HSC DISTINGUISHED ACHIEVERS ASSEMBLY AND HSC SYMPOSIUM

Congratulations to our 2022 alumni HSC students who attended the HSC Distinguished Achievers Assembly last Tuesday. It was wonderful seeing our alumni receiving recognition for their efforts and achievements. Click here to access the achievements of our 2022 alumni HSC students.

Following the Distinguished Achievers Assembly, six alumni remained behind to form a panel during the HSC Symposium, attended by current Year 11 and 12 students. The alumni included Elijah Hurley, Will Douglas, Zachary Jancetic, Ashton Mackay, Nathanael Shaw and Jack Worthington. Our alumni responded to a series of questions asked by the HSC Symposium facilitator, Mr Walsh, and Year 11 and 12 students. The questions focused on strategies and advice on achieving success during the Higher School Certificate years. Following is just a small sample of advice provided by the panel:

• It is important for students to work together and motivate each other to succeed – ‘A rising tide lifts all boats’
• Set realistic and manageable goals that will challenge and motivate you. In developing goals, set short term goals to achieve the long term goals.
• Access and complete past HSC examination papers on a regular basis – seek feedback from your teachers
• Develop good study habits in Year 11
• Develop a study timetable – commence early when preparing for an in-class assessment or working on a hand-in assessment
• Build good relationships with each other and your teachers – trust your teachers with their advice
• It is important to maintain balance in your life
• Develop good study notes for your courses

NAPLAN 2023

NAPLAN 2023 will undergo changes after Australia’s education ministers unanimously agreed on a new proficiency standard aimed at improving students’ literacy and numeracy outcomes. The new proficiency standard, with four levels of achievement will replace the previous 10-band structure and the old national minimum standard set in 2008. The four levels of achievement are (i) Exceeding, (ii) Strong, (iii) Developing and (iv) Needs additional support. Students who demonstrate proficiency will be either in the Exceeding or Strong category and students who have not yet achieved proficiency, will be either in the Developing or the Needs additional support category.

Parents/Carers of Year 7 and 9 students will have received a letter this week providing further details for the upcoming NAPLAN tests. Following is a timetable indicating when the NAPLAN tests will be administered.

ELEVATE EDUCATION PARENT/CARER EVENING

One domain of our College Learning and Wellbeing Framework is ‘Formation for Learning’, which includes the development of positive learning behaviours and habits to support lifelong learning. As a College we value the partnership we have with parents/carers in the development of our students.

To support the development of study habits, the College will be hosting Elevate Education on Thursday 2 March 2023 for parents of Year 7 to 12 parents. There will be two separate sessions:

1. Seminar for Year 7 to 10 parents/carers will be held in the Edmund Rice Centre
2. Seminar for Years 11 to 12 parents/carers will be held in the Narandha Learning Centre.

Both sessions will commence at 6:00pm and conclude at 7:00pm.

The seminar will provide parents/carers with strategies to support their son(s) in reinforcing at home skills taught in class. A number of parents have expressed interest in attending the evening. If able to attend, please complete the following google form: https://bit.ly/3S8wVCj . Please complete this form by Monday 27 February 2023.

Note that these seminars have been prepared for parents/carers. However, if you are unable to leave your son(s) at home, he/they is welcome to attend.

ELEVATE EDUCATION

Last week Elevate Education delivered the ACE YOUR EXAMS seminar to our Year 12 students. The seminar covered the following areas:

• Highest value exam preparation tasks
• Fixing mistakes to ensure constant improvement
• Time allocation during exam preparation
• Techniques for managing stress and time pressure in exams.

Following a survey of their experience, 99% of students indicated they would recommend the seminar to their peers and 99% consider the seminar time well spent.

Some comments from students included:

• I would rate it a 9/10 as it helped me gain useful information as well as help me create a study plan for Year 12.
• The most important thing I learnt was to properly prepare for three weeks before an exam.
• The most important thing I learnt was how to plan my study routine.
• The most important thing I learnt was how to study properly and manage my time in an efficient manner.
• I learned some new study techniques and things I can do in the future to improve my own marks.
• I learned of the importance of completing practice test papers.

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: Organisation and Filing. Click here to access the resources.

Dr Gerry Sozio
Director of Learning & Teaching