Category: 2022

As you are aware Government COVID Regulations require that parents do not come on campus at present. We are pleased to be able to hold Student-Parent-Teacher Interviews for Year 12 students in an online platform, and these will be held as planned on Monday 14 March, commencing at 4:00pm. This is an opportunity for you to discuss your child’s progress with their teachers. Interviews are 10 minutes long and there will be sessions from: 4:00pm – 8:00pm. We encourage students to be present with you to participate in the interview.

The interviews will be held online using your child’s Microsoft Teams account. At the time of your booked interviews, you need to have logged into the Teams Application using your child’s login details (we recommend that you use the App, and not the web based interface). You will be called by each teacher via Teams at your nominated interview time. Please enable both the video and microphone functions in the Teams ‘Calls’ tab. Please be aware that teachers will need to keep the interview strictly to the time allocated so that they can call the next family, and will be using their device clock which is centrally synced.

When booking, please check your child’s timetable in SEQTA for the subjects taught by each available teacher. To book your interview time please go to: Parent Portal

Then:

• Plan the Term > Select Interview Booking
• Login to EdInfo (Simply select login)
• Select Interviews
• Select Student from the drop down menu
• Select available appointment time
• Print Timetable

Your username and password for the bookings is the same as you use for applications accessible through the portal i.e. SEQTA. If you have forgotten your username or password, please submit a ticket at:  ICT Help

You will notice that some staff have an additional time slot available during the week; this is for teachers with a large number of Year 12 students.  Year 12 students will be attending school during the week, so instead of calling your child’s Teams account for one of these mid-week meetings, the teacher will call the mobile phone of the parent who is listed first in SEQTA and hold a phone interview.

Please note that bookings will close on 13 March at 4pm. If you are unable to book a time slot with a teacher, please contact the teacher via email.

Thank you for your support as we navigate through the challenges of this year together as a community.

 

Dear Parents and Guardians

A big part of St Stephen’s School’s holistic education is about preparing our students for the world beyond School. Whether it be via an academic pathway or vocational route, we work closely with each student to understand their interests and strengths and guide them toward success.

Last year we reached out to our parent community asking for support with our Career Expo, Career Conversations and Work Experience and many of you volunteered your time and expertise, which was fantastic. I would like to extend the same invitation again this year. Would you be willing to be involved any of the following:

• Presenting to a group of students about your job/industry
• Providing Work Experience placements for our students – one day a week or a one week placement
• Chatting to students about your career pathway at our Career Conversations event in November

Specific details are included below. If you would like to volunteer to be involved in any of the above, or would like to chat about any further opportunities for our students, please get in touch with our Careers Adviser, Sarah Cooke at sarah.cooke@ststephens.wa.edu.au. We would love to hear from you.

Regards

Dr Darnelle Pretorius

Head of Campus

Y10 undertaking a marine epifauna study to classify marine organisms. Most students discovered at least one organism they had never seen before!

 

Wednesday we snorkelled at Mettams Pool with both our Y12 General and ATAR students and got to see an octopus, nudibranch (little colourful sea slug) and had beautiful conditions to practice our skills!

Courtney Wood

Teacher – Science and Learning Enrichment

 

Having run over 5000 study skills seminars over the last 20 years, Dr Prue Salter has been asked many questions about study skills. Below are the top 5 questions parents ask.

 

1. How much learning should students be doing each night?

Different schools will have different expectations, but the general guidelines are that junior students should be doing around 1 hour of self-learning most nights, seniors between 2-3 hours most nights.

 

2. But what if students say they have no homework?

In Primary school, students are used to just doing the work their teacher specifically tells them to do. Many students do not realise that things should be different in secondary school; there are actually two types of learning students should be doing. The first is compulsory work such as homework, assignments, and preparing for tests. The second type of work is independent learning work. If students have no homework that night, they are expected to undertake some independent learning in secondary school. This could be reviewing what they have learnt that week, making a mind map, reading ahead, researching an area of interest, making study notes or reviewing difficult concepts.

 

3. Can you listen to music while studying?

The general rule is that if students are undertaking learning that is not difficult, it is OK to listen to music. It makes them feel relaxed, makes them feel like the time is going quicker. However, if they are doing work that requires intense concentration or memorisation, it is best to switch the music off (or else have slower music with no vocals such as classical musical) as otherwise it will take them much longer to absorb and learn the information.

 

4. Is it OK for students to do work with devices or in front of the TV?

Unless students are doing something mindless like sticking things on a poster or colouring in, it is best not to do work in front of any devices such as phones or TV. Instead, students should do their home learning in an environment that is as distraction-free as possible. It works well if students do their learning in distinct blocks of time and remove all distractions during those blocks. Some students find they have the self-discipline to manage technological distractions, others need a helping hand – such as their phone in a different room for the half-hour period where they are focusing on schoolwork.

 

5. How do I stop my student getting distracted when working on the computer?

Have a discussion with students about doing schoolwork in focused blocks of time so that they can really enjoy their time away from the books (or computer). If students find it challenging to be disciplined, they can also look at self-blocking software such as Self Control (MAC) and Cold Turkey (PC). If students are still struggling, parental management programs such as Family Zone allow families to block particular sites at particular times.

Parents and students can learn more about studying efficiently and effectively by working through the units on www.studyskillshandbook.com.au.