take advantage of the opportunity. They were great. 

Our attendance rates were encouraging – further data crunching needs to occur but we are optimistic that it was a genuine and fruitful experience for our students. This sort of practice will optimise results. 

Felicity Cummins

VCE Leader