Staff Development Day - Pupil Free (Friday 24 February)

On Friday 24 February our staff will be working together with a focus on the following objectives:

• Empowering teachers to design learning experiences that encourage students to apply knowledge in new and challenging ways using Hattie's Visible Learning models.
• Foster a culture of feedback, and make sure that students are involved in the process of learning.
• Use data from "Insights" and HSC RAP Analysis to design learning experience to review current teaching practices in order to plan for differentiation and inquiry based models of learning.
• Develop a culture of teacher sharing and collaboration in order to improve student self-efficacy, learning and wellbeing based around Hattie’s Visible Learning.

A Reminder …

I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to contact me by email pfinnerty@parra.catholic.edu.au if you have any questions regarding the information above which relates to my specific role as Assistant Principal – Systems, Data, and Professional Learning.

Thank you for your continued support

Patrick Finnerty
Assistant Principal – Systems, Data and Professional Learning

THE VALUE AND IMPORTANCE OF ASSESSMENT

NESA defines Assessment as a “broad name for the collection and evaluation of evidence of a student's learning. It is integral to teaching and learning and has multiple purposes.”

There are many ways that teachers collect evidence and evaluate student learning that go beyond our end of course examinations and class tests. Assessment is continuous and on-going, tasks can be big or small. The types of tasks can be multi-modal, digital, project based, portfolio, research and observational. Students are assessed in every lesson, and this is known as formative assessment. Formative assessment provides opportunities for feedback, reflection and refinement of learning and is a check-in point for both the teacher and student to know where they are at in their learning.

This week we share with the community the Student Information Hub where students and parents can access all the important information in relation to their summative assessment tasks. It is important that students make note of when their assessments will occur and ensure that they speak with their classroom teacher if they have any questions about the assessment schedules or assessment tasks.

We are committed to ensuring that our students receive the best learning experiences within their classes and understand that our move to Box of Books for all our textbooks has had several technical issues.  Most students now have access to their texts. Please encourage your child to go to the Learning Centre at recess or lunch for and IT issues they may have.

Josilin Kalifa
Assistant Principal - Teaching, Learning and Wellbeing

It’s been a very busy time at St Andrews with Curiosity Week (including Anything But a Bag Day), Valentines Day and all the preparations for the Swimming Carnival. A big congratulations to the Captains, Vice Captains, SRC and House Captains for all their hard work in ensuring these events run smoothly. I look forward to the Swimming Carnival, with the excitement, the cheers and watching the students aim for their Personal Best in the events. Good luck to all the Houses!

Principal’s Awards

Congratulations to the following students who have received Principal’s Awards:

Second Principal’s Awards

Congratulations to the following students who have received their second Principal’s Award:

House Cup Points Update

In the last Newsletter I showed the House Cup Leaderboard on the Junior Campus. Here is the House Cup Leaderboard on the Senior Campus, with some of the Senior House Captains standing beside the updated totals. Thank you to Mr McLoughlin and Mr Maurer for installing these Leaderboards. The updated totals are:

Bennelong: 11, 985

Chang: 9, 764

Frances: 9, 419

Gould: 9, 664

scooper@parra.catholic.edu.au 

Mrs Sue Cooper
Leader of Wellbeing and Learning

Improving Self-Esteem

Self-esteem is the opinion you have about yourself and your abilities. It can be influenced by factors like your confidence, your identity, and your sense of belonging. Self esteem can be high, low or somewhere in-between.

Low self esteem

Having low self-esteem might mean you aren’t confident in your abilities, your personality, or the value you bring to others in your life. Low self esteem might be caused by:

• not feeling a sense of security in life
• confusion around your identity
• feeling like you don't belong with your family, friends, or work colleagues.

Good self esteem

On the contrary, having good self-esteem means you have positive beliefs about your abilities and your place in the world. It can be caused by:

• being confident in your ability to create change and withstand challenges in your life
• a sense of confidence and pride in your identity
• feeling like you belong in your family, school, or group of friends.

What are the 4 components of self-esteem?

Your self-esteem is made up from four attitudes you have about yourself: your self-confidence, your sense of identity, feeling a sense of belonging and being self-assured in your abilities. 

