Pastoral Academic Care (PAC)
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Pastoral Focus: Junior – PRIORITISING
Senior – PRIORITISING
Wellbeing Element: ACCOMPLISHMENT + OPTIMISM
Character Strength: brainstorming how they can build their wellbeing and resilience using Sense of Meaning.
Parent Wellbeing: developing your self-awareness will enable you to notice how you feel and then control your emotions. Draw an outline of your body and on it write down the warning signs you feel on different parts when you are becoming stressed or angry. When you notice them, use deep breathing or colouring in to self-calm yourself.
This fortnight we hear from the Year 7 and Year 9 Leaders of Learning.
Year 7
Year 7 Meet and Greet
Thank you to all parents and carers that were able to join us for our Year 7 Meet and Greet which was held on Monday 20th February. The Year 11 LYL’s did a fantastic job taking parents on a tour of the school and we were extremely proud to show the Year 7 learning spaces and work which they have been doing during class time. If you were unable to make the information evening a few key takeaways are:
- Your first point of contact if you have any concerns about your child is the PAC teacher. They can be contacted via email through Compass.
- Naplan will take place in week 7, term 1
- Vaccinations will be on the 30th March
- Camp will be in term 4 with more information being released at the beginning of term 2
Learning Tasks
This year O’Connor will be providing learning tasks for all students via our Compass platform. These tasks will be set up for each subject and be available for parents and carers to see the type of task, the expectations, the work produced by their child and feedback provided on the task written by the classroom teacher. These conversations have begun between the students and their teachers in relation to what their task will be about and how it will be completed. Below are some pictures of year 7 in action working on a passion project during PRAXIS and their survival unit in English.
NAPLAN
During week 7 of this term Year 7 will undertake the National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) testing. NAPLAN is an annual national assessment for all students in year 3, 5, 7 and 9. NAPLAN is a measure to see whether or not young Australians are developing the literacy and numeracy skills that provide the critical foundation for other learning. Students will be required to bring a charged device for all the NAPLAN tests during this time period. If a student is absent during one of the tests there will be an opportunity for a catch up test in the following week.
Finally I would like to extend a heartfelt congratulations to all the wonderful year 7 students who contributed and participated in the Armidale Show. Year 7 showcased a variety of skills across many different aspects of the show and should be extremely proud of their efforts!
Ms Felicity Magann on behalf of Year 7 PAC
Year 9
Year 9 Parent Meet and Greet
On Monday 20th March, parents and carers will have the opportunity to come into the College to meet with key members of staff working with the Year 9 students. We will complete a short presentation of the important information surrounding your child being in Stage 5, along with the opportunity for you to have an informal chat with those key staff members. Please keep a look out for a notification on Compass for more details. We look forward to seeing you all there!
NAPLAN
During the latter part of Week 7, Year 9 students will undertake NAPLAN testing. The National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is a series of tests focused on basic skills that are administered to Australian students in years 3, 5, 7 and 9. These standardised tests assess students’ reading, writing, language spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy. NAPLAN tests students for the types of essential skills necessary to move through school and life. The data collected from these tests will be used by teachers to help understand student strengths and weaknesses and to assist in the planning of effective teaching and learning. NAPLAN assessment data is also used to track student growth over time. If you have any questions surrounding NAPLAN, please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s PAC teacher.
Year 9 Learning In Action
It’s been great to see so many students working hard in class. I’ve been fortunate to have the opportunity to visit many classrooms over the course of this Term so far and have been impressed at the level of engagement by our students. Keep up the hard work!
Theme for 2023
Sometimes, when things don’t work out the way we planned or don’t go our way, we might stress out and give up. There are things, however, we can’t actually control (e.g. other people’s actions, deadlines etc), so there’s no point stressing about them. When you focus on things you can control (e.g. your actions, effort, attitude etc), life can become a little simpler and more manageable.
Where is your power?
“When you can’t control what is happening, control the way you respond to what is happening for that is where your power is!”
Ms Natalie Mellowship on behalf of Year 9 PAC