Term 1 is in full swing and in a perfect world, all our students should be settling into a routine that helps them achieve overall growth and success in all aspects of their schooling.  Sometimes, adolescents can find it difficult to establish a balanced routine that works for them.

Some hints parents can use to support students heading into assessment across all grades are:

1. Create a study timetable. Understand what commitments you may have over the course of a week - work, family time, training, rehearsals, performances, games, socialising. Your study time is just as important as all the other activities that you commit to. Commit to blocks of time where you will study.
2. Set a goal/s for each session. Know what you would like to achieve in the dedicated study session and start working toward that. Some students might like to make this time bound and work in blocks of time.
3. Avoid distractions. There are many obvious distractions in any household but the most difficult one to remove is a mobile phone. The mere presence of a mobile phone, even if turned off, reduces available cognitive capacity. Mobile phones should be completely removed from the room for the most effective study to occur.
4. Start with the most difficult topics first. It can be tempting to start with the subjects you are confident in but in doing this you run the risk of tackling the challenging subject when you are more fatigued or worse, run out of time altogether.

Assessment

All Semester 1 assessment calendars have been published on our college website and the Parent Portal, along with Years 9 to 12 exam timetables. Currently as it stands there are no changes needed to adjust exams dates, we will continue to monitor any impact on families an communicate to families via email and the parent portal.

If you have any questions about assessment, please contact your child's classroom teacher or Curriculum Leader.

Our Lady of the Southern Cross College is responsible for gathering evidence of student achievement on or before the due date for internal assessment instruments.

All students have electronic access to their assessment, and it is their responsibility to adhere to these due dates.

Students are responsible for planning and managing their time to meet the due dates.

Students and parents can contact teachers and Curriculum Leaders via Phoning or emailing to help with communication. Teachers are not able to grant extensions directly with students and parents/carers.

Our Lady of the Southern Cross College is required to adhere to QCAA policies about due dates accepting assignments only on or before the due date unless an extension through AARA processes has been approved. For example, a student who is absent due to family holidays will not be granted an extension for an assignment as this doesn’t meet the AARA guidelines set by QCAA.

Student Led Conferences

On Tuesday 25 February we host our Senior Years Learning Discussions, the energy in the room through both staff, students and parents was great. On total we had approximately 140 individual meetings taking place over the evening. The parents I spoke to were very positive on the feedback and conversations had with the teachers, “it was really great to hear the positives and the way staff know our child”. I also had lots of great feedback about the amount of communication and the work happening engaging with parents and letting them know what is going on in their child’s classroom. The approach of being proactive in our conferences rather than reactive and result-driven provides our community with opportunities to collaborate with our staff before we are locked into assessment. We encourage all those who were unable to attend to engage with the teachers early so we can adjust the rudder early and celebrate your child’s success.

Growing Our Learners

Our students are performing very well engaging with classes in all the modes we are availing to our students, face-to-face, hybrid, flexible learning agreements, school-based traineeships and apprenticeships and work experience opportunities.

All of this supports our students to be critical learners, supporting their development as critical thinkers with the ability to adapt their knowledge to unknown problems growing them as learners.

Students can do a range of things to develop their critical thinking skills. Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally, reflecting and developing thoughts.

Here are some things you can do to enhance critical thinking.

1. CLARIFY YOUR THOUGHTS

The best way to clarify your thoughts is to try and explain your thinking to someone else. Even if you are talking to an imaginary person, you will find that explaining your thinking out loud helps you to see the flaws in your argument.

2. QUESTION ASSUMPTIONS

Don’t take your thoughts for granted, every now and then think about why you believe a certain thought or how you know things to be true. Get in the habit of pausing, looking at what you are thinking, and questioning what thoughts underlie your assumptions. Don’t just conform and accept a view because it is the popular one, instead pause and reflect on the arguments for and against that viewpoint and the strengths of each argument.

3. LOOK FOR OTHER PERSPECTIVES

When you are presenting an argument, imagine yourself in a debate and think about what the opposing side might say. What would someone with a completely opposite view to you believe? Can you understand why they might think that way? Can you see some validity in their viewpoint?

4. KEEP AN OPEN MIND

In order to look for other perspectives keep an open mind. If you immediately dismiss any thought that does not fit into the way you see the world, you will never be able to expand and develop your viewpoints, you will have a very fixed and limited view of the world.

5. BE CURIOUS

Start to look outside the things you normally read and watch and think about. Learn more about things you know nothing about and were not previously interested in. Listen more to what people say, we learn so much more when we really listen rather than spend time planning what we will say next.

6. MAKE INFORMED JUDGEMENTS

It is ok to not have an opinion about something because you don’t have enough information yet. Avoid rushing to judgements, take your time to gather information and evidence and assess it before making a decision. Try not to let yourself be swayed by emotion as this can affect your ability to assess information intellectually.

University Connections

Strengthening our partnerships with UQ Skills and the The University of Queensland.

3 of our current Year 11 students attended their first on campus session this last week, enjoying their first day and the support of our community to continue their studies. Our students are working towards Achieving competency in a Certificate III in Rural Operations with UQ.

GRIP Leadership

Some of our Prefects and House Captains attended the Grip Leadership conference in Highfields last week!

The event was packed with engaging workshops, interactive sessions, and motivational speeches that empowered students to develop their leadership skills. Highlights included networking with like-minded peers, learning practical strategies for effective leadership, and participating in team-building activities that fostered a sense of community and collaboration. The conference left attendees feeling motivated and equipped with the tools to make a positive impact in their schools and communities.

 It was a great opportunity to learn about what makes a good leader and create some connections with leaders at other schools!

Grapes!!

We have reached an exciting moment in the Agricultural Program here at OLSCC. Our Montepulciano grapes, planted in 2022. Last week students and staff joined together to harvest the grapes and begin the process of fermenting and crushing.

We are excited that this time has come as our students and staff embark on our first-ever winemaking opportunity.

Mr Rodney Spain

Assistant Principal Senior Years