Year 7

News

Best of luck to all students involved in Gala Arts this Friday. Gala Arts is a wonderful event which recognises talent across the school and a highlight of the Redlands calendar. There may still be a scattering of tickets available (see the Drama section of Note Day for more information). If you are unable to attend this year – this event should be a priority for 2019!
Congratulations to all students for tackling the last few weeks of heavy assessment with focus and determination. We have been very impressed with their time management and approach to learning. Assessment schedules should start to lighten in the coming weeks (phew!) This will provide much needed time to regather, take the foot off the accelerator a little and reflect on good practice (What did students do well? What could they change next time they approach assessment?).
On Monday students attended the Museum at the University of Sydney. Staff reported exceptional engagement and behaviour – explaining that the day was insightful. Well done Yr 7!
Week 6 is Heritage Week. Yr 7 will be visited by Redlands Archives who will be sharing stories about the coeducational history of the school.
Included for your enjoyment are some happy snaps from Peer Support in Week 4.

Pastoral Program

This week students engaged in two conversations with their Tutor Group. Conversations have explored self-awareness and self-esteem. Self-awareness encompasses identity, values, desires and goals. More vulnerable students often experience low self-esteem. This means that they believe that they are not worthwhile, they cannot do very much or be successful and that they are not like, loved or valued. They may seek ways to feel better about themselves which involve putting others down or reinforce this negativity by living up to their own expectations. Objectives of conversations this week include:

To identify and celebrate histories, competencies and qualities.
To explore areas of personal change and development.
To acknowledge and develop personal strengths and the strengths of others.

Study Skills – What do students do when they get a disappointing assignment mark?

We all have times when we think we have done brilliantly then get an assignment back and are really disappointed instead. Students could just feel really bad, or they could try these steps:

Review and Understand

The first step is to work through the feedback and work out what went wrong.

Did they not meet the criteria?
What feedback was given from the teacher?
Do they understand the feedback?
Can they work out why they got their mark?

If they don’t understand why they got the mark they did, it is ESSENTIAL they ask their teacher for further clarification. Otherwise they will keep making the same mistakes.

Challenge or Accept

Once students understand what the issue was, they can either accept it, or challenge it. If students feel now that the mark was actually fair enough, then it is time to move on. There is no point beating themselves up anymore about a disappointing mark. Instead students need to treat this as a learning process. The people who are most successful in life don’t let their mistakes get them down, they see them as a learning opportunity where they can improve and make sure it doesn’t happen again. However, if students really think the mark was unfair and the assessment met all of the criteria, they can talk to their teacher and politely explain their point of view and ask if they would reconsider the mark.

Learn and Change

The only way to improve is to work out what could be changed about the assessment then try and fix it. Consider, if they were to re-do part of the work what exactly would they change? Another good thing students can do is to ask to see other students’ work who received top grades for their assignments – to evaluate what was missing in their work or how they could improve their work next time. It would also be a great idea for their next assignment to show the teacher a plan, or a draft early on, explaining how they think they’ve met the criteria and seek feedback well before handing it in.

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