Term 4 Welcome
The term has begun and both the students and staff appear to be happy to be back at school. I hope that the holiday period was relaxing and that you were able to spend some quality time together as a family.

Term 4 within any school is a unique term, and often in my imagination, the term seems like a period of continuous ‘count downs’, and I am sure many of the staff and students feel the same. Some of the countdowns include the last day of classes for our Year 12 students; the beginning of Year 12 examinations followed by Year 11 and 10 examinations. We also have a countdown to the Year 9 exams and then the many and various deadlines for the Years 7 and 8 students. All these events will be quite quickly followed by graduations, and before we all know it, it will be Christmas!

Student Free Days this Term

Monday 31 October is a Student-Free Day to allow staff time for planning, preparation, assessment of student learning, collaboration, curriculum planning and professional learning. This day will be student free for both campuses. I recognise that this creates an imposition on families and thank you in advance for your ongoing support as we strive to improve student outcomes.

Friday November 25 is a Student-Free Day for all our students. This will allow our Senior students (Years 9 - 11) a small break between finishing exams and commencing their Headstart program and allow our staff to have a correction Day to finalise grades. It also allows all our Junior campus staff time for correction and report writing of the end of year reports.

Our current Years 8-11 students will be involved in their 2023 Headstart program at the Senior campus from Monday 28 November to Thursday 1 December. Our current Year 7 students will remain at the Glenroy campus but will commence their 2023 Headstart program from Monday 28 November to Thursday 1 December.

Staff Changes
Welcome back to Mr Nick Laleas after his long service leave and my thanks to Mr Christian Montesano for taking Nick’s VET Engineering classes.

Year 10 Ball
We look forward to the Year 10 Ball on Friday 21 October at Melrose Receptions. The Year 10 Ball is one of my favourite events in our Calendar as it provides an opportunity for our parents to see their sons and daughters interacting with others and enjoying themselves. It also allows us as staff members to see some of our students in a different light as they present themselves in a different way to the way in which they may present in the classroom. My thanks to our Year 10 PE staff who assisted in teaching the dancing and to Emily Hastie and Steve Woodburn for all their organisation of the event. My favourite part of the night is always the Father-Daughter and Mother-Son dance where all enjoy the experience!

Parking around the school
As many of you are aware, parking around both campuses are at a premium. Sometimes this results in parents parking in inappropriate places, including across residents’ driveways which inevitably leads to conflict. Can I ask all parents to be considerate of our neighbours and not park across their driveways so that they can access their properties? We endeavor to maintain excellent relationships with all our neighbours at both campuses, but this is very difficult when our parents treat them with disrespect. I know that it is only a handful of parents on a small number of occasions where this occurs, but consideration of others is required for society to function effectively.

Year 12 Trial Exams
Thanks to Year 12 staff for marking these trial exams for students. It helps students to assess their own strengths and weaknesses and should shape their revision over the next four weeks in the lead up to their final exams. Thanks, in particular to Jo Barton, Vera Treloar, Luke Reynolds, Danielle Prescott and Erin Bonavia for coming in over the second week of the holidays to support our external supervisors.

Technology Show Launch – Wednesday 12 October
Opening night commenced on Wednesday 12 October at 4.00pm with the Student Fashion Show. It is an opportunity to celebrate and showcase the work of students across the Technology subject areas of Design Wood, Electronics. Systems Engineering, VET Engineering, Textiles, Food Studies, Hospitality, VET Hairdressing and VET Retail Cosmetics. Thanks to all involved with the preparation for the show particularly John Paul and our Technology staff. This show continues for the remainder of the week so if you have time call in to look at our student’s work.

Graduation Mass – Tuesday 18 October
The Year 12 Graduation Mass will take place at Our Lady Guardian of the Plants in Campbellfield on Tuesday 18 October. Students have been asked to be there by 6.00pm with the mass to commence at 7.00pm. It would be great to see as many staff as possible at the mass to celebrate our Year 12 class of 2022 after what has been a particularly disrupted Senior years for these students. The celebration of the Eucharist is what unites us as a Catholic community and reinforces to us, within a sacramental way, our identity as a Catholic school. As a result, I think that if staff are only going to attend one Graduation event it should be the mass rather than the Graduation Dinner.

Concrete Pour on Broadmeadows Campus – Tuesday 11 October
The last of our major concrete pours for our VCE Building took place this Tuesday. This will complete the first floor on the Northern side and the walls with only one set of stairs remaining to be poured. This is a significant milestone of the building and means that the metal construction of the second floor on the Northern side can commence by the end of this month.

