Learning Conversations

Bookings for Learning Conversations opened this week. They will be held online on Thursday, 31 March at 4.00pm to 7.30pm and Friday, 1 April at 8.45am to 3.45pm. Friday will be a non-teaching day. Students are requested to attend the Learning Conversations and use this day to complete subject tasks.

At the scheduled appointment time, teachers will call the student on their device, via Microsoft Teams. At this time, you will be able to participate in the conversation, sitting beside your daughter. For those parents unfamiliar with the Microsoft Teams platform, click here for a tip sheet.

Learning Conversation slots are ten minutes apart, however, the conversation time is seven minutes to allow transition between interviews. To ensure that we run on time, we kindly request that you strictly adhere to your time allocation in consideration of other parents and teaching staff.

If you are able to attend during the day, we request that you please book a Friday conversation time thereby making the after-hour times on Thursday available to those who cannot participate during the day.

Please make bookings as soon as possible as some subjects fill up quickly. If a teacher is fully booked, please click on the mail icon next to their name on the booking sheet, and they will provide feedback on your daughter’s learning via email by the end of term. Please only utilise this option if there is no availability.

To accommodate separated families, where one parent resides in a different location to the student but wishes to participate, we kindly request that the parent that will be with the student makes the Learning Conversation bookings and then sends the booking schedule and an email address for the parent that will not be with the student to bbiggins@siena.vic.edu.au.

Interim Reports will be available on Siena Central from Tuesday, 22 March and can be accessed via your daughter’s profile under the Academics Reports tab. Please access the report prior to the scheduled Learning Conversation, to discuss any areas of concern.

Learning Conversations are not recorded by the College. Please be aware that making an unauthorised video or audio recording of an interview is contrary to the Siena College Privacy Policy.

Horizons Week

Horizons Week provides the opportunity for cohort specific connection building, collaboration and experiential learning. Parents / Guardians will shortly receive an EdSmart Parent Permission Slip for year level activities during Horizons Week. Please see a brief outline of the program below.

Semester 1 Examinations and Assessment Dates

The 2022 VCAA General Achievement Test (GAT) will be held on Wednesday, 7 September, please note the change of date. The GAT is compulsory for all students studying a VCE Unit 3 and 4 subject. This year, all Victorian senior secondary students will have their literacy and numeracy skills measured against new standards in a reformed GAT. The GAT will be split into two sections:

• Section A will assess literacy and numeracy skills
• Section B will assess skills in Mathematics, Science, Technology and Arts and Humanities, with an increased focus on Critical and Creative Thinking Skills.

Students will participate in a practice GAT in Term 2 to prepare them for the changes.

Year 9, 10 and 11 students will undertake Semester Examinations in June. The Year 9 to 11 Semester 1 examinations will commence on Friday, 10 June and conclude on Friday, 17 June.

The Siena ‘S’ date is the final date for unit assessment for each year level.

• Year 7 and Year 8 ‘S’ date: Friday, 10 June
• Year 9, Year 10 and Year 11 ‘S’ date: Friday, 3 June
• Year 12 Unit 3 ‘S’ date: Friday, 17 June

Term 1 Holidays

The Term 1 holidays are a great opportunity for our students to relax and be reinvigorated. We expect that the Year 10 to 12 students will dedicate some of the holiday period to complete set work, prepare for Term 2 topics and start revising for their Semester Examinations. Year 7 to 9 students will not have any set home learning over the holidays, but we do encourage them to continue with their wider reading.

I wish our students, parents, and guardians a well deserved break and a joyful Easter.