Year 7

Citizenship

Thank you to Phoebe Barnett and Hannah Mitchell who promptly volunteered their singing talents on a spur-of-the-moment in Chapel on Monday. Phoebe and Hannah led Yr 7 and 8 in song. Notable mention also goes to Jacob Rieser who, without hesitation, assisted Ms Richardson with her presentation.

NSW 2018 Talented Athletes Program

Congratulations to both Tom Graetz and Jett Wells who were both selected for the NSW 2018 Talented Athletes Program for Basketball. This is a wonderful achievement and acknowledgement of their talent.

Sport

Well done to all who played over the weekend in the beautiful Sydney weather. Congratulations to the 13A Football team who had a convincing win of 5-0 against St Spyridon College.

Assessment

This year will continue to be a year of firsts. For many students (and parents), new style of assessment is one of the biggest changes between primary and secondary school. I would like to draw your attention to the Year 7 Assessment Handbook – A Guide for Students and Parents, available on Redlands Pulse. This document outlines expectations and guidelines surrounding assessment in Yr 7 at Redlands. Redlands attempts to coordinate the timing of assessment tasks. Students who are properly prepared will not be overloaded. Please be aware that extensions can only sought in unexpected and extenuating circumstances. Extension requests must be directed to the Head of Department (key contacts can be found here). This coming Friday, Yr 7 will revisit key steps for tackling assessment.

Pastoral Care

Last Friday during Pastoral Care, students spent time together on Friday ‘checking-in’ with their group and Tutor. Activities included group chats, mindful colouring, team-building games etc. Included is an image from Cowper Yellow showing the fruits of their labour having created a Tutor Group chain.

Study skills – Making the Most of Feedback 

Throughout the year students will have been receiving feedback from teachers about assessments. But are students making the most of this feedback? Many students are too focused on what mark they received and neglect to make the most of the feedback they are given. It’s not just about what students did wrong either! The feedback is a chance to celebrate what they did right, what they understood and the skills and learning they demonstrated. However, it is also a chance to address areas they found difficult or did not perform as well in. Below are some questions students can ask themselves when an assessment is returned to make the most of the feedback they are given.

When a test or exam is returned:

  • What specific feedback did your teacher give you and how should you use that feedback?
  • Will you be tested on these topics again or are they important for overall understanding in this subject?
  • Which areas do you need to ask for help on as you still don’t understand?
  • Which questions from your test paper should you re-do? Re-do them!
  • Should you re-write any questions or essays and re-submit?
  • Was there any revision work you did not complete before the test?
  • What topic areas do you need to review and revise, what should you do to address these?
  • Are there topics you still need to finalise study notes on?
  • Are there sections of your study notes that you need to re-do?
  • Did you plan ahead to give yourself enough time to revise?
  • What changes do you need to make in the way you study for that subject next time?
  • Are there students who did really well that you can talk with to find what they did differently?

For other types of assessments:

  • What parts of the assessment did you do really well?
  • What did you enjoy about the assessment?
  • What can you learn from the feedback you were given?
  • Is there any part of the feedback you don’t understand that you need to discuss with your teacher?
  • Can you ask a student who did really well if you can look at their assessment so you can see what is needed to get top marks?
  • What could you have done differently?

Do you understand what you need to do to improve or do you need to ask your teacher for more guidance?

Key Dates

Gala Arts – Friday 1 June    
Queen’s Birthday – Monday 11 June
Athletics Carnival – Thursday 26 June
Term 2 Concludes – Friday 29 June

Ms Marita Jansons 
Year 7 Advisor
mjansons@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9968 9819