Your self-confidence

Self-confidence is all about your sense of security you have in yourself and in your life. You can only branch out and grow if you feel secure that your needs are being met. Having your needs met means you have things like a place to live, physical health, and stable finances.

Your sense of identity

Your sense of identity is important to your self esteem because it is the knowledge you have about yourself. This can include your confidence in your body, your job, your beliefs, your culture, or anything else about yourself. It’s helpful to be confident in these things because they can help you understand what you need and what you want in life.

Feeling a sense of belonging

Belonging is all about feeling welcome and an active part of where we actually are in life, whether that’s in your school, your workplace, your family, or the other groups you’re a part of. Sometimes, if you don’t feel belonging in one group you’re in, like your workplace, you can find your sense of belonging in another group, like your family or friends.

Being self-assured in your abilities

It’s important to feel confident in your abilities so that you can control what happens to you in life. If you’re confident in what you can do, you can handle big challenges and make the changes you need to make to respond to them. However, being confident in your abilities isn’t just about succeeding. It’s about learning from your mistakes and being resilient in the face of failure. Improving self-esteem can seem like a huge task, but there are lots of different self-management techniques that can help. Check out our self-esteem tips below - these can be a checklist of strategies to try out on your journey to improving your opinion of yourself and your confidence.

How to improve self-esteem

• Be kind to yourself.
• Try your best not to compare yourself to others.
• Exercise regularly to release endorphins and ‘happiness hormones’ like dopamine and serotonin.
• Set realistic goals for yourself and check in with your progress regularly.
• Remember: everyone makes mistakes, so don’t beat yourself up when you do.
• Focus on what is within your control.
• Make time for your hobbies and the things you enjoy. 
• Celebrate your victories, no matter how big or small.
• Be a good friend, and make time to spend with your loved ones.
• Surround yourself with supportive people.

Mrs Andrea Utoikamanu
Leader of Wellbeing & Learning - Senior Campus
Leader of Wellbeing - Year 11

Hello St Andrews College Community,

I would like to extend a warm welcome to my Year 11 students and their beautiful families, and in particular to those students who are new to our cohort this year.

It gives me great pleasure to say that Year 11 have started out so well on the Senior Campus - making wonderful first impressions with their new Learning Advisors and classroom teachers. Our Year 11 students have shown focus and commitment in only the first few weeks of the Term, and I am very proud of all of them. 

I would also like to thank Dr Kennaugh and the CLT, our new Year 11 Learning Advisors, our KLA leaders and all of our College Staff for all of their support and encouragement of both myself and the Year 11 students over the past few weeks. 

Please allow me to introduce our wonderful Year 11 Learning Advisors who will be a constant support for Year 11 over the next two years:

B16: Mr Travis Kolek

B21: Mrs Sarah Anzellotti and Mr Benjamin Speechly

C19: Mrs Kelly Thompson

C21: Mr Jacob Wills

F23: Mr Daniel Camilleri

F24: Mr Danny Cetinic

G21: Mrs Pauline Xuereb

G23: Mr Jason Alata and Miss Amy Chang

I am very grateful for the opportunity to continue to lead the Year 11 cohort as their Leader of Wellbeing. I am looking forward to the many College events we have planned, our upcoming Wellbeing lessons and of course our Year 11 Retreat which will take place in Week 7.

Please see below an outline of the important events we have on this Term:

• Tuesday 21st February - Shrove Tuesday (pancakes being sold via the QKR app)
• Wednesday 22nd February - Ash Wednesday
• Friday 24th February - Staff Development Day
• Thursday 2nd March - Cross Country
• Thursday 9th March - Friday 10th March - Year 11 Retreat in Houses
• Wednesday 15th March - Open Boys Basketball Gala Day
• Friday 17th March - St Patrick's Day
• Tuesday 28th March - An Evening of Jazz
• Wednesday 29th March - Year 11 Parent/Teacher Conference 3pm-8pm
• Thursday 6th April - Stations of the Cross + Last Day of Term 1

Thank you to all who were able to make it to our Year 11 Information Evening on Tuesday the 14th of February. The Year 11 Assessment Information Booklet has now been sent to Year 11 parents via Compass and the Year 11 students can also locate a copy of this on our Wellbeing Google Classroom Page.

