SOME POSITIVE NEWS
The VCE Pathways Expo was held on Tuesday evening this week. Many Year 9 and 10 students and families attended the 6-7pm session where faculties set up booths to display and discuss the subjects on offer. At 7pm the Year 10 cohort then stayed on to listen to a number of presentations on the various pathways before them – mainstream VCE (Mrs Kincses), VCE – Vocational Major (VM) (Mr Mason), VET subjects (Mrs Hodder) and how to submit the Subject Preference file by next Wednesday (Mr Stanley). There was a lot of positive conversation throughout the various rooms with the faculty displays and then attentive listening and follow-up 1:1 conversations with the more formal presentations. A huge thank you to the staff, parents and students who made the night such a success, including the many Year 11 and 12 students who volunteered their time to join in to assist.
The House Cross Country was also run on Tuesday with students from both Flinders campuses competing at Carrum Downs given that we had access to the reserve next door for the 3km circuit. Thank you to the staff who worked together for the event. Well done to the Sports department under Ms Cosgrave’s direction for overseeing this cross-campus event. Well done Cuthbert for being CD Champions and to Ten Boom for being overall Cross Campus Champions.
The Year 10 Camp last week saw this group of students attend two-day excursions in the city followed by a 3 day, 2-night stay at the CYC Building. Students commented on how much they enjoyed the program and the opportunities it afforded them to learn about the challenges faced by many in our city environment. Thanks to Mr Dave Podhaczky and his excellent staff team for running this multi-tiered event.
The ‘READY RESPECT REWARD’ House Challenge is progressing well as we look to encourage students in each House to pursue ‘the Best Version of Us’. After Week 3, results are Cuthbert: 285; Flynn: 289; Nicholls: 277; Ten Boom: 283. The challenge will continue to the end of Week 8 with the winning House rewarded with a free lunch in the final week of term.
UNIFORM MATTERS
We are noticing a number of students wearing multiple and/or large hoop earrings (or similar) which is contrary to College policy. In addition, we are still seeing a few nose piercings.
Please encourage your secondary-aged children to be Ready and Respectful in ALL facets of their preparation to come to school each day. I will be supportive of any staff who give a uniform detention for such matters. I think we are well and truly over the ‘warnings’ phase for such indiscretions.
UPCOMING EVENTS AND YEAR-LEVEL CAMPS
KEY EVENTS
The Sound of Music rehearsals are running well. The production is scheduled for June 16-17. In the meantime, there are two events to help support the production:
Trivia Night THIS SATURDAY Saturday 20 May and Flinders Got Talent on Thursday 8 June.
YEAR LEVEL CAMPS and RETREATS
Next week, the Year 9s will have their City Camp from Monday to Wednesday; followed by the Year 11 Camp at Phillip Island from Wednesday to Friday.
Later in the term – in Week 8 - there will be one-night Retreats for the Year 7 students (and a similar experience for the Year 9s early in Term 3)
YEAR 9-11 EXAMS AND THE BIGGER PICTURE
While the emphasis in Year 12 VCE has broadened from decades past to recognise the need for consistent effort across the year with the inclusion of SACs and SATs, the end-of-year exams are still a very significant component of the overall grading system used to calculate a student’s ATAR score.
As such we are firm in our commitment to provide opportunities for students to develop their exam skills – both in the lead-up to, and actual writing of the exams themselves.
End of Semester 1 exams are being finalised, to be held from Friday 2nd - Thursday 8th June. For Unit 1 students, all subjects are to be examined; for Year 9 and 10, it will be English, Maths and Science only.
We will be encouraging staff and students in these classes to set up a good revision program so that the students can acquit themselves well under exam conditions.
Regards
Geoff Grace
Head of Secondary