Now that we have settled into the rhythm of 2022, I encourage students to maintain their use of their College diary to keep up to date with homework and assessments. Collectively, this term will see the completion of 79 formal assessments across all Key Learning Areas and all year groups. A schedule of tasks which summarises all of the upcoming formal assessments has been displayed in each pastoral classroom for students to refer to. 

Over the past fortnight, I have had a number of conversations with students from Years 9, 10 and 11 wanting to change courses or electives. Please note that Friday March 4 will be the last opportunity for students to submit any Change of Course forms. If you are unsure about your child’s request, please do not hesitate to contact the College to discuss. Significant changes to their pattern of study will be brought to your attention prior to the Change of Course form being approved and processed.  

Assessment Handbooks
2022 Assessment Handbooks were published onto the NewsFeed in Compass this week. These handbooks are a useful resource for planning ahead and remaining organised. The first section of each handbook explains the processes specific to each year group with regards to submission and expectations if students are absent on the due date of a task. All formal assessments will follow the schedules within each handbook.

Due Dates of Upcoming Formal Assessment Tasks
Week 3
17/02/2022: Year 12 SICT Task

Week 5
02/03/2022: Year 12 IT: Timber Task

Week 6
08/03/2022: Year 12 English Ext. 1 Task
08/03/2022: Year 12 Maths Ext. 2 Task
09/03/2022: Year 11 SLR (2 Unit) Task
09/03/2022: Year 9 Maths 5.2 and 5.3 Task
10/03/2022: Year 11 Investigating Science Task

Good afternoon everyone,

After the completion of our first two weeks of the new academic year, our Pastoral Teams (year groups) conducted a range of assemblies and class activities earlier today to assist students with a variety of wellbeing and learning matters. Each of these presentations refer specifically to our Pastoral Care framework centred on Responsibilities, Relationships and High Expectations. Below is a list of the key elements from each year group:

Year 12 - Paul Wade Presentation: Motivation, Goal Setting and Resilience
Year 11 - Pathways presentation 
Year 10 - Assembly: Academic requirements for Year 10
Year 9 - in class: Goal setting and Assembly
Year 8 - in class: Goal setting and review of Year 7 reports
Year 7 - Zoom Assembly: Language survey 

Thanks to all staff who presented and supervised each of these initiatives.

Attendance
Please be reminded that explanations of student absence are required within 7 days of an absence as per College, Diocesan and Catholic Education requirements. These explanations can be handwritten notes, emails or responses via Compass. If you have any questions relating to this matter, please contact the College Office or speak to your son/daughter’s Year Coordinator or Pastoral Advisor. Please refer to the attachment below for some information regarding student attendance.

CEDoW Compulsory School Attendance

Sports Jackets: Please also be reminded that the Mount Carmel jacket is to be worn only on days where sports uniform is worn to school (eg. Tuesdays or PDHPE scheduled practical days). In the event of cooler weather in terms one and four, the College jumper is to be worn if warmer clothing is required.

As always, thank you for your continued support with these initiatives and the ongoing wellbeing and learning of all members of our community.

Mr Simon Huntly
Pastoral Care and Wellbeing Coordinator

I remember reading Albert Camus’ novel The Plague when I was in Year 9 as part of my secondary school English studies. Published in 1947, Camus’ book tells the story of a town caught in the grip of a deadly plague. Forced into quarantine, each person responds in their own way to the disease and the isolation. Some resign themselves to fate; some blame others and lash out; while others join forces to defy the threat and to care for one another. Written just after the Nazi occupation of France, The Plague is a powerful tale of resistance against an all-powerful enemy. 

One of the key aspects of Camus’ story which resonates with me today, is the consideration given to determining what kind of world the surviving townspeople wanted to rebuild once the gates of the city were opened again. I have been giving much thought to the kinds of classrooms we may wish to ‘rebuild’ as we begin a new year following two years of disruption. While the pandemic has brought with it a good deal of anxiety, dislocation, and uncertainty, it has also afforded educators the opportunity to reflect on their policies and practices in an effort to improve educational outcomes for students. It would be such a shame if the insights gleaned from the pandemic were forgotten, and life simply went back to the pre-COVID ‘normal’.  Why did some students flourish during remote learning and others struggle? To say that the more able students coped and the less able students did not cope as well, is an over-simplification. I think it had more to do with the quality of relationships, the effectiveness of communication, the ability to read and write, and the generation of the will and the thrill of learning.

Throughout the remote learning period, it became apparent that the most significant effect on student learning occurred when teachers became learners of their own teaching, and when students became their own teachers. Serious reflection enabled teachers to refine, clarify, simplify and change their approaches in order to encourage student engagement, independence and confidence. Relationships were undoubtedly crucial in mobilising capacities for deep learning while sustaining interest and challenge. Intelligent caring with an emphasis on self-reliance and collaboration, offered support which helped activate students’ coping strategies.

Reading and writing were found to be particularly essential disciplines in the remote learning context. For students who experience difficulties in these two related activities, learning in lockdown would have been a challenge. Limitations in both knowledge of words and knowledge of the world would also have impacted on a student’s ability to thrive during this time. Passive readers and writers who tend to do the majority of their reading and writing at school in order to comply with teacher-assigned tasks or simply to ‘get by’, were urged throughout lockdown to read and write for enjoyment and pleasure. Reluctant readers and writers who actively avoid these practices whenever possible, were encouraged to immerse themselves in texts of their own choosing and to write regularly. This emphasis on reading and writing, along with the enrichment of students’ vocabulary and knowledge of the world, will continue to be an important part of the literacy picture at Mount Carmel this year.

I’ll conclude with another memory of my time at school. In Year 11, I missed several weeks of Term 3 when I found myself in the role of carer, looking after my seriously ill mother.  Aside from memories of fear and apprehension, the wonderful support of my classmates combined with the confidence of my teachers, helped me cope with this challenge. The belief of my teachers was particularly empowering. Now, as we begin this 2022 school year, I hope that every student knows they are valued and feels most strongly the belief of their teachers that they can learn and thrive.

Clare Murphy
English Coordinator and Literacy Instructional Coach 

Over the last few years, our Senior School Technology Officer has been developing strategies to ensure improvements in IT systems and processes. An enormous amount of work has been completed in ensuring better hardware has been built into classes, better internet connections and new wiring and Wi-Fi capability and improvements to our surveillance systems with the introduction of more and better quality CCTV to assist in monitoring safety and out of hours security. The current phase of improvements include an upgrade of our PA system and the launch of our new website. I thank Mr Grana for his time, effort and expertise in ensuring we have the best equipment available for our students and staff.

To continue the streamlining of our IT processes, you would have received an email asking you to agree to certain conditions should your child need to borrow a computer from the College. When students fail to charge their devices or these need repair, our technology assistants will sometimes offer a loan device. As you would be aware, these are expensive devices and we need to ensure students take responsibility for their care and appropriate use. If you do not want your child to have access to these daily loan devices, there will be a spot for you to indicate this. If you do wish your child to have this access, we ask for your agreement to the appropriate conditions. This has been outlined in the Compass 'Technology Loan Device Agreement' event notification which was sent out this week.