Issue 12 SJC News 2021

Once again, we have returned to face-to-face teaching after a short time in remote learning, and we would like to thank the teaching staff, students and parents for adapting so quickly to the changing learning environments. The Curriculum executive team reviewed many of the important processes that are occurring across each subschool this term and wish to share the following update.

Mid Semester Reports

We will be issuing Mid Semester Reports for all students in Years 7 – 12 on Friday 27 August. We felt it was important to provide all parents with a snapshot of how their students are working prior to Parent Teacher Interviews in Week 8.

Parent,Teacher, Student Interviews

For the safety of all members of the College community, the College Leadership team has made the decision to move all Parent, Teacher, Student interviews to an online environment through Microsoft Teams.

The Bookings for these interviews will be made available in PAM after the release of the mid-semester reports on Friday 27 August and remain open until 3:30pm on Wednesday 1 September.

The interview times will occur on:

Thursday 2 September from 4:00pm – 7:00pm.

Friday 3 September from 9:00am – 12:00pm. (Note: Friday will be a student free day)

Mt Sion News

There are a number of important processes and events occurring at Mt Sion this term which we will continue to email parents and students about to keep them informed.

The GAT has been rescheduled for Thursday 12 August. Students who complete a VCE Unit 3-4 Sequence or VCE VET Unit 3-4 Sequence are required to sit the general knowledge and skills tests.

GAT results are used to check that your VCE external assessments and school-based assessments have been accurately and fairly assessed, and it is recommended students familiarise themselves with the GAT by reviewing past papers available on the VCAA website. The College is currently waiting for further information regarding examination settings, but all students will be expected to sit the GAT in their College Uniform. Students in Year 11, who are not involved in studying a VCE Unit 3-4 sequence will not be required at school this day.

Once again, the College has engaged Elevate Education to work with our Senior Students in their Touchstones classes through the presentation “Ace your Exams”. This presentation will be online, and an email has been sent to Year 12 parents extending the opportunity for parents to be involved.

Thank you to all staff, parents, and students who have been involved in the 2022 Subject Selection Process. The portal for web preferences has now closed, and the College timetabling team will use this information to begin to put the blocking pattern together for the senior school timetable, and students will be informed via email of their subject allocation mid-Term 4.

The College will also be offering VCE Revision Lectures on Monday 20 September and Tuesday 21 September, and our VCE Trial Examinations will occur from Monday 27 September through to Thursday 30 September. Given the changing nature of onsite learning, we will release more information to students and parents in regards to how these sessions will occur as we move closer to the dates.

Westcourt News

Thanks to all Year 9 students for completing their subject selections for 2022. It was pleasing to see many boys applying to study a VET subject or accelerate their pathway into a VCE subject. The students presented themselves very well in their online interviews and it was pleasing that many parents joined in the process. There were also quite a few applicants for the Applied Learning program. All students have now selected their subjects online, and the final timetables will be provided in time for Headstart in mid-November.

Waterford News

The Subject Selection process for our Year 8 students heading to Westcourt next year and our Year 7 students moving to Year 8 will be occurring over the next couple of weeks. The student's Homeroom teachers will help guide this process, directing them to the Subject Handbooks linked in SIMON, as well as support the entry of subjects into the web preference portal. The Westcourt Information Session is also available on the Careers website for Year 8 students and families to provide further information on the Westcourt experience.

The students will receive an email and an instructional video on how to enter their preferences into the Portal in the coming days, and they will need to have their subjects selected by Friday the 13 August.