Lastly, I would also like to congratulate the SRC students who are working alongside Mr Andrew Hoare and Miss Olivia Tan to organise the fundraising events for our World Youth Day pilgrims, Euleila Barret and Jericho De Leon. Our Faith in Action students are also working very hard behind the scenes with the Shrove Tuesday pancakes drive and our upcoming Project Compassion activities.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding Year 11 please do not hesitate to contact me via email autoikamanu@parra.catholic.edu.au or via the College phone (02) 9626 4000

Mrs Andrea Utoikamanu
Leader of Wellbeing - Year 11
Leader of Wellbeing and Learning - Senior Campus

Hello year 7 students, parents and guardians, 

Year 7 are almost at the halfway point of their first term here at St Andrews College. It has been great to see all students participating and getting involved in what the College has to offer. Our students have been able to try out for a number of activities such as Representative Sport, Theatre Sports, Public Speaking and Debating.  

Students are starting to find their feet and develop a routine to ensure that they stay organised and manage their school and lifestyle. Continue to strive for your personal bests and continue to be the best people you can be. 

It was great to see the parents/guardians at the Year 7 Meet & Greet last Wednesday. I hope that you were able to ask all the questions you needed to the Learning Advisors. 

Camp

Camp is quickly approaching on March 6 and 7 at the Collaroy Centre. Parents would have received an email from the Venue360 which would require you to complete a dietary requirement form. If you have not returned the permission slip, can you please return this Monday morning. 

Cabins will be sorted in the coming weeks. 

Swimming Carnival:

Congratulations to all students who competed in their first St Andrews College Swimming Carnival. It was great to see all students trying their best and winning points for their house. I hope you enjoyed your first high school swimming carnival. 

Uniform Expectations:

Girls’ summer uniform (Terms 1 & 4): 

Black, polished, hard leather upper, lace-up school shoes with no heels (WH&S requirement); 

Sky blue ankle socks (worn above the ankle) or school stockings; 

School kilt (below the knee cap); 

Short-sleeve embroidered school blouse 

Girls trousers (optional)

Boys’ summer uniform (Terms 1 & 4): 

Black, polished, hard leather upper, lace-up school shoes (WH&S requirement); 

Black or taupe socks; 

taupe trousers, with a black belt; 

Short-sleeve embroidered school shirt, worn out, with top button undone 

Boys shorts (optional)

Makeup: 

False eye-lashes, make up, coloured nail polish and acrylic nails are not to be worn at school. The College reserves the right to have the student remove the makeup, nail polish or fake eyelashes. 

Hair: 

Students are to ensure their hairstyle conforms to the following: 

- hair should be neatly cut, and maintained at all times 

- undercut styles are not acceptable, nor are tracks or lines 

- dramatic layered effect of levels is not permitted 

- hair should not be overly styled by use of hair products 

- hair is not to be tinted or coloured 

- long hair is not acceptable for boys, nor are long strands of hair that cover the face or touch the collar 

- hair must not be shaved, nor extreme cut with clippers, Number 2 is the shortest acceptable length 

- Girls hair must be tied back at all times – navy or black hair ties/scrunchies only 

- Headbands may be used but they must be black or navy in colour 

- Boys must be clean shaven at all times. 

- Mullets and other fad haircuts are not permitted

Remember that B1 is always open for any student that wishes to discuss anything.

Mr. Kharl Carlos
Leader of Wellbeing - Year 7

Ash Wednesday

Next Wednesday 22nd February 2023 is Ash Wednesday, and we will celebrate with an Ash Wednesday liturgy on both the Junior and Senior campuses. The imposition of ashes on the forehead on Ash Wednesday is a biblical symbol of repentance and the beginning of Lent. 

It is a 40 day period of prayer, fasting, abstinence and good works, in preparation for the most solemn feast of Easter, which celebrates Jesus' glorious resurrection following his passion and death on the Cross.

The ash used for Ash Wednesday is historically made of palm branches used on the previous Palm Sunday, when Christians carry palms it is in reference to Jesus’ path being covered in palm fronds, on the day he entered Jerusalem.

