Curriculum Update

Anthony Bochrinis

OLNA

OLNA is back earlier than ever before in 2023! Under the new system of OLNA, students are able to select from flexible dates to align their OLNA with their assessment schedule. Please see below the six OLNA windows for 2023. Please note that some windows only allow certain year groups to participate:

• Term 1 Window (Y11/12 Only): 27 Feb - 10 Mar

• Term 2A Window (Y10-Y12 Only): 1 May - 12 May

• Term 2B Window (Y10-Y12 Only): 12 Jun - 23 Jun

• Term 3A Window (Y10-Y12 Only): 24 Jul - 4 Aug

• Term 3B Window (Y10-Y12 Only): 4 Sep - 15 Sep

• Term 4 Window (Y9 Only): 23 Oct - 3 Nov

Click here for more information.

Click here to view our information presentation for parents:

Our OLNA Coordinator, Mrs Cristi Jonas, will be working with students to select a suitable OLNA testing date to work around as many assessments in other subjects as possible.

Please do contact her if you have any questions or queries regarding OLNA for your child – cjonas@stgeorges.wa.edu.au

NAPLAN

NAPLAN is also quite different this year! Instead of the usual timeslot of Term 2, NAPLAN has now been moved to Term 1. Please see below for our Term 1 NAPLAN dates:

NAPLAN Writing

NAPLAN Writing Catch-Up

NAPLAN Reading

NAPLAN Language Conventions

NAPLAN Numeracy

NAPLAN Catch-Up

NAPLAN Catch-Up

Wednesday 15 March

Thursday 16 March

Friday 17 March

Monday 20 March

Tuesday 21 March

Wednesday 22 March

Thursday 23 March

Click here for the information brochure for further guidelines regarding NAPLAN participation, purpose and role. This gives you more details regarding NAPLAN and the arrangements in place. If you have any queries regarding NAPLAN please be in touch directly with me as Head of Curriculum abochrinis@stgeorges.wa. edu.au

Year 7 and 12 Parent Teacher Interviews

We have our Parent Teacher Interviews for our youngest and eldest students very soon. These are occurring earlier in the year this year so that we can guide both our Year 7 students and our Year 12 students to success.

On Tuesday 21 February, we will be hosting interviews at the School from 4pm - 8pm.

On Wednesday 1 March, we will be hosting interviews remotely via Microsoft Teams from 4pm - 8pm.

At high school students are warmly encouraged to join their parents for these meetings as it is a way for us to work together as a team academically to support ongoing development and success. Please do encourage your child to join you at Parent Teacher Nights. There is a space in the Library for younger siblings to sit quietly whilst the interviews take place and light refreshments are available throughout the evening. All students attending Parent Teacher Evenings should be in their school uniform. Year 12 students should most definitely attend to hear and action their teacher’s feedback in their learning.

Keep an eye out for an email that will be sent early next week to begin booking in meetings with our teachers!

We are very much looking forward to meeting with you in person, or online, to discuss how we can best support your child to reach their maximum academic potential in each subject throughout the 2023 academic school year.

Term 1 Assessment Schedules

To assist your child in planning for our upcoming Term 1 assessments, please find below our assessment schedules - a handy reference for you to hang up on your fridge!

• Year 7 Assessment Schedule

• Year 8 Assesment Schedule

• Year 9 Assessment Schedule

• Year 10 Assessment Schedule

• Year 11 Assessment Schedule

• Year 12 Assessment Schedule

I have spoken to staff at length regarding keeping to these schedules and so if there are significant changes these should be communicated with you. Again, if you have any queries or concerns, please do be in touch with me directly either via a SEQTA Dirert Message or via email.

Year 11 and 12 Parent Information Evening

Many thanks to all our Year 11 and 12 parents who joined us on our newly refurbished Level 4 last week to meet your child’s teachers and to find out more information about senior school.

If you were unable to attend these sessions, please find below a video recording of our presentation as well as access to the information slides for your reference.

Year 11 and 12 Subject Change Dates

A reminder that if any Year 11/12 ATAR/APEx student is wanting to explore alternative subjects of study, or pathways they must make an appointment with a member of the subject selection team prior to the closing date of course changes which is Friday 3 March.

Students are most welcome to see me in my office on Level 1 or Mrs Tagore on Level 3 to explore alternative options and to ensure that they are both in the right subjects and on the right pathway for their unique and individual success.

Chat GPT (Artificial Intelligence Language Model)

Chat GPT is a new form of Artificial Intelligence (AI) that was launched by Open AI on November 30, 2022. This technology went inconceivably viral, reaching 1 million users in 5 days (by comparison, it took Facebook 10 months and Netflix 41 months to reach this same milestone). Chat GPT is a type of ‘language model’ AI that gives you an original and non-plagiarised written response to any prompt you can imagine.

At St George’s, Chat GPT is protected behind our firewalls due to

Pastoral Focus

Hilton Hardman

Welcome to the start of another exciting school year. The pastoral team are thrilled to have the opportunity to be a part of our students’ school journey and are committed to creating a positive and supportive environment for all our students.

Our focus this year is on building strong connections between students and fostering a family atmosphere that promotes growth and development. We believe that by working together, we can ensure that each student has the opportunity to reach their full potential and make this a successful and memorable school year.

The Pastoral team has grown over the holidays, and we are excited to start the year with our three inaugural Heads of Year.

• Head of Year 7 & 8: Ms Sephton

• Head of Year 9 & 10: Miss Wilkinson

• Head of Year 11 & 12: Mrs May They will work closely with your child’s PCG tutor in supporting the personal information users need to provide upon sign-up, and the unmonitored nature of the conversations that AI is able to have with users. It is also recommend for students aged 18 years and above and so for this reason we have restricted its use within the confines of school.

However, students are most welcome to use Chat GPT at home with parental supervision and we certainly see lots of advantages for using this technology as an aid to one’s learning.

We advise students to use Chat GPT as a ‘study buddy’ when working on their subjects.

Here are some prompt suggestions on how students can use Chat GPT: them through their St George’s journey. We look forward to seeing the benefit of this additional support layer for your child and for yourselves, as you are also warmly encouraged to contact both your child’s PCG Tutor, Head of House or Head of Year.

• Rewrite a definition or theoretical concept so that a 5-year-old can understand it.

• Write a study outline.

• Create a mnemonic.

• Provide a list of 5 pros and cons.

• Grammar check the following paragraph: insert paragraph.

The year commenced with our Student Leaders and Year 12 Cohort Commissioning service. During this service, I made mention of Nelson Mandela and his leadership style. Mandela’s leadership style is often described as transformational, motivating, and inspiring. He constantly sought to support others to achieve more than they even thought possible for themselves.

The second key point was that Nelson Mandela was a servant leader who put the needs of his followers first creating a supportive environment that allowing those around him to feel supported and to reach their full potential.

Our hope for the 2023 Leadership group is that they will embrace their new responsibilities with courage, integrity, and compassion, just like Nelson Mandela did, and that they will strive to be servant leaders who put the needs of others first.

We look forward to seeing their enthusiasm and commitment shine throughout their final year of schooling here at St George’s Anglican Grammar School.

The Pastoral Team is excited and ready for another busy year and one that continues to have our student’s wellbeing as our central focus.