Senior School
Attendance Requirements VCE /VM
Success in VCE and VM starts with attending each day for learning. All students in any VCE/VM unit across Year 11 & 12 are required to complete a minimum 50 hours of scheduled classroom instruction for each unit. In addition, it is expected that students will undertake up to 50 hours of self-directed learning for each unit.
Students who do not have a VCE attendance of 90% for a class will be ‘at risk’ of not completing the course attendance requirements (50hrs) and may receive an N for the unit.
School Absences for Genuine Illness/Other
Written evidence for absences related to illness/other is recommended to have absences approved for VCE/VM attendance requirements i.e., medical certificate stating that the student was unfit for school or bereavement written evidence.
Families are actively discouraged from taking holidays during term time when they have a child undertaking VCE/VM. This can impact students’ ability to meet the required 50hrs and /or the subject teacher cannot authenticate the learning when students are not in class for extended periods of time. Family holidays are considered unapproved absences, except in exceptional circumstances.
School Absences for missed SACs (VCE only)
Students who are absent on the day of a SAC must produce a medical evidence (i.e medical certificate) from a medical practitioner that shows they were unfit for school and must be submitted to the General Office in person or via email.
What do students do if they miss a SAC (VCE only)?
- Unless the absence is school approved, a student who is unable to attend a SAC must produce medical evidence from a medical practitioner that shows they were unfit for school (i.e medical certificate). In the case of a death in the family they should present a death or funeral notice or an order of service booklet.
- It is the student’s responsibility to ensure all medical evidence is submitted to the General Office in person or via email to within 5 days upon their return to school.
- The Classroom Teacher will update the Learning Task on Compass, as well complete an ‘Assessment Reschedule’ chronicle entry on Compass the day of the missed SAC. Senior School will communicate on Compass chronicle entry to indicate medical evidence has been received. The student must present appropriate evidence to the general office upon their return to school.
- Rescheduled SACs will take place at the next Tuesday after-school session in the Senior Centre (F4) from 3:15pm – 4:30pm
General Office email for Medical Certificates generaloffice@wantirnacollege.vic.edu.au
Failure to provide medical certificate / medical evidence:
- VCE Units 1 & 2 students who are unable to produce the above evidence will sit the SAC as a redemption task.
- VCE Units 3 & 4 students who are unable to produce the above evidence will sit the SAC as a redemption task and cannot receive a score higher than zero for the task.
- Failure to provide sufficient evidence of satisfactory completion in a redemption task can result in an N (Not Satisfactory) for the outcome, therefore an N for the unit.
- If a student does not complete a redemption task at the set time and does not supply a medical certificate, they forfeit the right to the redemption process and an N (Not Satisfactory) can be awarded.
Importance of Home Study
Research has confirmed that secondary school students who regularly complete their homework have higher achievement than those who do not. Parents/carers have a crucial role in helping their child manage homework. This does not necessarily mean helping their child do the homework. It is important for parents/carers to set routines and provide encouragement for homework completion.
Senior School students are expected to complete home study to complete class tasks, revise work, prepare for assessments and exams, and extend their learning.
Recently in Explore, all students across Years 9-12 have undertaken a session on the importance of time management, including creating a flexible study timetable. I encourage all parents / guardians to discuss this with their child and to help them use their study timetable effectively. Revising and consolidating the learning at home is critical for the success and achievement of our students.
Research findings indicate a significant relationship of time-management skills, reading, and note-taking skills with academic achievement. Students with higher academic achievement use a wide range of study skills (skills students will learn throughout Explore) as compared to students with lower academic achievement. These study skills form the foundation for students to self-regulate and manage their learning away from the classroom. The first step is for students to effectively find and use the time available at home to prepare, review and consolidate their learning.
Why is time management so important?
It increases productivity: if students can manage their time effectively, it adds to their productivity levels and helps avoid procrastination
It keeps work and learning organised: the best way to manage time is to create and follow a flexible study planner for each day of the week (all students from Years 9112 have created a study planner in Explore). Students are encouraged to have copies up in their locker, at home and on their laptop.
Positive impact on your health: good time management efforts reflect on your health. When students manage time effectively, they do not have to stay up late to finish tasks, as such they will get a longer and better night's sleep. Consequently, reducing stress and anxiety. Sleep is essential for the brain and the body to recharge itself for the day ahead.
They can spend more time for the things they love!
It helps in stress reduction: Not completing study and/or not consolidating your learning at home on a regular basis can cause you to become overwhelmed and stressed. Sticking to a study schedule and studying in small chunks more regularly will not only help deeper learning but help reduce the stress and anxiety of having to cram.
VCE Study Boost AKA Toasty Thursdays is BACK!
When: Thursday afternoons 3:10pm–4:30pm
Where: Senior Centre and Pathways Hub
Who: For all Senior School students undertaking VCE (non VCE students also welcome)
A great opportunity for senior students to work in study groups and to complete additional work whilst getting valuable feedback from the many VCE teachers who are there weekly offering extra support.
We had over 70 students there in the first week!
Honour Roll Assembly
Our current Year 12 cohort had the privilege to attend the Honour Roll assembly to celebrate and recognise the fantastic achievements of our Honour Roll students from 2022. These students achieved above 90 on their ATAR. We had the opportunity to hear first-hand from the students through a live Q & A forum where they shared invaluable advice and tips around 'what it takes' to be a successful student in VCE, regardless of your VCE pathway.
We once again congratulate our honour roll students from 2022:
- DUX Tain Corless 96.35
- En Chen
- Josephine Coath
- Ziniu Huang
- Laura Hutchens
- Sunny Kang
- Haoyang (Vimmer) Liu
- Jamie Nhor
- Adam Ning
- Arad Sadeghi
- Arya Sadeghi
- Nguyen Phuong Linh (Lisa) Do
Peer Support Training Day
On Thursday the 9th of February, all year 10 Peer Support students attended KIOSC for a training day. We spent the day learning techniques on how to run a class as well as ways to deal with incidents that may occur while teaching our Year 7 lessons. During the day we also learnt about our personal leadership styles after doing fun challenges in groups to challenge our teamwork. The day taught us various valuable skills that we will use throughout Semester 1, when we start mentoring and teaching the year 7’s starting in Week 5. - Natalie Walker, Peer Support Leader
David Black, Tim Pearson
& Darren Hoogkamer
Senior School Leaders