Pope Francis states that Lent is a journey of return to God. 

"We are not in this world to chase the wind; our hearts are made for eternity. Lent is the time granted us by the Lord to be renewed.To nurture our interior life and to journey towards Easter, towards the things that do not pass away. Lent is also a journey towards healing. Not to be changed overnight, but to live everyday with a renewed spirit. Prayer, charity and fasting help us with this.”

Let us turn our fears and anxieties over to God on Ash Wednesday, who wants us to live our lives to the full.

World Youth Day Fundraiser

It has been a flurry of activity as our World Youth Day pilgrims prepare for their journey of faith to Lisbon Portugal.

The St Andrews staff and students have gone above and beyond to support their venture, by participating in a diocese-wide Mufti Day and Sausage sizzle fundraiser that was held on the Senior Campus. Euleila, Jericho and Rachel are most appreciative of the support they have received from the St Andrews community. We all pray that our World Youth Day pilgrims will benefit from this pilgrimage of faith, and return to us with hearts alive, ready to share and transform us as a School faith community.

Stay tuned for our Sausage Sizzle fundraiser on the Junior Campus, which will be held in Week 6.

Andrew Hoare
Acting Director of Faith Mission and Learning.

Faith Fridays/SAC FAM

The students on the junior campus were  excited to return back to Faith Fridays in 2023, with a mix of old and new faces attending. We’d like to especially commend our Year 7 students who are already getting involved in the faith community here at St Andrews. With Valentine’s Day being so close, our first Faith Fridays session of the year was centred around God’s love, and a reflection on just how precious and how loved we are. After some icebreakers and getting to know each other, students reflected on the discussion question, “When are the times in my life that I have truly felt loved by God?” 

Similarly, the students on the senior campus reflected on the same discussion question during our first session of SAC FAM. Students also reflected on the quote, “To love is to will (desire) the good of the other,” by St John Paul II, and discussed how God is someone who wills our good every single day, and the Cross is a great proof of just how far this love is willing to go for us. Students were excited to return to this place of community to re-energise them for the year ahead. 

We hope to see more students attend Faith Fridays, which is held every fortnight in the music rooms. SAC FAM is also held every fortnight in the Senior Common Room. Please keep an eye out for more announcements! 

Year 11 and 12 Art Excursion

Our Senior Visual Arts students had the opportunity to visit both the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Museum of Contemporary Arts on Friday 10th February. It was an incredibly packed day of experiences and our students thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to step outside of the classroom and experience art in real life.

Our day began at the Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW) where students viewed the 2023 ArtExpress exhibition, featuring the outstanding artworks of HSC students from the 2022 Visual Arts examinations. Artworks varied in mediums as well as concepts which inspired our artists into the different possibilities they can explore in their own artmaking; as well as demonstrated the standard expected in HSC Visual Arts.

We then visited the new North Building, a notable expansion to the AGNSW and its galleries, equipped with advanced technology and offering scenic views, providing an exceptional environment to experience works of art. This facility is dedicated to presenting contemporary art and design exhibitions and is currently host to the latest exhibition, "The End of Imagination," by Argentine artist, Adrián Villar Rojas. 

Adrián Villar Rojas is known for his large-scale installations that challenge audience perception of the world. In “The End of Imagination,” he presents a series of sculptural works that contemplate the idea of the end of civilization. These sculptures, constructed from a combination of materials including clay, metal and organic elements, evoke a sense of mystery and intrigue; which our students had the pleasure to experience through a darkened installation.

After lunch, we made our way to the Museum of Contemporary Art to see the exhibition "Do Ho Suh: Passage/s" by the renowned Korean artist, Do Ho Suh. This exhibition offered a unique opportunity for students to gain a deeper understanding of postmodern art and its significance in contemporary art practice.

Do Ho Suh is recognized for his conceptual installations that explore themes of identity, migration, and memory. In "Passage/s," the artist presents a series of works that reflect on his experiences of displacement and the complexities of cultural identity. Through the use of intricate fabric structures, Suh invites viewers to engage with the themes of transience and displacement, and to contemplate their own experiences of belonging. By examining Suh's work, our students gained a greater appreciation for the ways in which contemporary artists explore cultural, political, and personal themes in their work.

