YEAR 7 MATHS PATHWAYS

On Tuesday night Year 7 students and parents/carers came together to hear information about an exciting new online mathematics programme called Maths Pathways. This new programme provides an opportunity for independence as students can, having completed diagnostic tests, go ahead and move through various topics and modules to increase their ability as needed. Students will still be completing work in their exercise books and there will be a focus on building automaticity, however, Maths Pathways is built upon nations of a growth mindset therefore it allows the mathematics staff to tailor their individual guidance and allow for / build upon the range of abilities that exist in any class at any given time.

A representative from Maths Pathways was present on the evening to provide guidance and answer any particular questions and our Mathematics staff, led by Mrs Pickles, provided logins for parents and students to access the program and answered any queries as needed.

Year 7 2019 will be trialling Maths Pathways in Term Four, and, if deemed to be suitable for  Magdalene students will be extended to Year 7 2020 and a continuation into Year 8 for this group. I thank our Mathematics staff for their interest, professional engagement and support bringing in this new initiative.

POSITIVE PARENTING

During the abovementioned evening, I also had the opportunity to talk about notions of “positive parenting”. While this idea has been a feature of positive psychology for a number of years, it is only now starting to filter down into the mainstream. I quoted from an article in the Sydney Morning Herald (dated Tues 15^th October) entitled: “How 'strength-based parenting' is bringing out the best in kids.” (https://tinyurl.com/y5avq4be) This article details the ongoing challenge to remain positive to support our children best. It acknowledges that: “At a basic biological level, even though we love our children, our brains are wired to avoid what's going wrong before we notice what's going right.” Therefore, we should avoid this urge and instead focus on our student strengths/successes because “focusing on their weaknesses can be counterproductive”. I raised three questions which the article stresses:

1. What do they love to do?
2. What excites them?
3. What do they feel passionate about?

and asked rhetorically how many parents/carers could confidently answer this?

Obviously, the parent body has a wide range of experiences, with some parents/carers having had multiple children complete the HSC already whereas others have students in Year 7 for the very first time. Therefore, whenever speaking about parenting I only ever raise what research recommends and put these ideas forward as suggestions. What seems to be clear though is that operating out of a growth mindset can encourage children to see their skills and abilities very much at any given point in time – as being flexible – and open – and able to be added upon. Of course, no matter which approaches we take, often hard work, self-belief and dedication are the key determinants in terms of student success.

HSC EXAMINATIONS 2019

This week our Year 12 2019 cohort commenced their HSC examinations. The year group has been working particularly hard across 2019 and we wish the group all the very best.

These HSC examinations are the culmination of 13 years or more of education and, while the examinations can certainly be a challenge and/or stressful, we are confident that, through their hard work and dedication, this year group will move towards their potential.

We thank the Year 12 Pastoral Team, and especially Mrs Blair Colella, Year 12 Coordinator, for her work and support of this group. We also thank Miss Stephanie Phillips for her hard work across the year (including being there during extended study library hours and running the Golden Achievers Club).

Our prayer in this newsletter is obviously focused on these students and we will continue to pray for our year 12 students throughout the entire examination period.