Whilst we received our NAPLAN results for our current Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 cohorts in July, the government is only this week releasing the State and National results, which will allow us to compare our students’ rankings with their peers across the state and country. We have seen some excellent early indicators from the individual data already provided and more detailed analysis of our results will be forthcoming, once we have had a chance to do some analysis and comparison.
It must be noted that VCAA have altered the Grading bands for NAPLAN this year, moving from 10 bands to four Proficiency Levels, therefore comparative growth data with previous NAPLAN results from 2021 is not available this year, but will be available for students who are tested in 2025. For further information about these changes, click here
We have farewelled our Year 12s from Tintern and they are now preparing for the final examinations. VCE examinations already are underway in Term 4, with practical examinations in music, drama, theatre studies and oral languages commencing on Monday 2 October and our students’ written examinations commencing with English and EAL on Tuesday 24 October. We wish all of our Unit 4 students continued good health and focussed study time over the coming weeks.
This also is a busy time for our Years 10 to 11 students, as they prepare for the upcoming brief examination period, from 21-24 November and our Year 9s, who will be having examinations from 23-24 November prior to attending their Summer Expeditions from 27 November. We trust all students will do their best and take away as much learning as possible from the outcomes of this period.
Our ongoing portal-based progressive reporting system continues to make visible class results and detailed feedback to students and parents in Years 7 to 12. This allows parents to access current data on the progress of their children in all of their academic studies at any time. Through the school’s Portal interface our staff are able to provide gradings for tasks, and also include formative comments, giving feedback on the level of achievement, areas for improvement and strategies to achieve those improvements. These regular updates and more expansive feedback on individual assessments have kept parents of our Years 7-12 students better informed of their child’s progress throughout 2023 and provided occasions for more timely and useful reflections, regular conversations and opportunities for goal setting between parents, students and staff. The Years 7-11 end-of-semester reports will be a composite of these Progressive Reporting Assessment Tasks (PRATs), with the aforementioned gradings and comments, alongside gradings for behavioural indicators.
Please note: Monday 27 November is a non-school day for Years 7 to 11 students, allowing staff time to correct exams and tests and to write reports. Tuesday 28 November is Exam hand back Day for Years 10 and 11. Our current Years 10 and 11 students then will be involved in their 2024 Conferences from Wednesday 29 November to Friday 1 December. Year 9s will have exams handed back on Monday 4 December, upon their return from their Summer Expeditions. Years 7 and 8 will continue regular 2023 classes until Friday 1 December.
Our Transition period into the 2024 timetable for students currently in Years 7 to 11 will commence on Monday 4 December.
Some subjects (particularly VCE) will commence a unit of 2024 work during the Transition period whilst others will consolidate units of work and prepare for next level studies. It is, therefore, imperative that students attend and continue to maintain their focus for this period immediately after the examination/testing sessions. All students in Years 7 to 11 will continue with their transition classes through to the last day of term, Monday 11 December.
Alison Bezaire | Director of Studies