We will explore these ideas further in our classes and look forward to sharing with our community the conceptual practice of our SAC senior artists in the near future.

Young Archies 

The Art Gallery of New South Wales invites budding artists between the ages of 5 and 18 to submit a portrait for the Young Archie competition.

The portrait must be of a person who is special to you – someone who is known to you and who knows you and plays a significant role in your life.

Interested students are invited to submit their artwork to their Visual Arts teacher by 27th February. As numbers of entries are restricted, we will select the best artworks to represent our College to be forwarded to the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Students will be able to seek teacher feedback before submitting their artwork.

The artwork

• One artwork only per entrant.
• Must be on paper (NOT board).
• Must be unmounted and unframed.
• Must be no smaller than A4 (210 × 297 mm) and no bigger than A3 (420 × 297 mm).
• Can be vertical or horizontal.
• Any art materials or combination of art materials may be used (e.g. paint, pencil, pastels, paper collage) but the artwork must be two-dimensional.

For more information please see: Link here.

Operation Art

Operation Art is an initiative of The Children’s Hospital at Westmead in association with the NSW Department of Education. In 2023, we are again encouraging students in Year 7 - 10 at St Andrews to submit an artwork for our school’s internal competition where up to 4 finalists will be selected to enter Operation Art. 

Artworks submitted to Operation Art will be framed for exhibition. Selected entries by Operation Art will tour hospitals and galleries regionally in NSW before becoming a o part of the permanent collection at Westmead Children’s Hospital. 

Students may submit artworks up to A2 in size in any chosen medium. (As long as it is flat) They can be in any theme however, we encourage students to create artworks that are uplifting, inspiring and positive. Artworks are due to Visual Arts teachers by Week 11 3rd April.

More information regarding this initiative will be posted to Compass and year group Google Classrooms. Students may also see their Visual Arts teachers for more information. (Mrs Harris, Mrs Kemal, Mrs Psaila or Miss Rivera)

Mrs Claudia Harris
Leader of Learning Visual Arts

Year 7 - Popular Culture

Year 7 Artists have been learning about the various trends across time - popular culture, and how artists depict popular culture within their works, producing Pop Art. Over the last week students were asked to choose and bring in one popular packaged food item. After learning new skills such as composition (rule of thirds), lighting and working with space, students captured photographs of their product, which was then edited. Over the next few weeks students will be building upon these skills through practising drawing techniques. We cannot wait to show you the results. 

Oliver Franjic	Savannah Pfiffner	Kiara Guglani

Year 8 - A- Z Photography

Year 8 artists started their year learning about Traditional Art and how technological inventions introduced along the way challenged these traditional conventions of art, changing the way people approach art today. Following this, students learnt how to manipulate objects within our world using a range of photography skills, using their camera to find letters in objects situated in and around St Andrews College, practising these non traditional methods. 

Siana Sanchez	Kayya Magayaga	Julienne De Guzman
Mykaela Beattie	Aashna Prasad

Year 9 - Portraiture 

Year 9 artists are currently being introduced to portraiture from the Renaissance period to more contemporary non-traditional approaches, with The Archibald prize being the main focus of the unit. Students have been investigating ways artists convey aspects of a subject's individual, community, culture and national identity to expose and uncover the identity of their chosen sitter depicted in the portrait. Students are practising skills of facial proportion (anatomy of the human face), form, value scales/tonal variation and the grid method of transfer. Students are now utilising their newly acquired skills to draw a self portrait using graphite pencils.

Ayan Aguek	Catharina Purwadi	Airabelle Quiazon
Micaela Sibucao	Kathryn Baginski	Mary Arshilo
Achuil Makog	Catharina Purwadi	Layla Sanchez

Year 11 - Art History & Building our Collection of Works 

Year 11 has been investigating the lifestyle, imagery and subject matter significantly highlighted during the prehistoric period, focusing particularly on the Venus figurines and the Lascaux Cave. Moving on, students then studied the frescoes and other traditional art forms. Artists of year 11 are now beginning to explore a recycled material of which people often overlook, this material being the cardboard box. Students are designing an abstracted sculpture using a range of cardboard construction techniques to depict an interesting object of choice. Look out for these sculptures, they will be out and about in site specific locations. 

