FROM THE ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL

Year 10: Subject Selections for next year’s Year 11 2024

Subject Selections for Year 11 2024 have commenced with a Parent Information Session held last Tuesday and students attending a subject market where they spoke with current Year 11 students about their subjects.

Today we held interviews with all current Year 10 Hennessy students and their parents. This was a great opportunity for them to ask questions so that everyone understands all the relevant requirements and pathways of study.

Academic Concerns

As of this term in an effort to increase awareness of how all students are working in all subjects we have added an Academic Concern template in COMPASS for staff to report on any student who is not working to potential or is disrupting the learning of others in the class . Each entry will attract a -1 and if a student gets to -3 an email will be sent to parents and carers to inform them that their child is not working to potential and/or  needs to improve their application in class and maximise their learning without disrupting the learning of others. This email is to start a discussion with your child and also acts to keep parents informed. Classroom teachers will also continue to be in contact with parents if there is an issue in their class. Finally a -4 will result in an interview with myself, student and parents/carers with the aim of working out a plan for the student to achieve their best in all lessons.

Compass points in the academic concern template will be reset at the start of each term allowing for a fresh start.

Homework

There is a bit of a misconception that we do not give homework at Hennessy. Thinking back to when you and I were school students last century, we might remember our teachers setting homework. Sometimes this homework formed parts of the curriculum that were not covered in class. Sometimes, failure to complete the homework resulted in a punishment of some sort. Both of these approaches produced inequity, because it assumed that all students’ homelife was equal. We are aware that in our context, not all students have access to the same amount of time to complete homework. Some of our students spend large amounts of time travelling to and from school. Some students have after-school responsibilities. To navigate these issues, Hennessy encourages students to approach their homework in a way that best suits them. Students should aim to read at home - ideally 20 minutes per day. They can read school texts, or material of their choosing. The library has many books that students can borrow. Students also have access to online learning platforms to help develop their skills: Education Perfect, Stile and Mathspace contain modules that help develop literacy and numeracy skills. For instance, the “Skills” section of Mathspace offers students with questions that adapt to student strengths and weaknesses. So, students are encouraged to view their homework as an opportunity to develop their core skills.

ANDREW MORTON   

Assistant Principal - Teaching and Learning

FROM THE DIRECTOR OF STUDIES

SAVE THE DATE

Year 7-11 Parent-Student-Teacher Conferences are in Week 3

When: Thursday 3rd August

• Face-to-face: 8am-1pm Conferences will be available in person at Hennessy.
• Online: 2pm-6pm Conferences will be conducted online via Microsoft Teams. Links will be posted on the morning of the interviews. 

Bookings open Monday! So, get ready to select a time slot that suits your schedule or preferred mode of communication.

Please note, Year 12 students have normal classes that day and are not expected to make interview bookings, due to the Year 12 conference session that was conducted in May.

IAN MERGARD 
Director of Studies