Learning and Teaching News

Middle School Exam Schedule

During Week 9, students in Years 7-10 will have an end of Semester exam schedule. This will be released to all students and parents shortly.

It is important to note that boys will have testing up until the end of Week 9 and therefore we ask that all parents refrain from leaving the College early for holidays. If your son misses an assessment task due to early departure, he will need to take this exam up in Term 3. 

All students leaving the College early need to complete a Request for Extended Leave form (available at the Studies Office) and contact their Head of House or Head of Boarding for permission. 

Middle School Academic Care Interviews

Across Term 1 and 2 I have been meeting with as many students as possible to have an academic care meeting. I really enjoy having a discussion with your son/s and setting goals for his academic studies. I will continue to meet with students for the remainder of this term. 

If I have not met with your son yet, please encourage him to set some goals for Term 2. He can access his results via student café, or parent lounge (see steps below). I would also encourage that all boys are starting to settle into their homework and study routine. It would be an expectation that all boys are completing a minimum of 3-4 hours of study each week. 

A simple routine to follow could include:

• 3 x 30-minute sessions during the week
• 3 x 30-minute sessions across the weekend

Strategies that are useful include the creation of flashcards. Flashcards are particularly helpful for those subjects that have a lot of content (for example, science, religion, and history). Creating mind maps also helps boys to connect ideas and content so they can apply their learning. Practice questions from texts or quizlets online are also useful for testing their understanding.

Year 10 and 11 2023 Subject Information Evening

The Year 10 and 11 2023 Subject Information evening will be held on Tuesday 31 May. The Year 10 2023 session will commence with a presentation in the Champagnat Centre at 6:00pm for all students and their parents, followed by the opportunity to visit subject displays where teachers and Curriculum Leaders will be available to answer subject-specific questions. From 7:15pm, Year 11 2023 students and their parents are invited to attend the information presentation in the Champagnat Centre before attending the subject displays. 

More information will be released about timelines for subject selection in an email to parents this week. 

Year 12 Academic Interviews 

Year 12 Academic Interviews will begin in Week 6. Parents and students will receive an email in the coming week providing instructions on how to book these interviews with a member of the Academic Care Team (ACT). For ATAR eligible students, the latest ATAR prediction will be discussed.

Year 11 Exam Block 

Year 11 end of Unit 1 Exam Block began yesterday and will run through to Monday 23rd May. The exam block timetable has been emailed to students and parents and is also shown below.

As with previous exam blocks, Year 11 students only need to attend school if they have a scheduled exam - they may arrive in time for their exam and leave at its completion. However, if your son has not submitted assessment or completed the tasks to a reasonable standard, he will be required to remain at school over this exam block to catch up on this work.    For students, expectations during exam block are as follows:

• Normal College rules apply when on campus;
• You must arrive to and from school in full school uniform (including blazers and bags) and sign in and out using QR codes;
• You are to travel directly to and from school without congregating at shops, outside other schools or the like; 
• You must arrive at the exam room 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start time;
• You must bring all required equipment (calculator, pens, highlighters, charged laptops and headphones etc.);
• You must adhere to the exam coordinator's instructions at all times; and
• You are to bring your student ID card as well as all of your equipment in a clear plastic sleeve or container.

If you have any questions regarding this exam block please contact curriculum@marash.qld.edu.au 

Year 11 Subject Changes and Reports

For students wishing to change subjects, they will need to visit the Academic Care Team (via the Studies Office) anytime between now and Week 7. Please note these subject changes will not occur until the start of Unit 2.

Year 11 Unit 1 Reports will be published later this term. Parents will receive notifications via email when these are available.

Assessment Calendars 

Assessment calendars for Term 2 have been released to students and parents. Students are encouraged to transfer due dates for assessment into their school diaries. This should also include draft due dates.

To access assessment calendars please follow these steps:

1 - Access your Parent Portal

2 - Click on the tab that reads “Assessment and Exam Schedules.”

3 - Select the appropriate year level that your son is in. 

4 - Print schedule and ask your son to transfer dates into his College Diary.

How to access Academic Reports – Parent Lounge

Please follow these steps to access academic reports

1. Open Parent Portal and click on “Parent Lounge”

2. Academic Reports are accessible via the link of the left-hand side of the page, or at the bottom of the main screen. Click on the academic report you would like to see.

Accessing LMS for Task Specific Feedback 

At the completion of each drafting stage and final completion of assessment (both written and exam), your son will receive task-specific feedback from his teachers. It is important that your son/s access this feedback, so they are aware of their strengths and limitations. Parents are also encouraged to access this information.

Please follow these steps to access task-specific feedback.

1. Open Parent Portal and click on “Parent Lounge”

2. On the left-hand tab select “Curricular Activities Due” and select “view all activities” on the top right-hand side of the page. 

This will take you to a screen that lists of your son/s assessment to complete, or has been completed.

3. Click on a subject to view feedback. 

4. Once you click on the subject you will be able to find the following information:

1. Task sheet for assessment – this will outline what your son needs to do to complete the task successfully
2. Draft due dates and due dates
3. Criteria sheet
4. Feedback
5. Result

Learning from Home

If you are unable to attend school due to COVID-19 please access your classwork via the Moodle subject page and ensure you are revising for your upcoming exams. If you are unsure of what work to complete or require further work or assistance, please contact your classroom teacher for further guidance.

Old Boy Maths tutoring – All Years 

We have four wonderful Old Boys who tutor our current students from Year 7-12 in maths each morning. I would encourage all boys to add one session per week into their study load. Our Old Boys (Tom, Josh, Nick and Will) are very welcoming and would love to see more students attend.

Math tutoring is in Room 402 from 7:45am-8:30am every morning.

All are welcome!

Study Hall – All Year Levels

Every Tuesday and Thursday morning the teacher librarians in the senior library offer study hall sessions from 7:45 am to 8:30 am. These are designed to build the student’s capacity to study independently by teaching them key skills for the first 15mins of the sessions and then offering independent supported study for the remainder of the time.

Please find below the outline for the Study Hall for Term 2.