Guntas Sandhu	Class Collaborative Mind Map	Cardboard Construction Practise
	Athieu Majok

Mrs Shandel Kemal
Visual Arts Teacher

NAPLAN 2023

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is a point in time assessment of literacy and numeracy skills that are essential for every child to progress in their learning growth. Students in Year 7 and 9 participate in the annual NAPLAN tests in writing, reading, conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy.

In 2023, St Andrews College students in Years 7 and 9 will be participating in NAPLAN online on:

• 
  Wednesday 15 March - Writing (Year 7 and 9), Reading (Year 7 and 9)
  ●  Thursday 16 March - Conventions of Language (Year 7 and 9), Numeracy, (Year 7 and 9)

Full details for students and parents will be published via Compass in the lead up to these test dates.

Naplan results were previously reported using a system of Bands, as shown in the diagram below:

However, from 2023, this system will be replaced by one with Four (4) achievement descriptors. These are:

• Exceeding 
• Strong 
• Developing 
• Needs additional support. 

The descriptors for each category will make it clear to parents what their child’s literacy and numeracy skills are at the time of NAPLAN testing, and support discussions with their school on their child’s progress. 

Further details can be found via the NAPLAN Online Information for parents and carers page.

Study Skills and Tips for Successful Study

Studying well is a skill that can be practised and improved. 

Below are some tips that will help you make the most of your study time.

Knowing that studying involves a dedicated amount of your time, effort and concentration is important when setting yourself up to study well.

Top 10 Study Tips

1. DECIDE.  Make a real decision that you are going to study.
2. TIME.  Create a schedule that indicates WHEN you will study.
3. SPACE.  Create a dedicated study SPACE for you to use.
4. DISTRACTIONS. Remove all distractions from your study space.
   -No Phones or social media
   -No Music
   -No TV
   -No Procrastinating
5. BUDDIES. Join up with a friend(s) who is equally determined to study.
6. SLEEP. Keep up regular sleep patterns. Approx 8 hours per night.
7. NUTRITION. Maintain a balanced diet with plenty of water.
   Avoid caffeine and energy drinks
   Avoid high sugar, high salt, high fat snacks
8. EXERCISE. Keep up the physical movement.
   About 30 minutes of moderate exercise every day
9. FAMILY. This is your most important support system. Speak with them
10. PRAYER. Take time to pray and reflect. This will help keep you centered

 Highly Effective Study Techniques

1. Write summary notes. Keep your summary notes indexed in folders.
2. Write your notes. Handwriting is essential in your exams - practise it.
3. Complete Past Papers. Do this under timed, exam conditions
   - Ask a peer to mark your work and provide their feedback.
4. Try the “Refinement Process”, where you explain how to do something to another person.
5. Adopt “Spaced Practice”, where you break study up into smaller chunks over a longer period of time.
6. Experiment with “Retrieval Practice”, where you write down all that you can recall about a particular topic.
7. Complete Review and Extension questions from your textbooks.
8. Access other textbooks and resources. Extend your level of understanding.
9. Complete on-line revision quizzes. These can provide instant results/feedback
10. Visit the NESA site for more useful information:
    -Past exam papers which include marking guidelines and marker notes
    -HSC Study Guide  - detailed study resource

STUDY DON’Ts…

1. Don’t wait until the last moment to start - Cramming is not a successful strategy.
2. Don’t pretend that you have studied. Planning to study is not studying.
3. Don’t ignore weekends - these can be used as study time also.
4. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. You are supported and assistance is available.

Over the course of two weeks, I have had the pleasure of working alongside a panel of adjudicators to trial the amazing talents of our Public Speakers at St Andrews College. We wish to praise all students on dedicating their time and effort to craft their speeches, whilst also showing inspiring confidence in trying out for the St Andrews College Public Speaking Team.A reminder that all students who trialled for the team are also welcome to provide their expression of interest for the College’s Debating Team. Applications will be advertised shortly. 