Coping with Exams
In this busy time, more than half of the school will be engaged in end of year examinations, and if you include end of year assessment tasks there should be many students with very demanding deadlines ahead of them. For this reason, I thought it would be valuable to discuss with families how you might support your son or daughter during what can be a challenging period for schoolwork.

At meetings with new parents, I always try and make a habit of saying that school always will be the second educator of students, as parents are by a long margin, the number one educator. This is no marketing slogan or cute catchphrase, but, I think, a very basic truth. And as such, it is most important that parents continue the very important role as educators of their sons and daughters. The type of assistance I am talking about is not meant to be like a teacher at home, but a more powerful supportive role that helps them perform well at school. If I was drawing up a list of supportive things that families can do during this time of exams and projects, it would look something like this…

The highest priority might seem obvious, but I think it is still important to name it; and that is that most students perform at their best if their home environment is well ordered, has consistent rules and a warm and supportive emotional climate. All students prosper if there is regularity in their study habits and environment.

The second most important thing is that home study times should be in place which are consistently adhered to, preferably in a public place in the house where there is a quiet but supportive buzz of people around the student who is doing the study. I am sure I have mentioned before that in most cases, shutting a student in their room is just about the worst thing you can do.

The fact is, only a certain percentage of students really enjoy home study, so it can be a real benefit to students who do not enjoy home study to be in an environment where other people are around them, but this must be done in a way which ensures relative calm. In that environment students can seek quite a bit of support from parents about having, for example something read over, or a question made clearer, and parents can also get some understanding of how their son or daughter is coping with the work at hand.

In the case of older students (and I mean by this anybody from Year 10 onwards), the reality is they are becoming more independent and therefore parents have less control over some aspects of their lifestyle. Nonetheless, I think it is important that parents of this age group help their children make sensible choices about balancing competing lifestyle agendas.

For example, sleep deprivation can be a significant issue for young people, so it is important for parents to help older teenagers make wise decisions about how often they go out, work part-time jobs, and generally what they cram into their busy lives. It is not uncommon for a young person to have a job, a busy social calendar and budding relationship whilst still at school. It can be a tricky business when parents try to step in and take control when teenagers are not making wise choices. It is important for parents to develop the knack of having these supportive conversations about managing their quite complex lives in a healthy manner.

Some lifestyle advice can be given more surreptitiously, for example, by putting bowls of carrot and dried fruit and nuts in front of them as they study and keeping the soft drink and sugary foods at a distance. These sorts of proactive actions are often much more powerful than sitting down and telling them to eat properly.

Another area where parents can be of enormous benefit is with time management. Many young people fall into the trap of just starting at the start and ploughing through the work to the end. They often think that just working at 100 miles an hour is going to be the best way. Advice about assessing priorities, breaking down tasks into components and creating timelines can be of real benefit.

For some students, exam and assessment periods bring about an increase in anxiety levels. We know that once anxiety gets to a certain level there can be a loss of good judgment and a decrease in work quality. Therefore, parents can be a great support for their children by assisting with planning deadlines, timelines and generally sorting out the broad scope of what must be done. These are very much adult skills that many young people don’t have.

Another important but complex area of support is the help parents can provide with their emotions. Although there are no simple rules or guidelines, parents have an enormous role to play by helping their child’s thinking and feelings to be positive and realistic. Strange as it may sound, too many students, overestimate their ability and as a consequence, can experience disappointment due to over confidence. If your child is like this, your job will be to keep him realistic and grounded. Overconfidence can be an unfortunate characteristic and it is important to ensure that our students are not too blasé about the capabilities.

Conversely, there is another group of students who are the opposite. Some are prone to anxiety and unfortunately talking that person up is not necessarily the best solution to this problem. Building confidence through pep talks may be a valuable ingredient, but by far the best solution is helping them think or work through whatever it is that is making them anxious. And when I say help them “think through” I do mean that. When it comes to school there is no doubt that one of the hardest things for some parents is to not tell their adolescent children how to think or act, but instead be a form of mentor.

