Semester Two Examinations

Semester Exams commence Wednesday of Week 4 for Year 10 and start Monday Week 6 for Year 9.  A copy of their examination timetable has been provided below; students also received a hard copy in Mentor.  Families are encouraged to put the timetable up in a public location in the home so they are aware of what exams their child(ren) will be completing on each day.  Notifications for the examinations should be coming out to students in hard copy and email.

Students and parents/carers are reminded of the assessment policy – absence from exams.  Appropriate documentation (including the assessment variation form – Years 9 and 10 and supporting documentation such as doctors certificate for Year 10) to support any absence on the day of an exam is required in Stage 5.  Please refer to the school website for more information or contact the Leader of Learning or myself with any questions.

Study Techniques and Mindfulness

A recent podcast I listened to by an American neuroscientist Andrew Huberman on Optimal Protocols for Studying and Learning (Huberman Lab) highlighted five important strategies that your child(ren) may implement leading up to their assessment period:

• Schedule time to focus
• Remove distractions
• Isolate or study alone
• Teach others
• Have an aspiration goal

The podcast also highlighted the importance of mindful meditation.  For some students, ‘meditating’ can be too much particularly for longer periods of time.  An easy strategy was to start with short 5 min meditating moments where your child may keep eyes open and focus on one image/landscape.  As their mind wanders, they should calmly bring their mind back to the focused point (image/landscape) and continue focusing on this.  This skill can be built up over time but may have positive outcome of improving focus during an examination.

Warm regards,

Leticia Wakely, Assistant Principal Teaching and Learning