Year 7, 8 and 9 Assessment Plans
Assessment in Years 7-9 is ongoing and learning growth and progress may be assessed through all or any type of class and homework tasks. Students are given multiple opportunities to display their abilities and achievement in a variety of ways. Information about the types of activities students will engage in as part of the assessment process is contained in the Years 7, 8 and 9 Assessment Plans. These Plans have been emailed to students and are available on the college website. If you have any questions about learning and assessment please contact your daughter’s class teachers.
Assessment Plans
Home learning
The beginning of the school year is a good time to revisit the College’s Home Learning Policy. Although we encourage students to persevere with tasks they find challenging, home learning should not be a source of stress for families. Students should seek the help and support of their class teachers if they are not able to complete home learning tasks in a reasonable time frame. Please spend some time discussing the value and purpose of home learning with your daughter.
Teachers at Caroline Chisholm may set home learning activities for students across all year levels. The home learning will be purposeful, linked to class learning, achievable, differentiated and engaging. Teachers will follow up to see if homework has been completed or if the home learning requires clarification or further development.
Home learning should be:
- completed in a reasonable timeframe
- rigorous
- set as required to support class learning
- linked to the syllabus outcomes
- connected to classroom learning
- challenging, engaging and achievable
- completed seriously and with effort.
When completing home learning activities, students should endeavour to complete tasks and should persist with difficult problems. Students should seek support and clarification from their teachers when they are unable to complete home learning tasks.
The following times are a guide to the amount of homework students should complete:
- Years 7-8 Approximately ½ hour per night
- Years 9-10 Up to 1 hour per night
- Years 11-12 Sufficient time for completion of assigned tasks, assessment tasks and regular review of course content and skills
No Meat at Canteen during Lent
We will not be selling meat products in the college Canteen on Ash Wednesday and Fridays in Lent. Catholics in Australia older than 14 in are only required to abstain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. On all Fridays in the year (including Fridays in Lent), Catholics are requested to perform an act of penance, which could include abstaining from eating meat. However, traditionally at the college we do not sell meat products on Ash Wednesday and any Friday in the canteen during Lent. While not a Church requirement, we would like the students to be led to think about the things that differentiate this season of the Church from other times and to focus on their preparation for the resurrection of Christ at Easter.
Ash Wednesday and Lent
Lent is a 40 day season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends at sundown on Holy Thursday. It's a period of preparation to celebrate the Lord's Resurrection at Easter. During Lent, we seek the Lord in prayer by reading Sacred Scripture, we serve by giving alms and we practiSe self-control through fasting. We are called not only to abstain from luxuries during Lent, but to a true inner conversion of heart as we seek to follow Christ's will more faithfully. We recall the waters of baptism in which we were also baptized into Christ's death, died to sin and evil, and began a new life in Christ.
Many know of the tradition of abstaining from meat on Fridays during Lent, but we are also called to practise self-discipline and fast in other ways throughout the season. Contemplate the meaning and origins of the Lenten fasting tradition in this reflection. In addition, the giving of alms is one way to share God's gifts — not only through the distribution of money, but through the sharing of our time and talents. As St John Chrysostom reminds us: "Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours, but theirs." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2446).
In Lent, the baptized are called to renew their baptismal commitment as others prepare to be baptized through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, a period of learning and discernment for individuals who have declared their desire to become Catholics.
In Australia, days for fasting are Ash Wednesday and Good Friday and apply to those 18-59. Catholics in Australia abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, in union with the fasting of Jesus, and in memory of Christ’s death. Fish is not considered meat for these purposes.
All Catholics age 14 and older are expected to abstain from meat, although those who can’t do so for health reasons, along with pregnant and nursing women, are obviously exempted.
On Ash Wednesday, a cross is traced with ashes on our foreheads as a reminder to live a good life and to do penance as a way to show we are sorry for our sinfulness. We will be having year group liturgies on Ash Wednesday for the distribution of ashes. Any Christian or any student from another faith may choose to participate in this ritual.
Excerpts from What is Lent? On the United States Catholic Conference site https://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/liturgical-year-and-calendar/lent
Use of Aerosols
Students are reminded that aerosol products (such as spray deodorants) are not to be brought to or used at school or while travelling to or from school on buses. This is a serious Workplace Health and Safety issue as students with respiratory issues (such as asthma) are very susceptible to aerosol sprays.
Loss of Property
Parents and students are reminded that the college cannot take responsibility for items which go missing from bags. Students are advised not to leave items of value in unattended bags, particularly small items which can be easily taken. Students are discouraged from bringing valuable personal items or large amounts of cash to school. If the items or the money are needed for something after school, they can be left at the front office during the day. While students at the college are remarkably honest, as demonstrated by the valuable items which are found and handed in every day, we cannot make this guarantee of every one of our more than 1,000 students. One item which can easily go missing are Apple AirPods. These are expensive items but also small. Students are advised not to bring expensive items like these to school. They are not necessary. Students are advised to use cheap wired earphones (using an adaptor with newer iPhones) or buying relatively cheap Bluetooth earphones for use at school.
College Swimming Carnival at Mt Druitt Pool
Reminder - Year 7 and 8-12 competitors only permission notes to be in by 19 February 2021.
Seating for parents / carers - Parents / carers will be required to follow the CEDP Covid Safety Plan on the day. Students and parents / carers will be assigned to designated areas of the pool grounds for the duration of the carnival.
Years 8-12 Competitors only including PASS Students Form
COVID-19 Wearing of Masks
We have been asked by the police to remind parents and students that the current COVID-19 Public Health Order requires all people 12 years and over to wear a mask on trains and school buses for the entire duration of the journey as well as while in public waiting areas (bus stops, stations).
We are currently giving out disposable masks for students who do not have them but this is becoming a significant daily expense. All students who use public transport are required to have their own mask to use.
Years 7-12 Excursion Form
In 2021 your daughter will be participating in a number of whole school or whole year group activities. To give permission for your daughter to take part in these activities, you will need to complete the details on the Google form contained in the email sent via Skoolbag and submit it by this coming Monday 15 February.
Year 7 Camp 2021
The Students of Year 7 will be attending their three-day camp next. We trust that this will be an enjoyable and memorable experience for all of the students in Year 7.
Year 7 Camp details
