Teaching and Learning Report – March 1, 2018

Advice and guidance- – Parent / Student / Teacher interviews and the 2017 College Dux’s speech

Students are offered advice and guidance from multiple sources throughout the year and Parent / Student / Teacher interviews offer a valuable opportunity for open discussion. Many constructive conversations were had this week as we conducted Parent/Student/Teacher interviews for students in Years 7, 10, 11 and 12. These interviews have allowed families to put faces to names, gain a greater understanding of subject requirements and to receive some initial feedback about a student’s progress based on the first few weeks of the year. We appreciate the time parents and boys take to meet with us. We also thank the teachers for conducting interviews over two nights after teaching all day. Parent / Student / Teacher interviews for Year 8 & 9 students will be held early next term on April 19.

Another source of advice that particularly resonates with the boys is the College Dux’s speech presented at the Academic Assembly. This year our 2017 College Dux, Josh DeVoogel acknowledged the role family and teachers played in supporting him and -all those high achievers from the class of 2017- whose drive to learn was a source of motivation for him. Josh talked of the need to identify goals and the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle by balancing the demands of an active social life, extra curricula activities and academic studies.

There were two particular factors that Josh identified as being fundamental to his success. He states:

I would like to firstly assert the incredible and powerful impact that reading can have on an individual. When we read, we observe the words, the phrases, the expressions and the ideas of that work, and allow it to change us; to further our understanding of ourselves initially, but also the world and life itself.- I feel as though everything I’ve ever read has helped develop my worldview and allowed me to become more aware. This really did, in a practical sense, help me write with authority and intelligence in assessment tasks.

My second words of advice are simply to always strive to be confident in your abilities no matter the situation. And I know how hard this can be, life is often challenging but for me whether playing soccer on the weekends or sitting exams, a strong, un-adulterated self-belief and almost phony confidence in my own ability allowed me to achieve my goals this year.

Wise words for us all. Clearly reading widely gave Josh a broader understanding of the world while his confidence in his ability to meet challenges allowed him to grow, develop and learn. Now we are well into the term, we encourage our boys to actively participate in all the experiences offered by College both in and out of the classroom.

Regards

Mrs Julia Petrov

Acting Deputy Headmaster – Teaching and Learning

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