Over the last two weeks students have been making decisions about their subject choices for 2018. There have been presentations to students at various levels and many students have been asking lots of questions.

In terms of decision making, students need to be aware that choices for Year 11 can have an impact on what they do for year 12 and beyond. For example, if I was interested in studying Pharmaceutical Science at the University of SA then I would need to study Biology or Physics or Chemistry at Year 12 (as it is a prerequisite for the course), which in turn means I would need to have studied one of these at Year 11 level as well.

Students who are choosing to study a year 12 subject ahead of time, there is a process that occurs after the online subject selections. Once the subject choices are in then students will be issued with a form where they will need to explain why they are wanting to do the subject, and then gain approval from their subject teacher, and the relevant Head of Faculty, as well as parent permission. This is important as we want all students to do the very best and not just do a subject because they think that they have to.

Many students ask me about scaling of subjects. The reason for scaling of subjects is to create fairness across all subject areas in calculating an ATAR. The universities use this to help calculate a university aggregate and this is converted to an ATAR. Please see the following page for more information. There is also a video provided for more information.

http://www.satac.edu.au/scaling

Over week 5, 6 and 7 students will be participating in the second PIVOT survey for the year. This survey is based around five of the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) standards and students will complete the survey on each of their teachers, for each of their classes. Feedback is important to us around our teaching and learning as this means we are able to act on the results and provide better learning opportunities for all.

Important events that are coming up:

Parent Teacher Interviews next Monday and Wednesday night for year 7 -11.

Subject choices are due in on August 17 – if you need any help or information about the process, then please feel free to contact me

Teresa Hanel
Deputy Principal – Teaching and Learning