Term 1 Week 8

Now that we are into the swing of things we are approaching that stage in the Semester where students will begin sitting Formal Assessment tasks. As mentioned in the previous newsletter students have been issued with an Assessment Manual that has the assessment grid for each subject they are studying that outlines when formal tasks will be held and the weighting of those tasks. Some other things to be aware of:

• Students will receive a written notification at least 2 weeks prior to the submission date for each formal assessment task. This will contain specific detail about the nature of the task, the outcomes being assessed as well as submission details
• Tasks need to be submitted on time, issues with submitting/completing a task should be notified to either the class teacher/Leader of Learning or the Curriculum Office asap.
• Technical issues such as printer not working are generally not considered a valid reason for a task not to be completed
• Students can email work to their teacher as an interim to demonstrate completion of class work, tasks may also be submitted by others such as siblings/parents if a student is absent on the day of submission
• Students who are absent on the day of an in class assessment task need to make arrangements to complete the task by contacting their class teacher or the Curriculum Office. Tasks will generally be rescheduled for the first day the student returns after their absence
• Students in Years 10-12 need to ensure they are following the appropriate NESA protoci;ls regarding submission/non submission of tasks

Study Samurai

To support students with their preparation for exams at the end of the semester we have provided access to all students in Years 7-10 to the Study Samurai online platform. This is an online resource library for secondary students, combining study skills techniques and mental health & wellbeing strategies. At a school level students have already started working through specific modules in PALS to help with organisation. Students/parents are encouraged to access the platform at home to complete further modules to assist in their knowledge and understanding of study habits, prepare for their Sem 1 exams and support their personal well being (especially if they are feeling overwhelmed or anxious about exam periods and home study). If you are not aware parents also have access to the platform and are encouraged to help support students to develop proper study habits at home early. To access the platform you can click the Study Samurai link to go straight to the site.

NAPLAN

Students in Years 7 and 9 will participate in a practice NAPLAN test on Thursday 24th March (wk 9). This test is an omnibus test meaning there will be a mixture of questions from each of the different Naplan tests for students to do. The test is done by all students doing NAPLAN in Australia at the same time with 2 purposes:

1. Test the load capacity of the network before the actual exams to make sure there are no issues
2. Allow students to work with and familiarise themselves with the online platform they will be using for the tests

Unfortunately the tests are not marked and students will not be given feedback about their results.

Students will be given further details regarding the organisation of these tests next week. Students need to ensure that they are prepared to do the tests by:

• Making sure the NAPLAN Lockdown Browser has been installed on their device (visit IT support if not sure)
• Ensure their device is fully charged on the morning of the test
• Bring headphones/earpods etc for their device as there will be questions requiring students to listen to audio files