Year 12

I can’t emphasise enough how important it is that your daughter maintains attendance at school throughout Week 5 to Week 9. (Monday 19 August to Friday 20 September 2024). Yes, trials may be done and content technically covered but this is the period where teachers set about addressing the issues that students faced in their examinations. For example, I’ve been working with the Year 12 English team to ensure we have sessions on how to paragraph and organise an essay correctly, how to develop the comparative element in addition to how to argue a response to a question. We’ll also revisit some texts and look at authorial intent and textual features. Classes will also explore a range of sample essay questions and consider how to respond to them and what texts would be good to use. In my marking I have not come across a single student who wouldn’t benefit from all or some of these lessons. I don’t think there is a single Year 12 student who has got nothing left to learn across their subjects.

In their own study, this is the period where students should be reflecting on feedback and working out exactly what they need to do to improve, and then once they’ve done that they need to be regularly completing practice papers. If your daughter says, ‘I don’t need to go to that lesson, we’ve completed the content’, please correct her. Subjects also require skill development and content consolidation from teachers who are experts in both, as well as addressing the syllabus outcomes and marking criteria. If your daughter claims she can go over these things with her tutor, unless that tutor is a fully qualified teacher with expert syllabus knowledge and exam board marking experience, then it probably isn’t the case.

Above all else, I hope that all the Class of 2024 are at school every day for the next five weeks so that we can enjoy the time that we have together. As well as lessons there is the usual array of activities to look forward to. We have Book week in Week 5 organised by Literary Captain Sally Obaid, and a slew of lunchtime activities. Expect maximum energy from all the captains in their final hurrah. We also have the Year 12 Stay and Play on Friday 23 August 2024 (Week 5) and the Father’s Day Breakfast on Friday 30 August 2024 (Week 6). Week 7 (starting Monday 2 September 2024) sees a House Debating challenge and the Athletics carnival. All these events are opportunities to be together as a community. I hope that all students are at school to savour these last weeks as an MLC School student, they will miss it (as we will miss them) once they are gone.

– Fiona Pow
Head of Year 12