What's Ahead?

It is Term four already! It feels like the year is flying by and it is an opportune time to mention significant milestones not far away. As the term draws to a close we have a system in place to ensure those students who are behind in the submissions of work are provided with reminders of what they need to have completed to be included on their subject assessment. This is done via the overdue work notices to be sent to families next week. Included in this are  the following final submission dates:

Last Day to Submit 11                  Fri 4th Nov.

Last Day to Submit 10                  Fri 11th Nov

Last Day to Submit 7-9                 Fri 18th Nov

Exams for our year 12’s start next week with the all-important English exam on Wednesday morning. For the remaining students at Etty Street, as per other years, exams will be run for our Year 10 and Year 11 students from November 14-18. We will be distributing exam timetables shortly via mentor groups so students can be well organised and prepared for the opportunity to demonstrate their learning from the semester.

All on one Campus!

We are busy preparing for the exciting move to the Blakeley Road Campus. The timetable is under development and at the point where we can soon take it to students and staff. Following exams in week 8 (November 21-25) we will have all students on the BRC campus for Step Up. We will be using the precincts as our organisational model and in the lead up to the opening of the new Engineers building we have seen the positive impact of having our senior students working with our younger students. I feel this is a good opportunity to explain about our precinct model, to provide some clarity of the its purpose and outline what it is and isn’t. Below are some answers to some of our frequently asked questions.

What is a precinct?

From 2017 students will be allocated to mentor groups and a locker in one of four precincts; Wellbeing, Engineers, Performers and Artisans.. Staff will be aligned to a  precinct with the aim of ensuring that students in our college have a group of people who know them well and can cater for their educational needs. For those of you that are familiar with the house system it has a similar goal to increase a sense of school connectedness and belonging.

How are students allocated?

Students nominated their precinct at the subject selection evenings. We have been able to offer  90% of students their first choice with these to be announced to students shortly.

If students are interested in a range of subject areas, will being in a precinct impact on their ability to study them?

The short answer is no. Being allocated to a precinct is an organisational model that has no impact on subject choice. Students will travel between the buildings the way they always have to access specialist areas.

Can precincts be changed?

This is similar to changing mentor groups. Once in place  there are significant issues the college will need to work through with the student and their parents/carers to identify what the best options are to address concerns.

Step Up 2016

Every year we run ‘step up’ classes for our current year 9 – 11  - students to get a feel for their subject selections for the following year.  This year to assist in the transition to one campus,  we are including the year 7 & 8 students in running Step Up across the whole school. Using the timetable for next year, we will use this opportunity to work with our students to address any issues that arise and ensure that we celebrate a positive start to our “combined” college. We are currently developing the timetable and having conversations with students about changes required. Student timetables will be finalised by November 4 and released shortly after that.

Learning Festival

The focus of this years’ Learning Festival, from 28 November to 2 December,  will be to prepare students for the 2017 Castlemaine State Festival. The Festival is a wonderful opportunity for our students to be involved in working with international artists and something only open to students attending schools within in Mount Alexander Shire. Festival organisers have again worked very closely with CSC to organise performers to come to the school. We will have a number of international and local artists working with students who want to be involved in Music, Dramatics and Choreography during the Learning Festival. We are excited that Robbie Graham, an accomplished international dance director from the United Kingdom, will attend the Learning Festival to work with our students. In addition to this activity, we will also be running a series of challenges over a range of topics for students.  These activities run across learning areas but will all  link to the Learning Festival theme of ‘Steam Punk’. There will be something for everyone!

Brian Brasher

Assistant Principal