The last aspect where support can be very valuable relates to a wider problem-solving capacity that young people often don’t have. This falls broadly into a communication or seeking help category. It is most important that students can talk over problems with their teachers or raise concerns and know that they will be heard and understood. Offering simple advice such as when or how an issue may be broached with a teacher or reminding your son or daughter that it might be a good idea to let your teacher know about this, can be an enormous benefit. Young people can fall into the trap of thinking that everyone around them is a mind reader and know what their problem is. Conversely, they may think that nobody would care or pay attention. Generally putting teachers in the picture and putting Mum and/or Dad in the picture is tremendously beneficial.

Most of the things I have talked about fall into the category of life skills. They don’t require university courses or degrees, but they do need careful thought and consideration. If you can provide these valuable life skills for your child, you will be giving them a significant form of education that will not only benefit them while they are at Penola but will set them up for success in whatever area of pursuit they follow after school.

With my own son and daughter currently preparing for their end of Year University examinations, it is easy to suggest these strategies, but it may not mean that your son or daughter takes them up! I have listed below some suggestions from others:

Professor Andrew Martin from the School of Education at the University of NSW (UNSW) says, before major exams, the focus starts to shift to doing practice exams. “As students mark or assess their answers, they will benefit from looking closely at “mistakes” and seeing these as windows of opportunity for improvement,” he said. “Even at this stage, it is not too late to learn a bit more, better understand some aspects of a subject, improve one’s writing, and so on.” Professor Martin says that as revision is done, students should keep their mobile phone out of the study area and switch off social networking and gaming if working on a computer. “Finally, get some decent sleep and do some physical activity during this period,” he said.

According to Dr Rachael Jacobs, Western Sydney University, the key is avoiding the “disproportionate” stress that surrounds the end-of-year exams. “Students often feel like their whole lives and futures ride on ATAR exams,” Dr Jacobs said, adding that the news images of students in desks and chairs, isolated from each other, exacerbates community stress around high-stakes exams. “No student should ever feel that their future is dependent on one set of exams. We have more university places than ever before. Employers are looking for more than good results.”

To Dr Penny Van Bergen, a senior lecturer in Educational Psychology at Macquarie University, the best way to prepare for the Year 12 exams is for students to ask questions, test themselves, mix up their study sessions and avoid cramming. “The evidence is in, cramming the night before an exam is not as effective as studying for the same duration over a longer period,” Professor Van Bergen said. “Whether you have 10 hours or 100 hours spare, the brain works most efficiently when sessions are spread out and there is time to consolidate all the new information.”

Viviana Wuthrich, a clinical psychologist and associate professor of psychology at Macquarie University, advises students and parents to “keep the pressure to excel in perspective”. “We all want to do well, but the key is to not blow the consequences of the exam out of proportion,” she said. "Secondly, balance study with rest time, and look towards life after the exams.” Associate professor Wuthrich said about one in five students experience particularly high levels of stress, but the majority experience only moderate levels of stress. “Exam stress appears to be lessened by strong family, peer and school connections, and an absence of negative thinking about the consequences of exams,” she said.

Year 7 Enrolments 2024
A reminder to all our existing families that Year 7 enrolments for 2024 closed on Friday 19 August. A number of families applied after the close of enrolment last year and it makes it very difficult to accurately plan for the following year. I ask that you submit your enrolment as soon as possible. Often families assume that we know that there is a younger sibling, but I would be very disappointed if one of our existing families missed out on an enrolment due to not submitting their enrolment in a timely manner.

Changes to COVID-19 isolation requirements

It is strongly recommended that students:

• Who test positive for COVID-19 should stay home and isolate for five days
• Should not attend school after five days if still symptomatic
• Who are symptomatic but have not tested positive should not attend school

Where students become symptomatic at school, they should:

• Be collected by their parents/carers
• Undergo testing for COVID-19.

The Department of Health recommends that a person who tests positive for COVID-19 should inform those with whom they have recently been in contact, including their workplace, school and household.

• Schools are therefore asked to continue reporting positive COVID-19 cases to Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS).
• You no longer have to alert your school communities of positive cases.

Facemasks
Staff and students who wish to wear a face mask should be supported to do so, and schools should continue to make face masks available for staff, students and visitors.

• The Department of Health recommends that masks should be worn by a person who is a close contact of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 when leaving home.
• Additionally, the department recommends that masks should be worn by a person who has COVID-19 for 10 days after a positive test when they need to leave home.

COVID-19 vaccination changes
The current mandatory vaccination requirement for staff, visitors, contractors and volunteers working in special schools will cease to apply from 11.59pm on Wednesday 12 October.