The Way Weekly Recap I Friday 28 August 2020

Year 12 are currently at the business end of the year; the HSC Trial results are being returned and the major works are currently being submitted or presented in one form or another.

There is possibly a challenge for many students to turn around results that may not have met their expectations. The Trial Examination is a difficult one because it amplifies the areas of weakness that needs to be mastered. The good news is that there is time to make changes and improve outcomes. The important message is not to give up. The process here is NOT easy, but the learning that is happening will develop skills that they can take out into the world that will help them for life.

In a normal year, we would have invited students and parents to a presentation of student major works. This includes: Music and Drama performances, HSC major works for IT Timber, Design and Technology, Extension 2 English and History, and of course Visual Arts. Now because of COVID-19 restrictions we have recorded these elements and we will provide access via a virtual website and so the community can still enjoy the creative efforts of all our Year 12 students. Despite the challenges this year, there is some excellent work that will be at the very best quality that we have seen here at the College. We are currently building a website that would have been Illuminate.  It should be online towards the end of this term.

Today we held a special get together for the Peter Pan Musical team.  Unfortunately, due to COVID, we will no longer be able to conduct the Musical, and as hard as it is to communicate, and as disappointing it is for everyone involved in the production, we must confirm that the musical will be cancelled, in this our 20^th Anniversary year. Due to current COVID restrictions, it is not feasible to move forward with this production. The students involved have committed many hours of hard work to the production so far and as such, we appreciate and acknowledge their contributions.  

Peter Pan The Way.png

'May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had...'Romans 15:5

Junior Drum Circle on THAC TV!

Drumming together always brings joy and happiness to those playing and listening to the beats. Last Friday, the Thomas Hassall Junior Drum Circle performed at the second virtual assembly hosted by the Junior School.

They performed a piece called “Pitter Patter Sushi”, inspired by rhythms from Guinea in North West Africa, and were very excited to perform again after such a long time away from the stage.  The Junior Drum Circle is a diverse group of students in the Junior School.  They have a great time making rhythms during their lunchtime rehearsals every Monday.

Well done to all our drummers!

Mr Byron Mark
Director of Ensembles

Year 1 has been digging up the past

This term, Year 1 has been looking at changes in our world. We have seen photos of how the area around our College has changed over time and we were able to explore why Middleton Grange is called Middleton Grange.

In July 1916, a man named Rawdon Middleton was born. When he grew up he became a Pilot Officer in the Royal Australian Air Force. In 1942, he died after an act of bravery that saved many lives. He was awarded a Victoria Cross for bravery.

Our College has some images of Middleton and his life in the Rawdon Middleton VC Sports Complex (also known as the PECS building). The students really enjoyed seeing the pictures and learning about Rawdon Middleton!

Miss Ashleigh Hackfath 
Year 1 Team Leader

One of our key objectives at Thomas Hassall, particularly in the Senior Years of schooling, is to develop the ability to guide our own learning, or to become ‘Self-Regulated’ as we say in the Thomas Hassall Learner Profile.

What this really means is understanding where we are in our learning, knowing where we need to go, and being able to apply the right strategies to then move toward our goal.

Recently in Year 11 and 12 Study Skills seminars, we have been focusing on what this looks like from the perspective of our personal study habits. Study habits extend well beyond preparation for an exam – they become organisational and learning skills that we can apply into further study and the workplace.

As a part of our seminars, Year 11 and 12 students have explored the following key ideas:

1. Have key goals to work towards when you study. Don’t just sit down and ‘study’, but have a clear goal of what you need to achieve and how you are going to do this.
2. Start with addressing your weaknesses. Our first tendency will usually be to do what is easy. Facing difficulty causes us discomfort and can challenge our sense of self. But we never get better at something by avoiding it! Our weaknesses are the areas where we can make the largest learning gains.
3. Apply active, not passive revision strategies. This has been our key focus. When most people get into their study sessions, they implement the time-honoured routines of re-reading material, highlighting key parts and taking basic notes. However, we know from extensive research on memory retention that these methods are not as effective at locking things into our memories because they are fundamentally passive. Instead we should apply active revision strategies – strategies which demand us to think, process and apply information and force our recall of it. What does this look like? Here are three simple strategies:
   1. Completing mind maps or graphic organisers which force us to draw out the key ideas from a section of text and show relationship between concepts. This can be an excellent way to help with essay planning, or synthesising the core concepts of a unit.
   2. Self-testing. The single best way that researchers have discovered of locking things into our memory is to repeatedly test our memory on something. Creating and using flash cards to test our memory is the easiest way to do this and we can even do it collaboratively with another person (such as our mum or dad!). Completing practice multiple choice is another great option here.
   3. Completing practice questions/responses. This is important for several reasons. Firstly, it forces us to do ‘heavy mental lifting’ which is excellent for our memory. We must process knowledge before we can apply it so it helps us think through our understanding. Secondly, it helps us become familiar with the typical types and styles of questions that we will need to respond to. Third, it creates an opportunity for self-reflection or, even better, feedback from a teacher.

