As we approach the mid-year break, it is pleasing to note that students have well and truly settled back to the normal routine of school. I think that the timing of the break is almost perfect as everyone appears to be running out of steam after the upheavals of the past 6 months. Hopefully, everyone will be able to relax and recharge over the holidays.

Next term, we will be finalising subject selections for 2021 for our Year 10 into 11 students and the electives choices for next year's Year 9 and Year 10 students. As part of this process, we run a Curriculum Expo evening to highlight the subjects we will be offering for students in 2021. The evening will provide an opportunity to visit curriculum stalls, discuss NSW Education Standards (NESA) requirements, investigate Vocational Education and Training opportunities and find out about possible Distance Education courses. Each family will also receive a Curriculum Handbook that provides a wealth of details about each course on offer in 2021.

The evening will be held on July 28 from 6 pm.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Expo will only be open to Year 10 students and one parent per family. We will take our Year 8 students to the Expo the following morning so they can learn about the Elective choices that are available to them for 2021. Year 9 students have already undergone this process, so we will meet with them separately to discuss their choices and run through the process. Any new students to the College are more than welcome to join us at the Expo.

After the Expo, students will be sent a link to submit their choices to an online subject selection portal. These will be due at the end of Week 3. From the students' choices, the College uses a computer program to prioritise the subjects that accomodate most student preferences and then formulate the timetable lines for 2021. It is important that students select their most preferred subjects. The way the computer program works is that it looks at the order of preference for each subject selected by all students and then generates the list of subjects that will suit the majority of students. We offer more subjects than we can actually offer, so it is the students' choices that determine the final timetable. This means that some students may not receive all their preferences and will then need to re-select from the final list.

Year 12 students should ensure they use the holiday break to continue their preparation for their Trial HSC exams in Weeks 5 & 6 of Term 3. These exams carry significant weightings for the students' overall School Assessment Mark, so any improvement in their performance, will be very beneficial. See the link to the Trial Exam timetable in this newsletter.

John O’Neill
Assistant Principal
Curriculum and Achievement

Please find below the link for 2020 HSC Trial dates.