Senior School – May 15, 2015

“I have done my best!”

This week I would like to challenge the claim, “I have done my best” made by many students. In my opinion this claim is a cop out and one which I usually refute. Curiously it is a claim that we as parents often accept from our sons.

If your son has an Xbox or a PlayStation I am sure that you would have observed that he would spend many hours trying to conquer one level of the Game and them the next. I would argue that at no stage has he played up to level two and claimed, “Oh well , I have done my best, so I will walk away, give up and not bother to play it again. Of course not! Your son would put in hours practising and repeating each of the steps until he has mastered and conquered each level. If you hired a painter to paint the exterior of your house and you came home to a botched job and only three sides completed I am sure that a claim by the painter that he had done his best would not be at all acceptable to you. Yet it is a claim that we often accept from our boys. There are many aspects of the school curriculum that need to be mastered and with perseverance, hard work and due diligence can be conquered!

Semester One Examination Timetable (Years 10 and 11)

The Semester one examination timetable has been published and is available on the school homepage. And a copy is also attached to the Crest for your reference. If you have any concerns please do not hesitate to contact me.

External VCE Unit Three Revision Programmes

As VCE Unit 3/4 students complete their VCE Unit 3 studies a number of external providers have begun to advertise mid-year intensive Unit 3 revision programs. While I usually advocate boys attending a full year revision programmes later in the year I concede that there are some circumstances in which a Unit 3 programme may be beneficial.

If your son has:

-· fallen behind in Unit 3 coursework,

-· lost motivation or

-· has struggled to understand all aspects of the coursework in Unit 3

then an intensive revision programme may have some benefit.

What is the benefit of doing an external revision course mid-year ?

Primarily they encapsulate, in a succinct manner, the whole Unit of work in a six hour block. Further, it allows the students to rehear the same information presented and explained in a different manner, thus offering understanding. Thirdly, they provide students with comprehensive revision material. While many students have sound revision and summarising skills, for those that struggle in this area it is of great assistance and finally, it is a great confidence boost to students and they prepare to embark on Unit 4 coursework. They realise what they do in fact know and are thus encouraged to keep focus and continue to maintain the necessary level of commitment. May I stress these courses are NOT MANDATORY. Brochures from all providers are available from the display stand outside my office.

Year 11 Fit 2 Drive

On Friday 22 of May the Year 11 cohort will participate in Fit 2 Drive, the second stage of the State Government funded Road Safety / Driver Education Programme. The message from this course will be consolidated and reiterated in term three when the cohort participates in the Carmen Road Safety programme.

Whilst there are a plethora of organisations wishing to conduct road safey and drink driving courses in schools the College has elected to run a sequential programme which reiterates the message during their time in the senior school and is relevant to their life experience at the time of delivery. The Year 12 cohort will take part in Looking After your Mates, the third stage on Wednesday August 19, 2015.

Regards

Elizabeth Ryan