The panel of adjudicators were pleased with these speeches and saw great potential in the students’ ability to speak and represent the College with eloquence and pride. On behalf of the English Faulty and the wider College community, I wish to congratulate the following successful applicants who will be representing the College:

Year 7: Filinita Aho & Aidan D’Silva

Year 8: Lucas Baginski & Ellie Sibir

Year 9: Aaron Geevarghese & Alexandra Iskander

Year 10: Isabelle Metcliffe & Raphaella Thimiopoulos-Wilson

Senior Division: Euleila Barret (Year 11), Jeda Osorio (Year 11), Joshua Sammut (Year 11) and Dorothy Anzoa (Year 12)

Successful Public Speaking representatives are encouraged to stay up to date with any upcoming information by joining the Public Speaking Google Classroom, provided by Miss Webb. As they move onto their first round, we wish them the best of luck. 

Vegetable Family of Class 10.2	Vegetable Family of Class 10.4

At first glance you might think that this is food tech, but don’t be fooled, this is a way of learning Genetics in science.

Students have learned how traits are passed on from one generation to the next by modelling using Vegetable people.

Meet Ma and Pa:

These are their children:

Using Ma and Pa’s genotypes, students randomly selected the genotypes for each child, including the eyes, the arms, the feet and gender (either an onion or potato). 

From the genotypes, they deduced the characteristics of the child, and created the Vege-family. 

Modelling is often used in science to demonstrate concepts we cannot see.  It makes it easier to understand.

Some students comments on how this activity let them learn about genetics:

“The vegetable activity helped me understand that in heritage the offspring can get some traits such as long arms even through one of the parents didn’t appear to possess the trait their gene pool did have the trait”

“This task did help me to understand heredity better, as I could physically build up all the genes with vegetables. This task was creative and I’m looking forward to doing more pracs like this one where we can physically test or experiment with our assigned tasks.”

“It helped me understand how children's traits can appear even if the parents do not possess those traits because those traits are in the parent's genes and are expressed due to the other parent. It helped me learn about heredity as it showed how the physical features from Mr Onion and Mrs Potato were passed down to their children.”

On Tuesday the 7th of February, the Year 12 Drama Cohort took part in an excursion to the Seymour Centre. This wonderful opportunity took place over the course of the afternoon and ran into the evening, wherein, the Year 12’s were joined by the Year 11 Drama Cohort. It was an extravagant day filled to the brim with opportunities for the students to see real Drama in action beyond the scope of the classroom.

This excursion consisted of two parts; a Group Ensemble Workshop and OnStage 2023. 

The Year 12’s started with the Group Ensemble Workshop taking place early in the afternoon. It was a three hour workshop run by the professional acting troupe known as The Little Eggs Collective and hosted by the Seymour Centre. The Little Eggs Collective are known for creating powerful and compelling performances through a variety of artistic, dramatic mediums. They are also experts in holding workshops focused around helping students devise and create original pieces of drama.

With the guidance of these professionals, the students gained insight into the various skills needed to succeed in the HSC Group Performance. They had the opportunity not only to act alongside their peers, but seasoned actors as well. However, the most valuable lesson that the students took away was the level of dedication and trust needed to succeed within an ensemble piece. 

Following this fantastic experience, the Year 12’s and Mr Lewandowski were joined by Ms Rujicica and the Year 11 Drama Cohort. Demonstrating their clear dedication to learning and Drama, the Senior Drama Cohort united for the evening session of OnStage.  

OnStage is an event focused around showcasing the best HSC Drama Individual Projects and Group Performances from the previous year. Drama at a Senior level is not just about the performance but all of the various elements that build a production. The Senior Drama Cohort had the opportunity to see all the possibilities for their Major Works. This included Lighting Design, Stagecraft, Video Drama, Costume Design and Critical Analysis. 

The enthusiastic students were amazed at the quality of the works that had been put before them. To quote one of the Year 12 students: “It was eye-opening to see what those students were capable of.” The performances were funny, captivating, enthralling, haunting but, above all else, a challenge put forth towards them. A challenge to know that students, who were once in a similar position, had risen to the occasion through hard work, patience and time. 

