Dean of Studies | Mr Mason Hellyer

We are midway through the term this week and the focus has been squarely on our Year 12 students. On Monday and Tuesday, we completed a full mock QCS program. Students were required to sit the Writing Task, Short Response Item (SRI) and two Multiple Choice Question (MCQ) papers over the two days. By replicating the full QCS program, students gain an understanding of the mental endurance required to complete four external exams over two days.

On Wednesday, the Year 12 cohort were invited back for the final QCS workshop for the year. This workshop, on the Ekka holiday, is the culmination of three terms of QCS preparation. Over three quarters of the cohort (148 students) were present at the holiday workshop. This was a wonderful response from the 2019 Seniors and very much reflected their motto of All In. At the workshop students heard advice from Jacob Montaner (2018 College Dux and Captain) and the 2018 Seniors, worked on the Writing Task with Mr Adrian Pauley as well as practicing SRI questions from Dr Carroll and myself. The cohort is now well placed to achieve highly at this year's QCS exams on 3 and 4 September.

The busy week for Year 12 concludes on Thursday evening with the QTAC information evening. The College Careers Counsellor Mrs Natalie Twine will guide students and parents through the application process for tertiary study. Year 12 students will be making decisions regarding their post-school futures over the next six weeks. We wish them all the best with this important decision.

In 2020, Terrace will be transitioning to NAPLAN online. As part of the preparation for this transition, we recently conducted an Equivalency Trial with a Year 7 and a Year 9 class in respect to the writing task. The trial went well, and we were able to gather important information regarding the structure of online testing and how students responded to the online format. Importantly, we gained insight in how to best prepare students for online NAPLAN. Furthermore, it reinforced our current practice that the best preparation for NAPLAN (written or online) is quality, thorough teaching and learning of the existing curriculum in the classroom. The next stage of our preparation is a School Readiness Test (SRT) where a whole cohort will be involved in a practice test toward the end of this term. Further information will be provided to this cohort as the exact details are finalised.

The middle of the term always has an increase in assignments and draft becoming due. Therefore, it is important to:

• Be organised. Make sure you allow enough time to complete all assignments to the best of your ability.
• Finish, edit, print out, electronically submit – the night before the due date. Do not leave things to the last minute.
• If you need an extension or assistance – speak with your teacher ASAP
• Keep your exam subjects ‘on the boil’. Don’t forget to continue your exam subject revision. Look for a small period of time every day to consistently work on your exam subject preparation.

All the best for the week ahead.