Mr David Cole
Senior School Director of Teaching and Learning 

Resilience is often spoken about, regularly heralded as very important – but can be misunderstood and hard to define. What does it really mean?

Resilience is one our key Graduate Aims here at the College and is a building block of positive wellbeing. I have captured some of the key phrases from this Graduate Aim, found in our Strategic Plan. These include:

We seek to grow students who are capable of persisting through difficulty to grow and to learn.

Students who;

• Persist through difficulty in order to learn in life.
• Courageously cope with, and adapt to, change and difficulty.
• Experience joy in overcoming difficulty in learning, and in life!

These are worthy aspirations and indeed, I imagine you desire for your children to build the capacity and skills in order to grow and strengthen their resilience. But how do we help them do that!?

When teenagers have the skills and confidence to confront and work through their problems, they learn that they have what it takes to face difficult situations. The more they bounce back on their own, the more they internalise the message that they are strong and capable. Consider these…

Problem-solvers

We can help our young people to become more resilient by teaching them to solve problems independently. We saw many of our students become fantastic problem-solvers during our time of online learning, working out new ways to participate in practical subjects, managing distractions and building independence. While we may feel compelled to jump in and solve the problem for our teenagers, this action can sometimes hinder the building of resilience. Young people need to experience this discomfort so that they can learn to work through and develop their problem-solving skills, with parent support as needed…and Teachers!

Relationships

Resilience needs relationships. Research has shown that it takes the constant presence of at least one supportive relationship to build resilience in young people. The presence of a responsive adult can help to reverse the physiological changes that are activated by stress.

Working with a reliable adult, a young person can learn to understand stressful decisions and ways to manage difficult times. Anyone in the life of a child can make a difference – family, teachers, coaches – anyone. That one positive, supportive relationship can help the young person to take risks that they may feel uncomfortable to do without the support around them.

Seeking help

Our young people need to know that it’s okay to ask for help. Being resilient doesn’t mean that you solve things or do things entirely on your own. Let your child know that being brave, strong and resilient includes knowing when to ask for help. If there is anything that they can do themselves, guide them towards that but resist carrying them there.

Sense of competency

We can all help build feelings of skill and knowledge of mastery in our young people. Nurture these feelings, as it can remind them that they can do hard things. Acknowledge their strengths, the brave deeds that they do, their effort when something is difficult, and when encouraged to make their own decisions. When they have a sense of mastery and competency, they are less likely to be reactive to future stress and more likely to handle future challenges.

Nurture Optimism

It’s essential to teach our young people how to reframe challenges in ways that feel less threatening. Refocus on what we have rather than what we don’t have. Optimism is one of the critical characteristics of resilient people. If you have a child who tends to look at the glass half empty, show them the possibility of a different view….challenge them!

Model Resiliency

Imitation is such a powerful way to learn. With wisdom, let young people see you deal with disappointment. Bringing them into your emotional world at appropriate times will help them know that sadness, ‘stuckness’ and frustration are all very normal human experiences. When experiences are normalised, there will be a safety and security that will open the way for them to explore what those experiences mean for them, and experiment with ways to respond.

I hope and pray you can consider these things when having a conversation about growing resilience with your child – it’s a gradual, and sometimes difficult road, but certainly a very worthwhile one!

Mr Stuart McCormack
Director of Student Wellbeing (Senior School)

On Wednesday 26th August, Jacqueline and Joshua from Year 9 participated in the 2020 MISA Youth of the Year Competition.

In keeping with social distancing guidelines, this year’s competition was held virtually over Zoom.

This prestigious and challenging competition involved both students being engaged in an interview with a panel made up of members from the Campbelltown Toastmasters Club, where they were engaged in a conversation for approximately five minutes about issues such as religion, social, educational and political events in Australia and the world at the present time.

The students then presented 3-minute speeches from a topic of their choice drawn from current everyday life. Joshua and Jacqueline decided to focus on Australia’s new media laws and the economic impact of COVID-19.

Both students performed extremely well and, although they did not place, they should be very proud of their achievements.

Miss Elise Fowler
Senior School Teacher - English

Enrolments are currently working towards our 2022 positions and are now taking sibling applications. 

Please note, all sibling applications must be received at least 2 years in advance to qualify for sibling priority.

Please complete the following Application Form below if you wish to apply:

https://www.thac.nsw.edu.au/content/applying-now

Enrolments 2021
If any families are not intending to continue their child’s enrolment with the College in 2021, please contact the Enrolments Dept no later than the end of Term 3 by email [email protected]  or T 9608 0033 to discuss the withdrawal process.