Year 12 Boarding News. Week 7 Term 2, 2011
Dear Year 12 parents
I hope you were able to enjoy the long weekend. It certainly came at a good time during this very busy term. The boys have been told that it is now very important to finish this last part of the term off strongly in their studies and sport.
We had a special Reconciliation Assembly with the journalist, Jeff McMullan, speaking passionately about his experiences in indigenous communities around Australia. Year 12 played key roles in the Assembly:
- John Grant introduced Jeff very well.
- Nick Weber gave a very informative report about the UK/European football tour. The video clip about this trip is included in this blog
- Ben Yun played a beautiful piano piece
In sport five runners represented the school at the CIS Cross Country championships at Eastern Creek. Aidan Blair finished 10thto progress to the next round, while Matt Smith, Josh Klarica, Dom Egan and Josh Parker won the gold medal in the team event for GPS. Michael McGinley was named in the GPS 1st XI football team and Nathan Upton was selected in the 2nd XI. Unfortunately their matches were washed out on Tuesday but they play next week.
Just two housekeeping matters:
- A reminder that for any medical appointments, the Health Centre needs to be notified on 98160808 or health@joeys.org. They then let all staff know if your son is missing. If you wish to let me know also or check with me about timing that is fine, of course.
- A number of boys have been using mobile phones during study. This can be distracting to them and their neighbours. Could calls to and from home be very limited between 6.30- and 8.30pm during the week if at all possible? We would never discourage contacting home but I am sure that you can appreciate some of the problems that this can cause.
On Saturday we have the second round of rugby and football against Scots at home. The weather has been awful this week but all games will go ahead thanks to the fantastic drainage we have and the care from our wonderful ground staff.
The term ends on Wednesday and all Year 12 rooms and dayboy lockers will need to be emptied. Some gear may be able to go home this weekend. Regardless, a thorough check of all rooms will happen after school on Wednesday after which boys may leave. There will be some travelling to the country on Thursday morning (as long as some roads are open by then).
All the best
Pat
Year 12 Academic News. Week 7, Term 2, 2011
Dear Parents and Carers,
This week has been a difficult one and, unfortunately, a bit of a disappointing one for Year 12. While the majority of the Form are on-side with the guidelines that have been set to provide the best possible environment, supervision and assistance for their academic lives here at the College, there are larger numbers by the day who:
- skip lessons
- sleep during day-time study periods
- arrive late to classes
- arrive without the equipmnent that they need to work
- fail to complete homework
In addition, many boys are found in other’s rooms during night study and daytime study periods so very little work is being done in these circumstances. Pat has indicated that boys are using their phones during study and I would add that dodging our security measures to access Facebook is another growing problem with Year 12 at the present time. All of these situations are unproductive to the students involved but they also distract staff away from getting to work with all of our senior students.
Preparing for the Trial HSC
Next Wednesday I will publish the examination timetable for the 2011 Trial HSC. This will be posted on the Year 12 blog and I will include a 2 hard-copies in each report mail out. I will also post a Term 3 assessment calendar. Parents should expect their sons to have a lot of work to do in preparation for the Trials. My guide is that students should be spending a minimum of 4 hours per day for at least 5 days of the week during this vacation. For the most part, very little would need to be done on the computer.
I would strongly suggest the following three strategies when preparing for the Trials:
- Accessing and practising exam-type questions. This is best done through past exam papers which are readily available in every subject on the Board of Studies website. Students need to develop a 360 degree perspective on question types in every topic that they study. It is of little value spending hours studying a topic (eg. trigonometry) if they get a trig question that they have never seen before.
- Building up quality quotes and statistical data to support arguments. Use this time to rote learn those poetry quotes and those unemployment numbers as well as any other specific content that will dazzle the markers.
- Boost your literacy. Know specific terminology for each subject and each topic. Have a few killer phrases to wow the markers.Look to use sophisticated vocabulary. Language will be a differentiating factor between performance bands.
HSC Science Workshops.
Science students may wish to investigate this website for details about HSC Science workshops these July holidays:
www.alpha-omega.org.au or call 96463356.
I wish you and your sons a safe and healthy holiday.
Best Wishes,
Mark Fenech