Academic Assemblies
Congratulations to the Year 8-11 students who received awards at today’s Academic Assemblies. The awards celebrated the academic achievement of students during Semester 2, 2022. Awards were presented to students who demonstrated consistent effort to all aspects of their study (Br Bell Award), students in the top 5% of a course (Academic Honours) and first place in each course. In addition, students who achieved excellent Grades across all courses were presented with the Academic Excellence awards. Special mention to Year 11 student, Matthew Carolan, who achieved a Grade A in every subject in every report from Years 7 to 10.
All students are encouraged to believe in their potential, and to understand that with persistence and effort, they can achieve their goals. All students can aspire and work towards being presented with an award at future Academic Assemblies.
Year 10 2022 Semester 2 Awards
Goal Setting
Earlier this week, students in Years 7-12 commenced formulating their learning and well-being goals for Semester 1. Students are to be congratulated on the manner in which they completed this task.
Students learnt about the importance and benefits of setting goals. These included:
- Goals help maintain motivation
- Goal setting creates a plan for the future backed by the desire to do something concrete
- Goal setting and achievement provide momentum and create satisfaction
- The sense of self-accomplishment obtained through goal achievement greatly improves mental focus and physical performance
- Goals need to be challenging but realistic
- Long term goals are important for defining a vision and direction for the future. Short term goals provide feedback for realizing long term goals and help maintain motivation
Parents will be provided instructions on how they can access the goals set by their son(s) and confirm they have read them.
Critical Thinking Skills
There are many things you can do to develop your critical thinking skills. Critical thinking is your ability to think clearly and rationally, reflecting and developing your thoughts.
- CLARIFY YOUR THOUGHTS: The best way to clarify your thoughts is to try and explain your thinking to someone else.
- QUESTION ASSUMPTIONS: Don’t take your thoughts for granted, every now and then think about why you believe a certain thought or how you know things to be true.
- LOOK FOR OTHER PERSPECTIVES: When you are presenting an argument, imagine yourself in a debate and think about what the opposing side might say.
- KEEP AN OPEN MIND: In order to look for other perspectives keep an open mind.
- BE CURIOUS: Start to look outside the things you normally read and watch and think about. Learn more about things you know nothing about and were not previously interested in.
- MAKE INFORMED JUDGEMENTS: It is ok to not have an opinion about something because you don’t have enough information yet. Avoid rushing to judgements, take your time to gather information and evidence and assess it before making a decision.
NAPLAN & PAT TESTING
During 2023, NAPLAN will be administered during Term 1 (commencing 15 March). Students will sit tests in Reading, Writing, Grammar & Punctuation, Spelling and Numeracy. Further details will be provided in the next newsletter. In addition, students in Years 7-10 will be administered the ACER PAT Tests in Reading, Numeracy and Science. Years 7, 8 and 9 will sit these tests in Week 4 and Year 10 during Week 8. These tests provide valuable data for the College to support student learning, Parents will receive PAT Tests results achieved by the son(s).
Critical Thinking Skills
Study Samurai Library
All families have access to the Study Samurai Library. The Study Samurai Library includes the Study Skills Module website which provides advice and resources on developing essential skills for academic success. To access the Study Samurai Library website, go to www.studysamurailibrary.com and login with these details:
Username: edmundrice
Password: 13achieve
This week, families are able to spend time reviewing the Study Samurai Time Management module: Home Study Environment. Click here to access the resources.
Dr Gerry Sozio
Director of Learning & Teaching