Here are some of the initiatives and activities that our fantastic students and staff in the Barak Campus have been involved with in Term 2:
Trialling 'Pulse'
Year 10 students (and Year 8s in McAuley Campus) this term have been given the opportunity to 'check in' online to a weekly quiz. These weekly check-ins work by asking a small number of questions regularly so that Year 10 Level Leader Mr Greg Hysted can quickly build and maintain an up-to-date picture of the year level's wellbeing and engagement. Year 10s have been able to pass on thank yous to subject teachers as well as requests for Mr Hysted or for one of our Counselling team members to check in with them to discuss something they would like assistance with.
40+ Club
Over 40 Year 11 and 12 VCE students came together with Mrs Anita Kay-Taylor (Deputy Principal — Learning and Teaching, VCE English teacher and former GAT assessor) to share her insights, tips and suggestions for undertaking the two writing tasks in the General Achievement Test (GAT). This included how to de-code prompt questions, as well as the language to utilise to achieve high-scoring marks for these tasks. Up next for Session 4 is 'Practice Paper Challenge' with Mrs Janet Barr, who will share the benefits and strategies to best utilise practice exam papers as a preparation tool in anticipation of the race to the end-of-year exams.
Practice GAT
We are proud of the 286 students across Years 11 and 12 studying Units 3 and 4 VCE and Scored VET students who undertook their Practice GAT the day before Lockdown 4.0 began, in preparation for the actual GAT which has now been postponed. This preparatory activity supports our students with their exam-confidence; and enhances their experience at applying their general knowledge, critical thinking and writing-to-time-pressure skills. The VCAA have advised us that the original GAT date of Wednesday 9 June has been postponed — we will communicate the new date once advised by the VCAA.
Year 10 and Year 11 Semester 1 exams
With the interruption of Lockdown 4.0, we have had to make changes to exam arrangements:
- Unit 1 Exams — still to be held on Friday 4 June to Thursday 10 June
- Year 10 Exams (English, Maths, Science and Humanities only) — will be held on Friday 11 June and Tuesday 15 June.
Students and parents can be reassured of the amount of work all Year 10 and 11 subject teachers have put into preparing challenging exam papers that are supportive to the learning undertaken during the semester. Extra effort is being made this semester with enhancing student confidence and resilience, especially after the impact of COVID-19 disruption to learning last year. After marking exam papers, subject teachers and Faculty Learning Leaders will be prioritising the opportunity to provide in-class feedback and suggestions for improvement in the week or so after the exam — to allow students greater time to reflect on their strengths and areas for progressive improvement as they commence Semester 2.
We look forward to a strong finish to the end of term and, as always, the Barak Leadership Team are available during College hours for any questions.
