7th May, 2013 Reflection A Mother's Love There are times when only a mother's love can understand our tears, can soothe our disappointments and calm all of our fears. There are times when only a mother's love can share the joy we feel when something we've dreamed about quite suddenly is real. There are times when only a mother's faith can help us on life's way and inspire in us the confidence we need from day to day. For a mother's heart and a mother's faith and a mother's steadfast love were fashioned by the angels and sent from God above. --Author Unknown
School Photos - May 21 Full school photos are scheduled for Tuesday 21st May. Envelopes will be distributed to students this week. Arthur Reed Photos also provide the opportunity for family photos. Students will be required to wear full winter uniform for the photos. If a student has PE or a related activity they will need to bring their PE uniform to school and change. Further details will be published in coming newsletters. Parent Information Evening for Year 11 & 12 Approximately 30 parents attended the Year 11 and 12 parents evening held last Thursday May 2, a disappointing number considering the information presented on the evening and letter of invitation was given to each student the week before. The feedback from those who did attend found it extremely helpful and motivating. The evening was a follow up to the workshop the Year 12 students were involved in earlier in the day. The presenter Darren Pereira from Success Integrated engaged and equipped the audience with a range of strategies to help them as parents in supporting their son or daughter in their VCE years. He presented the concept of Growth Mindset, that is, “excellence is about effort, it motivates and I must work hard to achieve”. The parents shared examples of growth mindset statements: “great effort”, “your commitment to your studies is fantastic”, “proud of your efforts”.
To help students with organisation Darren presented a homework/study plan that includes, study periods, meal times, work and sporting commitments. Time management can be more effective by planning and prioritising tasks, chunking and breaking down activities and then allocating time frames. As Darren suggested 1 minute in planning saves 4 minutes in doing. He also emphasised the importance of reviewing notes regularly because we forget more than 1/2 of what we learn within 1 hour, 2/3 within a day, therefore students need to do their first review immediately, followed up with a short review of notes within 24 hours to correct any errors and clarify any misunderstandings. A review of the week’s notes is then undertaken at the end of the week of approximately 1 hour, further reviews are done once per month and then again after a month. He also presented the notion of listening to Baroque music while studying as it induces relaxed alertness and increased recall performance. Further information, study templates and inspirational videos can be found on Darren’s website or facebook page: www.successintegrated.com/parentfacebook.com/ successintegrated.com.au Year 11 Study Skills Workshop Year 11 students this Thursday will be involved in a study skills workshop conducted by an organisation called Elevate Education, a group of university students who relate closely to the experience of VCE students.