From the Dean of Year 12
There are now only four months left until the final day of Year 12 - the Day of Invitation on Friday 19 October. Of these four months, a mere eleven weeks are face-to-face teaching weeks, three weeks are gazetted school holidays and two weeks will be the Trial WACE (beginning on Monday 24 September).
This has been a busy week for the Year 12s with the return of exams, the Leavers' Jackets arriving and a realisation that the students are now straight into the second academic semester. If you wish to discuss any aspect of your son or daughter's first semester exam results, please contact me at any time.
The very important Year 12 Information Handbook from the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (formerly the Curriculum Council) was distributed this week. This Handbook may also be downloaded from http://www.curriculum.wa.edu.au/internet/Publications/Brochures . The Handbook includes details of important dates, exam requirements, Exhibitions and Awards which cover Stage 1 and Stage 3 courses, VET and Workplace Learning, provisions for sickness and misadventure and all sorts of important details.
During the three Tutorial sessions this week, students rotated through three activities. One session was a relaxation activity, a second session including an Alumni Panel was facilitated by the Careers Counsellor Mrs Margi Watson, and we invited lecturers from the Academic Enabling and Support Centre at the University of Notre Dame to present a third session on Thinking Skills. Students responded well to the variety of activities on offer and in the post-exam lull it was a good way to reinvigorate goals and plans for the coming few months.
During these last few months of school, students are well advised to pay careful attention to their health and physical wellness. It is also important to note here the necessity to be punctual on arrival at school by 8.25am in the morning to be on time to Homeroom, and to keep all appointments outside school hours. It is very disruptive to a student's academic day to be taken out of school for a midday appointment and then returned, even more so to be arriving late in the morning and signing in. By signing in late a student misses Homeroom - this is where important notices regarding dates and deadlines are given and often critical documents regarding the WACE. It is also where the student's prime pastoral care contact and a welcoming adult face is available, to put students in an open frame of mind for the day and establish that sense of belonging and community.
Sarah Hammond
Dean of Year Twelve
hammond.sarah@johnxxiii.edu.au
