Year 12 Meet Teacher Night

YEAR 12

PARENT INFORMATION BOOKLET

2018

p: 8398 6000

senior school student reception: 8398 6014

absentee line: 8398 6080

f: 8398 6098

e:

w: cornerstone.sa.edu.au

Welcome to Year 12.

This is an exciting year as your child completes their studies at Cornerstone College. We look forward to working in partnership with you throughout the year to assist the students to reach their full potential and successfully prepare for the next stage of their lives.

This booklet provides information on a range of matters, including SACE requirements andavenues for further support.

May God bless you and yourchild as you begin this exciting journey.

CURRICULUM

Subjects

Students will be studying a variety of subjects. All students aiming to achieve their SACE will complete the Research Project and four Stage 2 subjects or threeStage 2 subjects and a vocational course.

Christian Living

As a Lutheran college, the opportunity to continue to explore spiritual matters is an important part of our education. Therefore, all Year 12 students are expected to attend Christian Living lessons.

This term, the Year 12s are completing their Legacy Project, which is designed to give students an opportunity to give back to the college. There are ten projects that students have chosen from, based on their strengths and interests.

In Terms 2 and 3, students will attend various seminars based on topics they have chosen. These seminars are designed to allow students to deepen their knowledge in an area of interest.

Students willalso have a supervised study lesson with their Christian Living teacher to support the development of deeper relationships between the teacher and their class. In addition to students’ Home Group teacher and House Leader, the Christian Living teacher becomes a further adult with whom your child may wish to discuss issues.

Study lessons

The following information has been provided to students regarding protocols for study lessons.

• Most Year 12s will have one afternoon as a flexi study lesson. Students may leave campus or study at school during this time. Students leaving the campus are asked to sign out at student reception prior to leaving, while those staying on campus must report to room AN101 in the first instance.
• Students undertaking VET, TAFE, Open Access or Marden’s Elite Athletes program will have extra supervised study lessons in AN101. Students who have extra double study lessons in the afternoon may sign out and leave campus. If students remain at school to study, then it is expected that they will be in the study room.

• Students are expected to be at school for Home Group every day.Students with an off-campus day for VET/TAFE are the only exception.In the unlikely event that a VET day is cancelled, the affected VET students are expected to attend Home Group and all other scheduled classes.
• Students with study lessons at the beginning of the day are expected at school for Home Group.Any exceptions to this rule must be individually negotiated with Mrs Sampson.
• Christian Living/study block: Christian Living teachers will explain to students how this time is to be used. Students are to attend bothof these lessons every week.
• Most students have no more than four study lessons on their timetable.

If there are more, one of the following should apply:

1. Studying a subject via Open Access College
2. Undertaking a VET or a TAFE course
3. Studying SACE part-time

Continuous Reporting

This year staff will be submitting all summative assessment results and feedback onto Charis for students and parents to track. With up to date information throughout the semester, parents can regularly log in to see how their child is progressing, rather than waiting for phone calls or end of term reports. For that reason there will be two written reports this year for all year levels, including Year 12.

Reports

Year 12 students will receive two Cornerstone College reports.

• Endof Term 2 – Progress report
• End of Term 3 – Progress report

Please note: There will not be a Term 4 report as students receive their final results direct from the SACE Board in December. If eligible, students receive their ATAR from SATAC at the same time.

Teacher feedback

Staff place a high priority on providing students with effective and timely feedback. Thecollege’s guidelines for Year 12 teachers are as follows:

• Tests and small assignments – are to be returned within 1 week
• Large assignments, exams and investigations – are to be returned within 2 weeks.

Major pieces of work in some subjects may need a slightly longer timeframe, but 2-3 weeks is still a reasonable expectation for work to be returned to students.

Drafting

Teachers are committed to providing students with feedback on large assignments prior to final submission of the piece of work. In order for teachers to provide timely advice to a whole class, it is necessary for the teacher to set timelines. It is expected that students will meet the timelines presented by the teacher.Teachers will set and monitor checkpoints for completion of large tasks. Teachers cannot guarantee that drafts submitted at the last minute will be returned with feedback prior to the submission date.

Some subjects have rules and/or guidelines outlined by the SACE Board regarding the number of times teachers may provide feedback on student drafts.Teachers are expected to follow the SACE rules and recommendations. This will be made clear to students in relevant subject information.

SACE INFORMATION

SACE website - www.sace.sa.edu.au

Many useful documents for students and parents are located on the SACE website, in the Learning tab, Learning Areas, under each subject. These include:

• Subject outlines - contains content to be learned and the details of assessment tasks.
• Chief Assessor’s Report/Subject Assessment Advice - written for each subject about the previous year’s results. It gives good information about what good student work will look like in the subject and outlines common errors made by students.
• Examples of student work - may assist students to understand what is required of them in a particular assessment piece.

