Year 8
Exam Week
Over the course of the last three weeks we have tried to provide our Year 8 students with a variety of examples of what it means to display good study habits. These have included weekly planning, study techniques and effective study with peers through the use of ‘study bubbles’.
In our assembly on Tuesday, Ms Van de Peer added three more pieces of insight from our current Year 12s as they have prepared for their finals. The first tip was to look to reduce the size of your notes over time, a process she referred to as ‘reduction’, where over the course of revision periods students reduced the size of their notes from a number of pages, to a single page and then right down to a few (two – three) palm cards just before an exam. The second was ‘practice’, which many students are currently doing with additional questions in their texts or provided past examinations. The third was ‘articulate’, explaining your notes out loud and verbalising your content knowledge either to yourself or others. These are all useful tips and something that I encourage students to consider over the weekend in the lead up to next week.
We have also asked students to engage in thought about what their expectations are and the nature of personal achievement beyond a marks/results focus. For many this requires a redefinition of the notion of success and achievement linked to their own personal learning and individual goals.
From an administrative perspective, please ensure that your student goes through the exam timetable and Year 8 Exam Block Letter so that all expectations are clear once more before next week.
Managing Exam Stress
If you are interested I have recently come across an older article from ReachOut that provides some practical tips on helping a teen deal with stress in the lead up to examinations. Please see this link for further reading.
Year 8 Analytical Writing Bootcamp
During our joint 7 – 9 Assembly this week, Mrs. Rolon (Dean of Studies 7 -10) presented a number of students with certificates for their participation in the Analytical Writing Boot Camp. These students have spent their Monday afternoons over the past term developing their skills in annotating.texts and producing highly structured pieces of writing from these annotations.
Well done to; India Dutton, Lilian Forsyth, Zoe McKeown, Gabrielle Bernath, Alice Franceschi, Isla Anderson, Isabelle Monty, Tilly O’Flynn, Molly Ashcroft, Charlotte Boris and Jessica Jackson.
Australian Music Examinations
So far this term, two students in Year 8 have completed an assessment by the Australian Music Examination Board on their respective instruments.
Congratulations to Abigail Korbel for achieving Third Grade in the subject of Flute Repertoire and Isabella Solgaard for achieving Fourth Grade in the subject of Singing for Leisure Repertoire.
Key Dates for the Term
We have a number of significant events in the first part of the term which include:
- Week 4 – Monday – Friday – Year 8 Exam Block
- Week 6 – Tuesday – ACER SEW Survey
- Week 6 – Wednesday – Project Rockit
- Week 8 – TBC – STEAM Project
- Week 8 – Friday – Secondary School Carols
- Week 9 – Wednesday – Speech Day
Years 10-11 Cocurricular Drama Production – A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Mr Tobias Horan
Yr 8 Advisor
9968 9872
thoran@redlands.nsw.edu.au