SEQTA – WHAT TO EXPECT AND SOME GUIDELINES

January 28, 2020

Dear Parents

SEQTA is an amazing tool for schools and I would encourage both students and parents to check it regularly.

Please note that SEQTA is a resource to supplement teaching NOT an online substitute for the relationship between a teacher and student. Your child spends 320 minutes a day in personal contact with their teachers – and your child has every opportunity to receive help, ask questions and take ownership of their work. I would encourage parents to grow the independence of their children rather than to expect SEQTA to be the prime source of information.

SEQTA is a great insight for parents – but again, the conversations that are then initiated between parents, teacher and student are of the most value. I would encourage parents and students and ensure that they are aware of the documents attached to each course: course outlines, assessment schedules and other resources are available in SEQTA for reference, saving or printing at any time. I would also encourage parents to ask for help and to keep an eye out for the SEQTA information evenings which are often run at the start of each year.

Teachers will on occasion deviate from their teaching plan because students may require extra time for understanding and consolidation. That is part of good teaching and might disrupt a plan previously put in place.  We all know that parents and teachers constantly adapt as the needs of children evolve. Individual teachers will decide the format or formats for the submission of work – sometime these may be in hard copy, sometimes they might be uploaded to SEQTA, emailed or handed in on USB. This will depend on the nature of the task and the format the teacher feels is best. Teachers are striving to meet the expectations below. Some teachers already exceed these and use SEQTA very extensively. The expectations below are our target and while many staff will go beyond these, staff are not expected to.

Cover Page

The purpose of the cover page is to contain an overview of the course. It should be an easy reference for information about the entire year of work. It contains a copy (or a link) to the assessment schedule, program and syllabus. It contains the school Assessment Policy.

For Certificate subjects: The Cover Page includes a paragraph explaining the four compliance requirements, Unit Delivery and Assessment Planner for the whole year, Assessment Tasks (as each is delivered), and RTO Student Handbook.

Assessments

The assessment schedule should be developed at the start of the year. Lower school students are to have the entire semester of assessments visible to parents and students. Year 11 and 12 are to have the entire year’s assessments visible. Assessment titles should include the weighting and clear labels that are succinct. Task sheet/assessment description and marking guide/rubric are to be added at an appropriate time. Marks for summative assessments should be made visible, within three weeks of the assessment being finalised. If there is more than one class, all marks are to be made visible at the same time. Exam marks are to be released at the end of the exam period. Formative assessments can be visible with a weighting of zero. Assessment feedback will be placed in the Marks Book on a regular basis.

(Lesson) Planning

Students, parents/carers and other staff should be able to see what has been planned on a week-by-week basis (as a minimum). Clarity in lesson naming is essential.

Lesson Resources

It should be clear where students can access resources and links. Students may be required to enter homework themselves on occasion.

Documents Section

This is used to store documents that parents/carers might need to access at any point of the year. Documents include anything from a Parent Information Night slide show, Curriculum Handbooks, and the Assessment Policy.

 

Dr Liz Criddle and Mr Bennet Andrews.

 

ASSESSMENT POLICY REMINDERS

January 28, 2020

Welcome to the 2020 school year, we are looking forward to an exciting and busy year ahead. Class teachers will discuss the Assessment Policy with students in class time over the coming weeks.

Parents are reminded that the school Assessment Policy, and SCSA protocols, require that a Medical Certificate is submitted to the class teacher if a student is unwell and misses an assessment. Certificates can be obtained from pharmacists not just from the doctor. Please encourage your child to be proactive – if they are not very unwell they can organise with their teacher to attend school just to sit the assessment then return home. It is important that students are not avoiding assessments, and that they are coming to school whenever possible to sit them on the scheduled day so that assessments are valid for the whole cohort. Of course, circumstances can arise where this has not been possible, please contact your child’s class teacher if this is the case.

Mobile phones should be switched off and in lockers during the school day, unless permission has been given to use them in a specific class. The Assessment Policy requires that students do not have any electronic devices on them when sitting any assessment. This is not just phones, it also includes items such as smart watches for example. Please be aware of this in encouraging your child to be responsible and to plan ahead.

The school Assessment Policy is available on the Parent Portal. Please contact the class teacher, relevant Head of Learning Area, or myself, if you have any questions. Dr Liz Criddle.