Students can log onto the website to:

• Check their SACE enrolments and completion pattern
• To obtain their results.

Special Provisions

Special Provisions are provided to students who, due to illness or other serious unforeseen circumstances such as a death in the family, find it difficult to complete the course requirements in the given timeframe.

Special provisions may cover:

• Missing assessments or lessons, due to short-term illness
• Difficulty or significant changes in family circumstances
• Chronic illness
• Bereavement or misadventure (for example house fire).

Special provisions do not cover:

• Work missed due to family holidays or part-time work commitments
• Work lost due to computer or storage device (egUSB) crashing.

School Assessments: special provisions are managed by the school for all school assessmentsin accordance with the SACE guidelines. For example, the school can discuss with the student the possibility of extending internal timelines if the student has been ill for a period of time. We strongly advise that students who are ill for more than one day obtain a medical certificate from a health care professional.

External Assessments: Special provisions requested for exams or submission of major external pieces of work, are managed by the SACE Board. This process requires substantial documentation and will be coordinated by the school.

Contact the subject teacher, Julie Sampson or Tony Moffa to discuss situations which may involve special provisions.

SUPPORT AVAILABLE

Support for students

The first port of call for support during the year continues to be your child’s Home Group teacher/s, assisted by the relevant House Leader. Further specialist support is available from the members of staff listed in this booklet.

Regular support sessions available to Year 12 students

• Maths Support will occurat lunchtime, once a week, in Anakalypsi with Mr Murphy.Details will be in Student Notices. Many individual maths teachers will also facilitate support sessions throughout the year.
• Homework Club is offeredMondays to Thursdays, in PA206from 3.30pm – 4.30pm. Homework Club provides homework/after school study support for all students. Senior students benefit from the supported study hour to assist them in areas such as essay and assignment planning, and research skills. Contact Ms Natasha Cass at r further information and an enrolment form. The enrolment form will need to be completed prior to attending.

Contacting teachers

Teachers are happy for parents to email them and will provide those contact details in sessions tonight. Please allow 24-48 hours for a response as staff have busy days teaching and some staff are part-time and not on campus every day. If a matter is urgent and requires a faster response, please phone the College on 8398 6000.

Careers Information

The Careers Team meets with all Year 12 students at various times throughout the year, including one-on-one interviews. There is a special focus in Term 3 to discuss timelines and processes for applications to University, TAFE SA and other training providers.

During Term 3, Cornerstone will host the Adelaide Hills Careers Expo on Tuesday, 31 July 6.00–8.00pm. Over 60 organisations, including employers, universities, TAFE SA, Defence Force Recruiting, apprenticeship training organisations and others will be in attendance. There will also be a short presentation on the process for applying for university and TAFE courses.

Specific information for students,that aligns with their career ideas, is regularly distributed via email. For example, apprenticeship opportunities; or for those students who have indicated that they are considering applying for Medicine/Dental Surgery and Oral Health, up-to-date information is provided regarding preparation workshops and the process to sit UMAT.

Please note the following 2018 dates for events that Year 12 students are encouraged to attend:

Sun 8 & Mon 9 AprilTertiary Studies and Careers Expo, Adelaide Convention Centre

Fri 25 & Sat 26 MayCareers and Employment Expo, Adelaide Showground

Tues 31 JulyAdelaide Hills Careers Expo hosted at Cornerstone College6.00pm – 8.00pm

Fri10– Sun12AugustOpenDays - Universities, Tabor, TAFE SA, other training organisations

The Careers Team are keen to support parents. They are available for appointmentsand can be contacted by phone or email. In addition, participating in a Career Information for Parents workshop may help you support your child with their career decision making. Research tells us that parents want to help their children with career decisions, but only 20% of parents feel they have sufficient knowledge to do this. Our Careers Counsellor, Virginia Gare, will be running parent workshops on the evenings of Tuesday 3 April, Wednesday 13 June and Thursday 16 August. These will be advertised in connections and parents must register to attend.

Other supports

Many websites have useful resources for parents of teens as well as students. Topics covered by websites include study skills and time management through to maintaining a healthy work life balance. For example:

NON-ACADEMIC PURSUITS

Extra-curricular activities

Year 12students are strongly encouraged to become involved in activities around the college. While it is important to keep a balance with their studies, Year12students are important leaders and mentors for the rest of the student community.

Opportunities exist for students to be involved in various Year 12 committees, knock-out sport andmusic programs, as well as environmental groups and chess.

Part-timeemployment

Students undertaking paid part-time work in Year 12 is an increasingly common concern for parents. As each student will cope differently with the demands of Year 12, there is no definitive answer to the question ‘How much paid work is too much?’.

