Year 7 Parent Learning GroupTerm 1 2018

Welcome to Year 7

Welcome and Introductions

Please take the opportunity to meet other parents of students who share

your child’s core class

Areas for Today:

• Welcome and Introductions – “Meeting Classmates Parents”

• Adjusting to change

• Upcoming dates

• Organisation, Routines and Challenges

• Year Advisors and Guidance (Ms Davis and Mr Poulios)

• School and Community Engagement

• The Growth Mindset and Merewether High School

• Wellbeing and the Year 7 Camp

• Assessment Program and Support

Upcoming Dates

• TODAY – Welcome BBQ, Dance and P&C Meeting

• This Week– Year Assemblies

• 26th February [Monday]– School Athletics Carnival (Glendale Sports)

• 27th March – Lockdown Practice

• 28th February – 2nd March [Wed to Fri] – Yr7 Camp (Morisset)

• 6th March [Tuesday] – School Photos

• 14th March – Pi Day

• 16th March – NAPLAN Numeracy Trial

• 19th March - Vaccinations

• 3rd April – Next PLG

• 13th April [Friday] – Last day term 1 (Principal’s Letters of Recognition Finalised)

What have you noticed ?

Primary

School

Merewether

High School

The Staff

• Directory in booklet is current as at Feb 2018

• Who do I contact ?

• Class teacher – specific subject

• Year advisor – wellbeing

• Head Teacher

• HT Teacher and Learning

• Deputy Principal

Class Structures

• 6 parallel classes of 30 students created. (some groups split for D&T, VA, PDHPE)

• Geography and History Semester based.

• Named after flowers B - Burrawang, C - Cudgerie, E – Edward, G – Grevillia, M – Marara, N – Nyora

7B 7C 7E 7G 7M 7N

English Ms Davis Ms McNAughton

Ms Burdekin Ms Carman Ms Martinez Ms L Corney

Maths Ms Hasthanayake

Ms Wenham Ms Dagg Mr Bailey Ms Scollay Ms Chalmers

Science Mrs Adei-Cardwell

Ms Dickenson Mr Pizzey Ms Williams Ms Penson Mr Smith

Dismissal

• Travel training first 3 days with prefects

• Limited casualties!

• Continued overseeing (snoopervision)/reminding

• Friday 2:30 finish …..Options

• Move from class quickly is the key!

• Two periods/Break/Two Period Lunch/ Two Periods/ Home

• Line up outside each class for teacher instructions, some assigned seats

•6 period day, 2 week cycle•Typical Timetable, Bell Times in Diary

Subject

Teacher

RoomEg:B Block Room 1 orL Block Lab

6

Routines and

Challenges

Contacting MHS

• First point of contact is the School Office via email, phone, in person

• Year Advisors – Mrs Barbara Davis/Mr John Poulios

• Class Teacher

• Faculty Head Teachers (HT)

• HT Teaching and Learning – Mr Rob Berry

• Deputy Principal – Esme Corney

School / Parent / Student Organisation

www.Merewether-h.school

website

Once a month

Bulletin

Merewether-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Please check that we have your current email.

email

School / Parent / Student Organisation

Specific events relevant to individual groups

Notes

First contact should be the

Class room teacher or Year Adviser

Phone

Subject / Teacher / Location / Class

2 Week Cycle

Term starts on A

Timetables

School / Parent / Student Organisation

Important Organisational Tool

Everyday & Every lesson

Help your student to use it

Student Diary

NSW DEC PORTAL

Username

password

Student Portal

Everyday in period 1

Important information school activities

Screen AB LAWN

Daily Notices

School Diary

• Organisation

• Goal setting

• Reference materials

• Helpful tips and strategies

• Term Planners

• Study planners

School / Parent / Student Organisation

Every Thursday period 2

Information

Celebrating success

Reinforcing school culture and values

School Assembly

Year 7 – Outside English Staffroom

Sport – Lower B Block

Student Noticeboard

T1 / T2 / T3 / T4.

Week 3 & Week 9 -Tuesday

9.00-10.30am

KLA and General focus coffee from 8.40am

Parent Learning

Group

School / Parent / Student Organisation

Third Tuesday of each month at 7.30pm in the Independent Learning Centre.

On Tonight in ILC

P and C

Meetings

31st July 2018

Online booking system

At other times by request

Parent Teacher

Meetings

Various and notified.

Subject selections for Year 8 – Important course information for specific groups – replaces 1st PLG in T3.

Parent Information

Evenings

Adjusting to Change

• Website

• Bulletin

• Email

• Notes

• Phone calls

• Timetables

• Student Diary

• Student Portal

• Daily Notices

• Assembly

• Student Noticeboards

• Parent Learning GroupYear 7 Parent Welcome BBQ

Working on Mindsets

Fixed Mindset Growth Mindset

• Fear of failure

• “I am good at maths but can’t write essays”

• They believe that things should be easy and panic when they aren’t

• If I have failure I am a failure

• Perfectionists

• Believe that qualities can be developed

• See failure as an opportunity for learning

• Tend to not be as stressed and persist with efforts

• Frequently do better

Praise the Process• Strategies• Hard work

• Improvement over time

Understand the power of “yet”

Don’t focus on the results but on learning

and skills growth

Talk about the challenge and struggle

and that it is ok!

Teaching Mindset Change

Building Positivity

Year 7 Camp

Written notification given two weeks in advance.

Criteria and some scaffolding.

Some ongoing in class over

semester

Subject Specific “in

class” or “take

home”

Assessment Task Notifications

An Approach That Works !

READ On the day you receive the assignment, just READ it

HIGHLIGHT Then HIGHLIGHT all the key words and instructions

DEFINE TASK IN YOUR OWN

WORDS Re-read the highlighted words then DEFINE IN YOUR OWN WORDS

CHUNK Break down the large tasks into smaller more manageable CHUNKS

PLANCreate your PLAN OF ATTACK. Allocate blocks of time to complete each

chunk of work in a planner

FEEL MORE CONFIDENT

Now you understand WHAT you need to do and you have a clear PLAN to get your work completed by the due date.

Skoolbag

Communication

Guidance and Student Wellbeing

Learning to learn – student wellbeing underpins academic achievement

Mission Australia Youth Survey identified the 3 biggest issues as

1. school or study problems,

2. coping with stress,

3. Body Image

• Note taking

• Study skills

• Explicit strategies for

Planning and organisation

• Positive relationships

• Resilience

• Self esteem

Positive Participation

• Participation is about supporting students voice in their education, listening to them and involving them as much as possible in school life. It means valuing their opinions and ideas and giving them control of their learning.

• When children have a say in their education they not only exercise their rights they also:

• Achieve more• Have improved self esteem• Get on better with their classmates and

teachers• Contribute to a better school

environment, with better discipline and a culture where learning is a shared responsibility

Getting involved at MHS – Clubs / Sports / Activities / Band / Challenge / Leadership passport

HOW DO I HELP? • Class Teachers will scaffold

assessment tasks very specifically during

semester 1

Remember we are about assessing your children for further growth….not

you!!

Thankyou for attending.Please forward your feedback and areas you would like covered in

future PLGs to me via the MHS email address.