Secondary News

Rhythms of the School Year

One of the things I enjoy most about the school year is the ebb and flow of the year. We start the year with anticipation and sometimes a little trepidation of the challenges ahead. We find our rhythm as the school term progresses and settle into patterns of teaching and learning, building up to assessments and immersing ourselves in rich projects. And then we ease into the term break. In Distance Education we mark the closing of the term with a whole-of-school opportunity to gather for an excursion. Following that we have two weeks of school break. 

In our school entry into the first term break is through the Easter weekend; a weekend of extraordinary significance in our Christian calendar. Our prayer is that school families will sense the sacredness of this season this year. 

Resurrection

When Jesus rose from the dead, He completed the act of atonement, offering a covering of our sins. Our sins separate us from God and the resurrection of Jesus restores the offer of reconciliation with God our Creator. The resurrection is both a sacred and sobering event on the Christian calendar; an important marker in the rhythm of our school year. 

Term Break

Staff and students are looking forward to the opportunity to step away from lessons and assessments for two weeks. Like you, teachers will make the most of the time to be with people and engage in activities they enjoy.  Teachers will not be available to respond to queries during these weeks as they also need a break. 

Reset For the Next Term

Building back up to Term 3, we encourage students and supervisors to review what makes for successful learning: 

• Is the environment I work in conducive to learning?

• Is there a schedule in place so that I complete all that is required each week? 

• Does my supervisor regularly review my learning and task completion? 

• Do I have a healthy balance of learning, socialising, and being active?

Perhaps add to this: 

• Am I seeking feedback from my subject teachers? 

• Am I reaching out to my PC teacher for support when I need it? 

Term 2 will be an important term for students to complete work in a timely manner, engage well in learning opportunities and work hard on thorough assessment completion so that the mid-year Progress Report reflects the full capability of each student. 

Enjoy the school break and see you next term!