HSC MINIMUM STANDARDS
On Thursday Year 10, will make their first attempt at the HSC Minimum Standards Tests. These tests are an opportunity for students to demonstrate their level of competency in writing, reading and numeracy. To show they meet the HSC minimum standard, students need to achieve Level 3 or 4 in short online reading, writing and numeracy tests of skills for everyday life. Many students will meet this level on their first attempt, however if not, they will have multiple opportunities throughout Yr 10, 11 and 12 to meet the minimum standard.

In preparation for these tests, students have been asked to download a lockdown browser and will need a well charged laptop to complete the tests over Period 1-3 on Thursday 3 March.

Students in Year 11 and 12 who are yet to meet the standards, will have opportunities later in the term to attempt the tests.

PAT TESTS - Year 8-10
Earlier this term Year 7 completed their PAT (Progressive Assessment Tests) assessments in Reading, Maths and Science. Over the coming weeks students in Year 8-10 will also complete these tests. The intention and purpose of these tests is to collect a snapshot of students' knowledge and skills at the beginning of a school year, so that teachers can identify targeted areas of intervention and strategies required to best support students' learning needs. At the end of the year, students will complete a second test which will show learning growth over the year.

Overview of each assessment:

PAT Maths Adaptive assesses a range of content areas and proficiencies to ensure that the breadth of students’ mathematical abilities are captured. The assessments are designed to be engaging and to encourage students to interact with the content to the best of their ability. Reading load is minimised and item types are limited to avoid unnecessarily complicating the skill being assessed. Where the skill is better captured in a different format, interactive items are utilised as appropriate.

PAT Reading Adaptive assesses a range of text types and skill areas to ensure that the breadth of students’ reading comprehension abilities are being captured. The assessment is designed to be engaging and to encourage students to interact with the content to the best of their ability. Item type complexity is minimised to avoid unnecessarily complicating the skill being assessed, except in those instances where the skill is better captured in a different format. Interactive items are utilised as appropriate in these cases.

PAT Science provides information to teachers about the level of achievement attained by their students in the concepts, skills and processes of science. PAT Science assesses knowledge and concepts across four broad areas: physical systems (ie Energy and Change), chemical systems (ie Materials), geological and space systems (ie Earth and Space) and living systems (ie Life and Living).

In preparation for these assessments, students will need to ensure that they have a well charged laptop and headphones. A calculator and pencil may also be required.

Schedule for PAT Testing:
01/03/2022: Year 9 (p2-4)
08/03/2022: Year 8 (p2-4)
17/03/2022: Year 10 (p4-6)

DUE DATES FOR UPCOMING FORMAL ASSESSMENT TASKS
Week 5
02/03/2022: 12 IT: Timber Hand in Task

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

Good afternoon everyone,

Walking in Truth
Over the past 12 months or so reference has been made to the launch of  “Walking in Truth”, our whole school approach to providing a Safe, Responsible and Respectful environment for our community. Last year the Walking in Truth team presented the initiative at a range of College and Year Group Assemblies as we introduced the concept to our external areas with an emphasis on expected positive behaviours at various locations across our site. This week we extended the program to our classrooms and the language of Positive Behaviour for Learning is now something that is well ensconced in our day to day language. It is anticipated that through the publication and continued reference to these guidelines that we will continue to maintain and improve the safety and wellbeing of all members of our College. Below is an example of some signage that is located around our campus which provides a visual reminder to staff and students with respect to expected behaviours.

Thanks to all members of the respective Pastoral teams for the rollout of the classroom “Walking in Truth” presentations. 

Upcoming Pastoral Activities 
Year 8 Connections “Who we are”:  Mon March 7 Lessons 1 & 2 
Year 9 Black Dog Future Proofing: Thursday March 3 Lesson 1 
Year 7 Camp: March 16-18
Year 8 Elevate Study Skills: March 18 lesson 

Information regarding each of these activities will be communicated to students and carers leading up to the event. Please contact your son or daughter’s Year Coordinator if you have any questions.

Unfortunately the Year 10 YAM presentation advertised in last week’s Newsletter scheduled for March 8, 15 and 22 has been postponed until later in the year. Dates are yet to be confirmed.

Reading for pleasure still matters. Research indicates that reading for pleasure has the following advantages: it supports literacy and learning in school; it enables young people to develop their own, informed perspective on life; it is a safe and inexpensive way to spend time; it allows young people to understand and empathise with those in different situations, times and cultures; and it improves outcomes within and across the personal, educational, social and cultural dimensions of young people’s lives. 

Unfortunately, reading for pleasure tends to decline as students move through adolescence. The challenge for teachers is to redress this trend through specific attention to ways in which reading and specifically reading for pleasure can occupy a more prominent and valid place in the curriculum. The needs, interests, and capacities of our students need to be prioritised here.

Many years ago, I taught a particular Year 8 student who found school to be an alienating place and reading to be extremely unappealing. In one of my playground chats with Paul – usually very one-sided encounters – I asked if he had any hobbies. After a long silence, and with absolutely no eye contact or expression, he answered, ‘Ferrets.’ This response certainly caught me by surprise. With this information, I searched far and wide for reading material on this rather unusual animal. Did you know that ferrets need several hours of supervised exercise and play outside of their cage each day and can be quite mischievous and destructive? I was on a steep learning curve in my pursuit of facts about ferrets. Texts were located and Paul was ‘hooked’. He talked about ferrets, wrote about ferrets and read as much as he could find about ferrets. This ferret focus eventually branched off into a reading of books about animals in general. Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows – a story with rats, moles, toads, badgers, and weasels – was a winner, as were All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot, Watership Down by Richard Adams, and Jack London’s The Call of the Wild. 

Paul’s situation highlights the fact that students who struggle with reading are far more likely to progress in situations where teachers build on the constructive interests and strategies they do possess – and which they are shown they possess – rather than in ‘remedial’ situations which emphasise their inadequacies and draw their attention to them. Most reluctant readers find how possible it is to enjoy reading and to learn new reading strategies when they start to believe in their own abilities and concentrate on meaning and topics of interest to them.

Clare Murphy
English Coordinator and Literacy Instructional Coach 

CEO have had reports of families not receiving school fee statements when they have a Hotmail address.

Extensive testing has provided the answer that there isn’t a problem with transition and that the statements are more than likely going to parents’ ‘junk’ folder due to settings in Hotmail.

If you haven't already received your school fees statement , please check the ‘junk’ folder.