Learning

HSC Examinations conclude

Congratulations to our HSC students who completed their HSC examinations this week. The final examination was Drama on Tuesday 7 November at 12:55 pm.  All students conducted themselves calmly and maturely throughout the examination process. In 2017 about 78,000 students sat at least one of the 117 different written HSC examinations. Marking is now well underway and we wish our students well over the coming weeks as they anxiously await their results.

I would like to take this opportunity to remind students to come along to the Principal’s Morning Tea  on Friday 15 December from 10:00am – 11:00am in the Mary Ward Quad.   It is a great achievement to have completed the HSC and be ready to move on to the next chapter of your lives and we would love to celebrate with you.

Mme Maryse Martin

Dean of Learning

PEAK Program – HSC 2018

This term Year 11 have begun their HSC courses for 2018.  In light of this they are also undertaking a learning program that has been crafted to support them through the HSC course and to give them the strategies and tools that they need to travel the path of the HSC and make the most of the year ahead. 

During our Curriculum meeting today, the Learning team met with the Year 11 students to begin our conversation with them around creating Learning Plans that will enable the students to Plan to Peak.  Mrs Murdoch and I spoke to them about our acronym, PEAK – which breaks down qualities and approaches that will sustain them through the HSC.  We discussed the importance of “Planning ahead” to ensure you have a goal in mind for each subject, and persisting with this plan; “Engaging” the support networks around you (inclusive of parents, peers and teachers); “Aiming” for growth and the importance that one “Keeps trying”, persisting and persevering to build on the successes and revisit goals when things don’t go to plan.  We will revisit the concept of PEAK throughout the coming year to ensure that the students are reminded of this key message.  

As we move ahead with this program students will be provided with a template that they will use to develop their own individual Learning Plans.  It is on these plans that students will articulate their long-term academic goals as well as the short-term goals that will keep them motivated for the year ahead.  The students will be guided through the development of these plans and will have opportunities to discuss these plans with you and their teachers.  Your  daughter may approach you to discuss their goals with you.  You may wish to unpack their goals with them, discussing practical measures that they may put in place to achieve these goals. 

With this in mind, please be aware that the advice we give our senior students is that they should be undertaking a minimum of 2-3 hours of study per day.  Students should be completing any set homework each evening, and if they complete this quickly they should then spend time consolidating their learning by creating study notes and completing practice questions.  Clearly, such a commitment needs to be personalised to meet specific needs and demands; it should take into account a balance of leisure/extra-curricular commitments and rest/relaxation commitments. 

In next week’s newsletter we will provide a guide to developing effective study environments. We have asked the students to consider their various study environments at school and home to ensure that they are working at their peak! 

Please let myself or Mrs Murdoch know if you have any questions.  We will be sending you regular updates about the program and looking forward to working alongside you throughout this important year for your daughter. 

Ms Kieryn Bateman and Mrs Carolina Murdoch

Director of Learning and Dean of Learning

VALID Science Assessment

Year 10 Results 2017

Year 10 students completed The Validation of Assessment 4 Learning and Individual Development (VALID) in September and will receive their preliminary scores soon. The VALID Science 10 test is an interactive, multimedia test which contains multiple choice, short response and extended response tasks that are grouped around real-world issues, including scientific investigations. This is a diagnostic test, with tasks framed on Stage 5 outcomes and essential content in the NSW Science Years K–10 Syllabus.

Loreto Normanhurst students achieved some fantastic results.  Comprehensive results with very specific details about how students performed will be sent to parents at the end of term. The students will be told a mark out of 93 (made up of 75 questions worth 1 mark and 3 extended response questions worth 6 marks) and a band from 1 to 6, with 6 being the highest. For statistical, comparative purposes the school mean is reported on a scaled score.

The highlights are:

• As shown in the table students performed at least 10 points above the state mean on all sections

• 8% of students achieved band 6 (highest – 8.2 % state) and 35.5 % band 5 (25.0 % state).
• Of the 75 short answer questions the school scored more than 10% above the state mean in 66 questions and was above the state mean in all 75 questions.
• Students have shown exceptional growth, far outpacing students from the rest of the state since Year 9.

Congratulations to our Year 10 students on their fantastic performances and we look forward to continuing to work with many students who have selected science subjects in the new preliminary courses in 2018.

Mr David Little

Head of Science

Upcoming Events for Term 4 2017