The roller coaster ride of living through this pandemic continues. Once again, our community has quickly adapted to the ever-changing conditions as we pivot from onsite classes to remote learning. I commend our students for their resilience and adaptability as they quickly adjust to the various restrictions due to this particular outbreak. This period of lockdown seems to be more challenging than others and disappointingly, many school activities have been cancelled or moved into the virtual world. We continue to live as best we can as we journey through this pandemic.

Subject Selection

Year 10 students have completed their Subject Selection for 2022 and all other year levels have participated in remote assemblies regarding subject choices for next year. The final date for submission of Subject Selection Forms for 2022 is 19 August.

VCE Units 3/4 Trial Examinations

At this stage, the College will continue with scheduled events to prepare and support students undertaking a Unit 3/4 subject.

To assist our students achieving their potential, trial VCE Examinations are being held during the Term 3 break. All Year 12 students and Year 11 students studying a Unit 3/4 subject are expected to attend for their subject examinations.

Trial examinations give students the best opportunity to succeed in their final examinations at the end of the year. These examinations are compulsory and will be an opportunity to give students vital feedback on areas of strength and areas requiring improvement.

The supervisors are external supervisors employed by the College, and they will be the same supervisors you will have at the end of the year. These examinations will mirror the end of year VCAA examinations and as such, students must adhere to all examinations rules and regulations.

The Trial Exam period is Wednesday 22 September – Thursday 30 September.

Students need to arrive 30 minutes prior to the commencement of each examination. All trial examinations will be held in the MacKillop Center. The timetable will be distributed in the next few weeks.

Units 3/4 Connect Education Workshops

In partnership with Connect Education, the College will provide 3 hour Connect Education Workshops in Week 10 of Term 3. Students enrolled in Units 3/4 will participate in the workshops. Connect Education will provide revision and exam focus lectures for our students that are subject specific and provide resources to support our students. These will run during normal school hours so students are expected to attend.

Further details will be sent to parents/carers and students in the coming weeks.

Special Consideration (COVID 19)

The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) last year introduced a new consideration of educational disadvantage process to calculate VCE scores, taking into account disruptions to learning. This process will be used again in 2021.

This process will require schools to provide the VCAA with information on students and school circumstances to help calculate their study scores. This will include information about the circumstances and impact of the disruption on students, as well as additional data, such as estimated assessment scores.

To ensure the fairness of final results, the VCAA will consider all available information, including the General Achievement Test (GAT) and appropriate comparisons of performance across all assessments and schools. Based on this analysis, disadvantage will be factored into students’ final scores, which will then contribute to the study score calculation. This approach will ensure that Victorian students are not disadvantaged in comparison to interstate students in the calculation of their individual ATAR.

Joanna De Bono - Deputy Principal Learning & Staff