In the coming weeks, students at the College will be administered a number of assessment tasks. The following analogy may support students with their prioritising of tasks.

Take a jar, some rocks, some pebbles, and sand. What happens if you put the sand in first then the pebbles? The rocks won’t fit. But if you do it the other way, put the rocks in first, then pop in the pebbles around the sides of the rocks, then sprinkle in the sand it all fits in.

This is an analogy for how to make the most of blocks of time. If you do the big tasks first (the rocks), you will find time for the smaller tasks (the pebbles) and you’ll easily sprinkle in the sand (the little fiddly things). So if you deal with the rocks first you’ll still find time for the other tasks to fit around it.

But it doesn’t work the other way. If you deal first with the small things, you end up giving short shrift to the more important tasks and deplete your energy on these little things. And the little things will expand to fill the time available.

If you find this technique too challenging, you can set yourself a strict half-hour to complete as many of the little things as possible before you start. Once time is up, you then use the block of time to work on the big important tasks. So draw up a table with 3 columns and put all your work into these columns:

ROCKS are the important and urgent tasks.
PEBBLES are the tasks that may also be important but are not as urgent.
SAND is the little fiddly tasks that you can slot in anywhere.

Do the rocks first, then the pebbles, then the sand.

Study Samurai Library

The section above has been taken from the 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 watching a video and review related resources in each of the following units:

• Stage 4 (Years 7 & 8): How to Study
• Stage 5 (Years 9 & 10): Improved Reading Skills
• Stage 6 (Years 11 & 12): Preparing for Exam Blocks

NAPLAN 2022

Our school will be participating in NAPLAN between 10 and 20 May 2022. In preparation for NAPLAN, our school will also be participating in a practice test on Thursday 24 March 2022. The practice test is a trial run and key preparation activity for NAPLAN in May. It is not an assessment of student ability, and the tests will not be marked.

Students can use the public demonstration site to familiarise themselves with the types of questions and tools available in NAPLAN.

In addition, students can access Practice NAPLAN papers on the College Lera page. Click here to access the resources.

Please do not hesitate to make contact if you have any questions.

Gerry Sozio
Director of Learning & Teaching