After a relaxing holiday break, it has been wonderful to see our students (and more importantly your daughters!) return safely and ready to get to work. Our Primary girls are commencing new units of work, Year 7 to 10 are into week 3 of curriculum and Year 11 and 12 are continuing through Unit 1 and 4 respectively.
This is an important term but comes with some significant disruption to academics. We miss the first three Mondays of term through a student free day and successive public holidays. Later in the term we will also miss a Thursday due to the Rockhampton Show holiday. In addition, we have many events in Term 2. ANZAC Day ceremonies, Foundation Day, Beef Week, Camps, NAPLAN, Mother’s Day High Tea, Athletics Carnival, Year 12 Formal, Action Tours, Rocky River Run and socials make up just some of the extra events. These of course come in addition to usual student commitments including work, sport, and family commitments.
The busyness of the term highlights the real need for deliberate forward planning around academics and assessment in particular. Our Term 2 assessment overviews and primary snapshots will be available from the resources section of our website later this week. These documents allow parents and students to know what curriculum is being covered in class along with what assessment is to be completed including the due dates. Our teachers will be in contact with you if your daughter(s) miss any assessment checkpoints or drafts.
It is also worth reviewing the primary, middle and senior school assessment policies also available from the resources section of the website. These documents outline the processes in place around assessment. For example, they make clear the conditions for alternate dates for assessment such as extensions. They also reiterate the reasoning for our requirement for assignment drafts to be completed works and not progress towards completion.
Proper planning now will lower possible levels of anxiety later in the term when multiple assessments may become due. As always, students can seek assistance with planning and organisation, and we are always happy to help.
Dr John Fry
Deputy Principal - Studies