“We must do all that we can to give our children the best in education and social upbringing – for while they are the youth of today, they shall be the leaders of tomorrow.” – John F. Kennedy.

This coming Monday, the annual Leadership Handover Assembly will mark our transition to the new student leaders of St Catherine’s School. This is an important milestone for our Year 11 and 12 students, as we thank and congratulate the Year 12 Captains and welcome the incoming 2019 Captains and Year 11 cohort to the role of School leadership. This is their opportunity to bring forward ideas, inspire and motivate their peers, support others and demonstrate a willingness to accept responsibility. Congratulations to the following students:

School Captains   
Georgina Cottrill
Kavina Kalaichelvam

Student Executive
Hope Kudelka
Emily Sutherland
Clementine Aston
Annelise Cody

Art and Design
Lucy Gray
Lulu Murrell

Boarding House
Ying (Stella) Liu
Flynn O’Brien

Community Service 
Chloe Manson

Cultural Diversity
Yuwei (Sophie) Ying

Debating and Public Speaking
Sophie Turnbull
Gabriella Tymms

Drama                        
Grace Lloyd

Music Choral
Madison Hunt

Music Instrumental  
Olivia Soong Zi Yuan

Spirit and Wellbeing
Adrianna Chai

Sport
Celia Cody
Nikita Taylor

House Beaulieu Blair
Clementine Aston
Elspeth Cannon

House Davis
Annelise Cody
Samantha Osborn

House Holmes Kilbride
Harriette Dryden
Eve Rayner

House Langley Templeton
Hope Kudelka
Emily Sutherland

On behalf of the School community, I thank Stephanie Ferrali and Annabelle Motteram for their leadership this year as School Captains. This is a significant undertaking in Year 12, keeping in balance one’s academic studies, a commitment to co-curricular pursuits and the leadership responsibilities that come with such an important role. Stephanie and Annabelle have always adopted a very friendly approach and demonstrated School pride, School spirit and an understanding of the essence of being a St Catherine’s student. They have been well supported by an outstanding cohort of Year 12 girls; their commitment, energy and motivation has been felt by all. Their success as leaders has inspired others to participate, collaborate and be fully immersed in the life of the School.

Over the course of the September break, our focus remains firmly with our Year 12 students as they enter the final phase of their VCE Exam preparations. The Nicholas Library will remain open every day throughout the term break, offering students a quiet place to study. A number of subject tutorials will be held over the course of the break with trial exams commencing in the second week. I encourage students to strike a balance of enjoying a restful break, maintaining a healthy level of exercise and nutrition and developing an earnest study schedule.

With the considerable study and examination period commencing shortly for our Year 12 students, I thought it timely to reiterate some constructive tips for effective study. The following advice is provided by Melbourne psychologist Andrew Fuller who presented at the Parent Seminar – Girls Talk: Raising Confident, Courageous Girls on Monday 27 August. I encourage parents to continue conversations with their daughters about how they are approaching their study and use Andrew’s tips as your reference.

  1. Study in silence

This is the single most powerful way to increase your marks. No texting, music or computer screens. Outcomes improve when you practise in the same conditions you want to perform in. In the exam room there won’t be music, mobile phones or computer screens.

  1. Organise and transform the information you want to learn

Just reading your notes over and over again does not really work. Your memory stores information best when you organise or transform it. This means organising your notes so that the main idea is highlighted on each page. Then take your notes and turn them into a flow chart or a mind map or see if you can fit them to a song you know well or make it into a sound recording. The more times you can transform and re-organise the information, the more firmly it is remembered.

  1. Put off pleasurable activities until work is done

This is a painful one but if you play computer games before you get down to studying, the levels of dopamine in your brain lessen and you will lose the drive and motivation you need to study effectively. Work first, play later.

  1. Talk yourself through the steps involved

One of the things that highly successful students do is to explain out loud to themselves the steps involved in completing a task. This applies to every subject area. By saying out loud, “First I have to do…. Then I have to do….” and so on, any part that you are uncertain about becomes clear and you can then use this to guide where you need to do more.

  1. Ask for help

Teachers want their students to be interested and to do well. You will be amazed if you ask a question how many other people do not understand it either. If you are really scared about asking questions in class, have a private conversation with your teacher about this.

  1. Write and re-write key points

Writing the main points of the area you are learning helps you to remember them. If you can add in re-organising and transforming them into different formats (drawings, flow chats and podcasts) that makes it even more powerful.

  1. Make lists and set priorities

Make a “to-do” list each week. Write down in your diary the most important things to be done in each subject. High scoring students do a little bit on each subject a lot rather than doing a lot of work on one subject every so often. If you are doing subjects that involve presenting a folio or preparing a presentation, it is still important to do work on the other subject areas.

  1. Keep a record of how much study you have done

It increases motivation when we can tick things off lists and when we can see how much we have done.

  1. Test yourself

Your memory and understanding is strengthened when you create tests for yourself. Give yourself a test each week for the rest of the year so you can focus more time on learning the parts you do not fully understand or recall. Your practice tests should replicate the exam in length, environment and format. For example, if you have to write a 250 word response – then practise this in a timed trial.

  1. Set study times

Decide when you are most alert and set aside some time at that time of day to study. If you wait until you are in the right mood before beginning to study, you may wait forever. There are no exams scheduled at 9.00pm – so do not study at this time of the day. Be mindful of your body clock – maintain a school routine.

  1. Exercise

Memories seem to be strengthened when you do some exercise about four hours after a study session. Exercise also lowers your stress levels.

  1. Lower your stress levels

The biggest barrier to getting good marks is not your brain; it is your stress levels.

Clock On

Over the course of Term 4, students can take advantage of the Clock On supervised ‘timed tasks/exam’ sessions held in the Upper Library each week. Sessions will commence at 3.30pm and conclude at 5.30pm

As the girls have been made aware, completing practice exams is an important part of their preparation for the upcoming VCE exams. It is imperative that students sitting exams this coming November are well rehearsed.

Specifically, students will need to be able to:

  • Sit in an exam environment and sustain effort for a long period of time.
  • Manage one’s time effectively during the exam.
  • Write with pen on paper and not get tired!
  • Learn to be relaxed and confident in an exam environment.
  • Develop an increased resilience to cope with the demands of exams.

The School will be conducting practice exam sessions in the Upper Library, every week until the start of the final exams period.

  • Sessions will commence at 3.30pm and conclude at 5.30pm on scheduled week days (day two and nine on the Senior School timetable) and Saturdays from 10.00am until 2.00pm.
  • Girls will need to come to the exam on time and ready to ‘Clock On’.
  • They will bring the practice paper along with the same materials required for exams later in November.
  • The Clock On sessions will be supervised by Senior staff and strict exam rules will apply.
  • It will be expected that girls attending these sessions will start on time and will not leave until 5.30pm.

Regular practice of exams under exam conditions will be of great benefit as the girls move into the final weeks of their School journey. Making the most of every opportunity will ensure they are as well prepared as they can possibly be. Completing at least one practice exam per week might just make the difference in achieving their goals at the end of the year.

Term 4 Date Saver for Senior School

Years 7 to 12 Annual Speech Night at the Melbourne Recital Centre on Friday 23 November 2018.

Michelle Carroll

Mrs Michelle Carroll