Thrower House

Breast Screening

Volunteering Gold Coast

Nixon’s Hope for a Cure

FairPlay vouchers, empowering students to move

FairPlay vouchers assist eligible students with membership fees to join a sport or physical activity. Those eligible can apply for a voucher valued up to $150. Applications are now open.

Global opportunities on offer

A number of global opportunities in the Americas, Asia and Europe are available to students. If you’d like to experience new cultures, make new friends, discover new ways to learn and improve your language skills, visit the Education website to see what programs are on offer.

Most programs are funded by the Department of Education. Refer to the website for various application closing dates.

Study in the USA

The USA Pathways Program at The Southport School once again welcomes students from all neighbouring schools to take advantage of the College USA testing opportunities offered here and regularly has students from your school on our SAT roster, accordingly the following might be of special interest to your Year 10 and Year 11 students.

In addition to offering the SAT and ACT entrance tests for Year 12 students, our international accreditation also encompasses the PSAT which is a standardised test directed at both Year 10 and Year 11 students who have aspirations of completing Year 12 here in Australia before heading on to college in the USA via an academic pathway and/or athletic scholarship. It remains the single most beneficial means of preparing for the SAT.

Recommended timeline is as follows:

• YEAR 10: First PSAT
• YEAR 11: Second PSAT
• YEAR 12: SAT (usually taken twice in Year 12)

The PSAT (Pre-SAT) is literally as its name suggests – a preliminary version of the SAT. It is designed as a practical resource to assist students in preparing for the SAT proper, with most students taking the PSAT twice: once in Year 10 and then again in Year 11 in readiness for the SAT in Year 12. All students who complete the PSAT receive a results portfolio from College Board designed to give them an indication of potential college readiness by the end of Year 12; it also provides comprehensive feedback to highlight areas of study which could benefit from more concentrated focus as they head into SAT preparation. Test-takers can also rest assured that PSAT scores are not shared with any prospective US colleges, it is tightly held as a practice tool for the SAT.

The Southport School is an accredited testing centre for College Board USA and is offering the PSAT on Saturday 18 April, 2020. Test session will commence here at TSS at 8:30am and conclude at approximately 12 midday; test fee is AUD133.

*Note: there will be a second opportunity to take the PSAT in October 2020 (date yet to be confirmed).

We recommend that any of your Year 10/11 students considering USA as a real option for tertiary study invest some time in their SAT preparation by taking the PSAT.

In order to register for the April PSAT the following information will need to be provided via reply email, then payment process should be completed at: https://forms.tss.qld.edu.au/psat/
Name:
Date of Birth:
Email address:
Current Year Level:
Current School:

Students are advised to create an account with https://www.collegeboard.org/ as test scores are accessible through this portal.

There are some practice tests available on the College Board website which may also be helpful in preparation for the PSAT: https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/psat-nmsqt-psat-10/practice

Online educational organization Khan Academy also works jointly with College Board to provide video tutorials and interactive exercises covering all facets of preparation for both the PSAT and SAT. This includes a free service to students to link their PSAT scores to their Khan Academy account which results in students receiving personalized practice based on areas of most difficulty identified in the PSAT – this can be a very valuable tool in preparing for the SAT. Information regarding the PSAT score report and linking scores to Khan Academy Account can be found in following tutorials: https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/psat-nmsqt-psat-10/scores/student-score-reports