Learning and Teaching News

Welcome back to all our families, new and old!  We warmly welcome you to Marist College Ashgrove, where our mission is to educate boys in the Marist tradition, inspiring them to love, learn, lead and serve.  Please know that we will aim to provide a holistic education for your son in a supportive, engaging and challenging environment.

You are encouraged to read the newsletter each week to find out what is happening regarding curriculum at the College. 

Congratulations to Year 12 2022

As outlined in the Head of College article, our Year 12 cohort of 2022 performed highly in their exit results at the end of last year. We would like to acknowledge the hard work of not only the students, but the teachers, support staff, parents and carers who guided, assisted, challenged and supported these boys on their academic journeys at the College. It is wonderful to see boys pursuing post-schooling options from university courses such as Medicine, Law, Economics, Education, Music, Business to apprenticeships, TAFE courses and employment. Well done, seniors of 2022; you should be extremely proud of yourselves.

For an outline of the Year 12 2022 results, please see the Head of College article.

Academic Care Team 2023

Marist College Ashgrove’s Academic Care Team (ACT) works with students to track and assist their academic growth at the College. The ACT is divided into several roles:

• Deputy Head of College - Learning and Teaching: Ms Jen Smeed. Jen overseas learning and teaching across the whole College. Along with Adam Knight (see below), Jen has a particular focus on the senior years (Years 10-12). Jen can be contacted at smeedj@marash.qld.edu.au
• Assistant Head of College – Learning and Teaching (Middle School): Mrs Roxanne Rosenberg. Roxanne works with the Middle School students (Years 7-9) and staff to ensure our Middle school academic programs prepare the boys for senior learning. Roxanne can be contacted at rosenbergr@marash.qld.edu.au 
• Curriculum Leader: Senior Years Academic Care: Mr Adam Knight. Adam primarily focuses on student tracking across the senior school (Years 10-12). This includes the Year 10 preparation programs and subject selections. He assists boys in subject selection and with their many pathway options in senior schooling. Adam can be contacted at knighta@marash.qld.edu.au 
• Curriculum Leader: Middle Years Academic Care: Mrs Jessica Turschwell. Jess works with Middle School students (Years 7-9) on academic success through our student tracking program. Jess can be contacted at turschwellj@marash.qld.edu.au
• Primary Learning Leader: Ms Jen Little. Jen works closely with primary school teachers to develop an engaging and targeted curriculum for Years 5 and 6. She tracks student progress and is focused on continual improvement for all. Jen can be contacted at littlej@marash.qld.edu.au 

The middle and senior years Academic Care Team can be accessed at the Studies Office (under the Resource Centre). Jen Little, the Primary Learning Leader, is in the Primary Administration building. Please feel free to contact the relevant member of the ACT if you have any questions about your son’s subjects or overall academic progress across the year.

Curriculum Leaders 2023

Our Marist College Ashgrove Curriculum Leaders (CLs) lead the subject areas in departments across Years 7-12. These CLs are experts in subjects within their departments and work with their departmental staff to build programs aligned with the Australian Curriculum and the Queensland Years 11 and 12 syllabuses. Please contact any of the CLs below if you have questions about a subject within their department.

Year 8-11 Subject Changes 

Over the break, students in Years 8-11 may have decided to change elective subjects that they chose last year. If your son would like to change his subjects, please encourage him to see the people list below:

• Year 8 subject changes – relevant Head of House
• Year 9 subject changes – relevant Head of House or Assistant Head of College – Learning and Teaching (Middle School) (Roxanne Rosenberg) or CL: Middle Year Academic Care (Jess Turschwell)
• Year 10-11 subject changes – Deputy Head of College - Learning and Teaching (Jen Smeed) or CL: Senior Years Academic Care (Adam Knight).

All subject changes need to be completed and submitted by Wednesday, 1st February (Week 2).

Year 5 -10 Semester 2 2022 Outstanding Academic Achievement Awards

Year 5-10 Semester Two 2022 Outstanding Academic Achievement Awards will be presented at the College’s inaugural mass on Friday 3rd February. Parents of students who will being receiving awards will be notified over the next week, via email and invited to attend the mass and awards ceremony. A list of recipients will be included in the Week Three newsletter.

Head of College Awards for Semester Two 2022 will be presented on year-level assemblies this term. A list of recipients will be included in a newsletter later this term.

Year 7 Information Night – 31st January

This event is being organised by Mr Craig Milligan (Pastoral Leader – Middle School).  Mrs Roxanne Rosenberg will be presenting to discuss academics at the College. If you have any questions relating to the event, please contact Mr Milligan (milliganc@marash.qld.edu.au)

Year 5-9 Monitoring – Week 2 

During this week, all students in Years 5-9 will meet with their pastoral teacher to discuss their academic goals for 2023.  They will write these goals into their diaries – Subject Smart Goals (page 46). I encourage all parents and carers to discuss these goals with your son and set some steps to help him achieve them. 

NAPLAN

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy takes place during Week 8 of Term 1 this year. Information regarding these tests and arrangements for upcoming school readiness tests will be emailed to students in Years 5, 7 and 9 shortly. 

Student Laptop Agreement

Parents of Year 7 and 10 students, please note that a student laptop agreement has now been released on Parent Lounge.  Please access this document as soon as possible.  Read the agreement and accept.  Please attend to this by Friday 27th January.

2023 Calendar

The College calendar provided to each family outlines the scheduled exam blocks across the year for students in Years 7-12. Please ensure you check these Exam Block dates before booking any holidays, as they are an essential and compulsory part of the learning process at the College. Leave is not granted to students during this time. 

Assessment Schedules 

From Week 3, your son will have access to his assessment schedule. This can be located on Student Café. Your son is encouraged to download this schedule and transfer assessment dates to his College Diary. There will be more information on accessing this information in the Week Three newsletter.