A student can certainly manage Year 12 and a part-time job, however, anymore than 10-12 hours per week is believed to impact their studies. In determining an appropriate amount of work for your child, it may help to discuss the following:

• Is your child completing all set homework and assessment items on time?
• Is your child happy going to work?
• Does your child have flexibility in the hours they are expected to work?
• Is the employer supportive of employees who are studying?
• Will the employer accept that there are times in the year when your child may not be able to work at all for a period of time?
• Does the employer expect your child to work late night shifts during the week?

The issues associated with part-time employment and study are addressed by some of the support websites listed above.

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Whotocontact?Curriculum and SACEenquiries

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Tony Moffa

Senior School Learning Leader

Available for overall curriculum queries

Subjectcounselling

Open AccessCollege

Julie Sampson

Curriculum Director

Available for overall curriculum queries

Subjectcounselling

Open AccessCollege

Mike Litchfield

SACE Coordinator

SACEcompletion

Subjectenrolments

Specialprovisions

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Pathways and careers enquiries

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Anthony Doyle

Pathways Coordinator

VET and TAFEpathways

WorkplaceLearning

Career Counselling

Tertiary Scholarships

Helen Mason and Virginia Gare Careers Counsellors

Careercounselling

Tertiary applications andinformation

Tertiary Scholarships

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Whotocontact?Pastoral Care enquiries

Your child’s HomeGroupteacherFirst point of contact Your child’sHouseLeader Further support ifneeded

Wellbeing/counselling enquiries

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Justin Kerber

Senior School Wellbeing

Behaviour & relationship management

Non-curriculum based programs (eg student drivers, Year 12 formal)

Katy Walker

Counsellor

Available for counselling support

Links with other staff and community agencies

Matt Schirmer

Counsellor

Available for counselling support

Links with other staff and community agencies

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WRITTEN EXAMINATIONS TIMETABLE FOR 2018

EXTERNAL ASSESSMENT

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To the students, compiled over many years by Mr Gallasch 

MAKING THE MOST OF YEAR 12

Who thinks this is the most important year of your life?

There is no such thing as a ‘most important’ year of someone’s life. They are all important – usually in different ways.

Through your whole life there will always be opportunities to:

• Restart
• Change options
• Rethink choices
• Determine your destiny

HOWEVER, as far as your short-term future is concerned, this year is important!

So what can you do to make the most of this year?

We have 8 suggestions.

1. SLEEP ENOUGH – research has shown that adolescents need 9 hours sleep per night to function optimally, and that an adolescent’s sleeping rhythms are later than for other people (they function best between 10am – 10pm). This presents a challenge when you stay up late and you have to get up early to go to school!!!

You can’t bank sleep – 10 hours one night does not mean you can cope with 6 hours the next.

1. STUDY SMART

• have a good study environment – quiet, comfortable, well-lit, good temperature, room to spread out
• remove distractions- turn off TV, mobile, facebook, twitter, YouTube…
• use music wisely – choose familiar music with a steady beat, limited lyrics and a background volume
• use aromas – olfactory nerve is linked to the hippocampus where memories are integrated – lemon, basil, rosemary
• recognise when you procrastinate (what do you do to avoid study? – watch TV, communicate with friends, listen to music, eat, work, go out, ...)
• understand your procrastination style

1. CHILL OUT - develop ways to help you de-stress

• Exercise – go for a walk, jog, stretch
• Do a household chore
• Chat with a friend
• Playing computer games
• Watch a funny movie
• Eat a piece of fruit
• Use relaxationtechniques
  

1. EAT WELL

• eat a decent breakfast
• protect your immunity – Vitamin A, zinc
• avoid lots of fatty food – it takes longer to digest and takes blood away from your brain (nibble on fruit/veg/nuts/grains)
• moderate your sugar and alcohol intake – avoid binges
• drink plenty of water

1. SEEK BALANCE – it is not easy nor always desirable to be balanced, but it is important to move through a balance point regularly.

• have some enjoyable extra-curricular activities
• socialise regularly
• keep part-time work in moderation (<10hrs/week)
• study enough
• have some quiet personal time / exercise

• be prepared to be temporarily out of balance

1. USE TEACHERS – your teachers are on your side

• seek their help in and out of class
• use them as support
• be open with them about your needs/fears/doubts

1. REVISE REGULARLY –knowledge/information/understanding needs to be reinforced often

• make a list of what you need to know and what you need to do
• identify gaps in your knowledge
• revise in short periods rather than big blocks
• find a quiet place
• don’t just read or write out notes – incorporate other senses – use colour, patterns, pictures, sound
• touching the palm of your hand after learning and when trying to remember a piece of information
• wearing a particular essential oil while revising a particular subject can aid recall if you wear the same oil while completing your exam
• discipline yourself to revise regularly
• avoid cramming new information just before a test or exam – reinforce familiar concepts and facts

1. SMILE OFTEN – have a sense of humour!

• laugh at yourself sometimes
• seek out humour
• when you begin to worry, ask yourself if ‘this’ will still be a concern in a year’s time

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