Year 7 2020 General Enrolment Evening

For parents who have younger siblings in Year 6 can I remind you that our General Enrolment night is on Wednesday 12 June from 6:30pm in PBC Theatre.

This evening is for Parents and future students who live in our catchment area. This night is not for excellence programs and parents of students in these programs who are out of our catchment areas are reminded that the sibling rule does not apply in this case. The night is not compulsory but provides an opportunity to meet the Middle School team and to gain information about the current enrolment process. Enrolment packs will be available at the end of the presentation. Further details can be found on our school website. We look forward to seeing you there.

Motivation, Engagement and Learning

As parents and educators, we know there are many factors that influence academic learning and understand that motivation and engagement contribute to student outcomes. The Motivation and Engagement Wheel, developed by Dr Andrew Martin is a practical, multi-factor approach to student motivation and engagement. Throughout his research Dr Martin investigates which attributes contribute to your child's Personal Potential Network including motivation, engagement, buoyancy, resilience and adaptability, personal goal setting and positive relationships. Two areas we would like to share with you are 'motivation and engagement' and 'personal goal setting'.

Dr Martin defines motivation and engagement as, “students’ inclination, energy and drive to learn, work effectively, and achieve – and the thoughts and behaviours (and feelings) that reflect this”.  He describes the factors that influence student motivation as self-belief, learning focus and valuing school, while positive engagement includes planning, student management and persistence. The factors that impact negatively on motivation and engagement are anxiety, failure avoidance, uncertain control, self-sabotage and disengagement. The 11 areas are described in The Wheel (Dr Martin 2010).

The Wheel 

How can parents support and increase their child’s positive engagement and motivation and help them remain ‘above the line’ of The Wheel?  Dr Martin provides parents with the following suggestion – to concentrate your language on the ‘five C’s’ and ‘personal best goals’:

Confidence: Can be enhanced when students are encouraged to view success as not only the final step in an assessment piece, but the completion of many learning/study steps along the way. Confidence also focuses students’ attention on their own personal improvement rather than competition or comparison.

Control:  Can be developed when students discuss, acknowledge and implement effective study strategies at home knowing they will impact upon achievement.

Coordination and commitment: Can be developed when students set effective goals and acknowledge and implement that effort and strategy are important factors for improvement.

Composure: Can be enhanced when students view mistakes as a natural and essential part of learning and when it is time for exams, a good night’s sleep and a healthy breakfast increase one’s composure.

Personal Best: Are goals that students set for themselves and are focused on improving their home learning or study strategies from one term to the next. PBs are also focused on one’s personal improvement, and not a comparison to others.

If you are interested in further readings, strategies or tips, please visit Dr Martin’s website, Lifelong Achievement Group. 

End of Term Update

There are now fewer than fifteen school days left until the school holidays, and the countdown to assessment is even closer! Students should be reflecting on their OPTIMA goals and considering what it is that they need to do to earn their best possible results. Unlike the Interim Report, which may only reflect one piece of assessment, the Semester Report shows a pattern of learning achievement, effort and behaviour.

Assessment may be due right up to the end of term. Please respect our holiday dates as removing students from class can make assessment difficult and stressful for them.

Being Busy vs Being Stressed

Some students find the end of semester a particularly challenging time, especially if multiple assessment pieces over a short time span is a new experience for them.

A useful way to phrase discussion with your young person about this is that they will be busy, but they should not be stressed. A busy student has many demands on their time. They are completing the allocated home work each night, as well as undertaking their own study and review of topics, and work on assignments. The busy student has their assessment due dates written up and placed in a space that the whole family can see. They know what is due, and when. They set about tasks in ‘baby steps’, doing a little at a time and in a logical way. They ask their teachers for assistance early when they do not understand. 

The stressed student doesn’t do homework or hasn’t written it down. They don’t study until the night before the test, or may not even know there is a test coming up! The stressed student looks at a large task and puts off starting work on it. They don’t let the teacher know that they are struggling with concepts. 

Students should expect to be busy – there is no other option when you are striving to achieve your best. Key things that Middle School students should be doing now to avoid being stressed are: 

• Use the Student Planner effectively
• Have assessment dates clearly displayed at home
• Break tasks into achievable chunks and work methodically on these
• Start writing summaries and study notes for exams
• Stay in touch with teachers when work is difficult

These strategies, in combination with good habits around sleep, diet and exercise, should help your young person maintain a sense of control over the coming busy weeks.

Community Service

Does your child participate in a community service activity, such as Surf Lifesaving, coaching a sporting team or helping an animal welfare organisation? If so, we would love to acknowledge their efforts formally here at school.

For details, go to our Community Services Program web page.