SKATING SUCCESS

December 10, 2019

A year of early morning training, dedication and long hours on the ice rink have paid off for Year 9 student Isabella Djordjevic who was chosen to compete in the National Synchronised Skating Competition in Melbourne recently. Her team Infusion Junior overcame the odds, with all bar one team member brand new to the Junior Division, to impress at the State competition and come in a close fourth in two programs on the national stage. Huge congrats Isabella – a true testament to teamwork and commitment.

FETE FUNDS

December 10, 2019

The funds raised from last year’s Fete have now been allocated and are making a difference around the Duncraig Campus. The old Primary Smartboard 680 is being replaced with new Smart Interactive Display Panels – at the Primary and ELC (with the school paying for one at Carramar). The 86-inch Ultra HD Displays include SMART Learning Suite including digital whiteboard web browser and wireless screen mirroring. They will allow the teacher to create interactive classes and cloud-based lessons across multiple devices ensuring hands-on learning through 3D interactive resources and collaborative cloud-sharing lessons.
Other exciting additions include new music stands and a trolley, which are already being enjoyed by the primary music staff and students; new Interschool sports uniforms; new art boards for better displays of our young creatives’ works and a range of new reading resources.


Our deepest thanks to the amazing Fete committee whose hard work and time continues to benefit all.

Tucker’s Last Day

December 10, 2019

This morning was Tucker’s (our Reading Dog)  last day of school for 2019 with the Year 8 English class he has been attending all year.  The students produced gratitude certificates and thank you certificates to both Tucker and Karen (owner/volunteer) as well as treating Tucker to a few doggie treats and Karen to a box of chocolates.

A big thank you to Justine Stevens for programming Tucker into her English reading lessons.  Tucker will be back with us next term to begin a new year bringing the light of reading into students’ lives at St Stephens.

Toni Mills

Learning Enrichment Curriculum Leader – Secondary Learning Enrichment

Potato Olympics 2019

December 5, 2019

Have you ever wondered: Can smaller potatoes be flung further? Are rounder potatoes better at rolling? Do lighter potatoes create less splash?

These questions and more were investigated on Tuesday afternoon, which saw the Year 7 students participate in the Potato Olympics. The triumphant return of the Potato Olympics to the Duncraig campus saw potatoes being flung, rolled, bowled and dropped – all in the name of maths! Pure spud power was used to collect authentic data and determine which potato athlete and country would fry the competition.

Jennifer Prosser

Teacher – Maths

GREEN POWER

December 4, 2019

If you thought you saw some people climbing around the roof of the ELC this week, you weren’t seeing things! St Stephen’s is going green with the installation of a 39.6kW solar system to offset our power usage. An almost 100kW system will also be installed on the Lorraine Paul Building at Duncraig shortly and an energy audit is looking at ways to minimise energy demand at Carramar.
Both systems will come with TV monitors so students and staff can monitor power generation in real time, allowing them to see our impact on the environment and how little changes can make a big difference.

MENTOR MORNING

December 3, 2019

Some familiar faces were welcomed back to our Duncraig campus for this year’s Careers Conversations breakfast! Alumni and parents of St Stephen’s School chatted to the Year 11s about their different careers and experience in the workforce, aimed to inspire our senior students who are beginning to explore career options.

PREPARING FOR THE YEAR AHEAD

December 2, 2019

Rest, relaxation, and time with family and friends is the main goal for students over the end of year holidays. However there are some things that students might like to consider doing, perhaps towards the end of the holidays, that will make their school year ahead much easier, particularly senior students.

  • Organise and rearrange your room and study space to make it a more effective learning area.
  • Sort out all of your materials for school, decide what to keep and how to organise your work and if you can improve your filing systems.
  • Set up term planners for the year so you can map put your due dates when the year starts.
  • Set up a study timetable for the year so you have clear times allocated to complete your schoolwork during the week.
  • Think about building your skills in any areas of weakness or any areas you’d like to develop new skills in like touch typing.
  • If you can find out any of the novels you will studying in the coming year, read them over the holidays.
  • For senior students consider downloading the syllabus documents for the subjects you will be studying.

Of course we also want students to refresh their mind and body, catch up on their sleep and take the time to focus on enjoying a healthy lifestyle.

You can learn more about how to be a more effective student at www.studyskillshandbook.com.au by logging in with these details:

Username: ststephens

Password: 100success

Sarah Cooke

Careers Adviser

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