This marks the beginning of a year of opportunities for Drama at St Andrews College. After great success last year, our Theatresports program continues to provide opportunities for students to grow both as performers and as confident individuals. Keep an eye out over the upcoming weeks as we continue to work with the other CAPA departments and provide opportunities for our students to excel.

Mr Nick Lewandowski

Drama Teacher

This year, in addition to literacy strategies already in place throughout the school, we will be introducing a cross curricula approach each term with a focus on a certain aspect of literacy.  

Term One will specifically focus on Grammar and the various parts of speech required when writing a sentence.  The breakdown of Parts of Speech being focused on is as follows:

Weeks 3-5 will focus on nouns, adjectives and pronouns

Weeks 6-8 will focus on verbs, auxiliary verbs and adverbs

Weeks 9-11 will focus on prepositions and articles

Your added support in having conversations with your child about the grammar focus, would assist us in reinforcing these basic skills that students can carry with them throughout life.

Duncan Dewar and Linda Hicks
Literacy Coordinators

The literacy tutoring after school has begun on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, with students choosing one day or the other. Literacy tutoring is designed to build the skills of students in reading and writing to ensure that they are more confident and independent learners in the classroom. Students do not read anymore. While some would say that is an exaggeration, they certainly do not read the amount that they should. In fact, most students read below grade level. Some are only just below, others are years below. The strategies offered at tutoring will help to bridge that gap and allow students the opportunity to actively engage with the text. The importance of this is evident when students enter years 11 and 12. The Board of Studies offers texts for a High School Certificate reading level; therefore, students who do not have the strategies to decipher the text will struggle, adding more stress to a stressful time. 

WHY DO STUDENTS NEED TUTORING?

All students can read the words, which is why it may come as a surprise when students are selected for tutoring. Students will assume it is because they have ‘failed’ something, and parents will be mystified because their child can read and write, so why would tutoring be necessary? The short answer is that literacy is more than reading and writing. It is being able to understand all that a text offers, and whilst students are at school, texts offer a lot more. Long ago, I read a long forgotten analysis of English as a subject: “English is teachers seeing far more in a text than the author ever intended”. And that may be true of English. But literacy is not ‘English’. It is understanding, comprehending, interpreting, predicting, analysing, evaluating, recreating and conveying for a defined purpose. These skills are not ‘English’ skills; they are science, mathematics, history, legal, technology and sporting skills. How many times a day are you asked to interpret and understand the world around you through verbal, written and visual clues? This is literacy. The students who are selected have not ‘failed’. They are students who could benefit from the free support offered to become more independent literacy thinkers. They are students who deserve more from their effort than ‘grades’ may show. They are students whose potential can be increased by simply making literacy skills more explicit. 

THE GOAL OF OUR TUTORING PROGRAMME.

The tutoring programme uses a series of texts from all subject areas to develop those literacy skills that cross boundaries. Students will read and actively engage with non-fiction and fiction texts. The skills we are developing include: identifying the main idea of a text, passage or paragraph; identifying the text structures that are most common in the world; developing knowledge about topics students may have limited experience in; and actively identifying key language conventions of texts and recreating them in written form. These skills can be taken into the classroom immediately and applied in any class, at any time. Yesterday, I asked the students what was one thing they would take away from the session that they would use in the classroom. Each student had a response that showed they could now begin the process of thinking about texts differently. Knowing how to read the text is only a small part of the literacy knowledge required in the 21st Century. 

WHERE TO NEXT?

Students selected for free tutoring have begun attending on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons. Once the numbers settle down and we have a consistent base of students we will offer spare positions to other students who could benefit. Many are not able to attend for various reasons and this creates opportunities for others. Being selected is not the ‘dark chasm of despair’ that students go to when they are chosen. It is the moment to make a choice for learning, to exit Plato’s cavern and find enlightenment. So, if you have been selected but not yet attended, we hope you will grasp this opportunity next week, and if you should be contacted in the next two weeks to join, please be open to the possibilities. 

Should you have any enquiries about tutoring in either Literacy or Numeracy, feel free to contact Mrs De Guzman, Mr Dewar or Ms Hicks. We look forward to seeing the students each week. 

Duncan Dewar
Leader of Learning Literacy

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