Gifted and Talented Report

In the last newsletter I wrote about how perfectionism can be a trait amongst gifted and talented students. With the assessments coming to an end it is worth now thinking about how well your daughter copes with the feedback post assessment.

For some gifted and talented students feedback equals criticism. If a student hasn’t met her goal or achieved what she feels is worthy of her efforts, great distress can occur. Emotions such as anger, embarrassment, disappointment and blame are common and I am sure parents bear the brunt of these emotions when things don’t go as well as planned.

When emotions are raw it can be very hard to reason with students. Time and space might be required before you can sit and go through what has happened. As teachers we should be making clear that feedback is really feeding forward. It should look at what the student has been able to achieve and look at what she can do next time- our concern is always about growth.

Whether we call it feedback, feeding forward or constructive criticism- nobody likes it!

Even as adults we have to learn to deal with this in our jobs – contract renewals, appraisals, when applying for positions or promotions. I often survey my students and ask them to rate my knowledge, organisational skills, approachability, lessons and standards. It isn’t easy to do, but it is so important to model to our students that in order to grow professionally and improve we have to take the risk. Just like our students we want people to like our work and we want our hard work to be valued and appreciated. Without feedback we won’t know how we are progressing or what we can do to improve in the future. It’s really important too that students see that it is the piece of work that is being judged and assessed, not them as a person, meaning is not a criticism of who they are. Accepting feedback gracefully and being able to apply it and move forward are necessary parts of students’ growth and development. We care for our girls and want to work in partnership with them in order to reach their potential.

Year 7 Mathematics

In this issue I would like to showcase our Year 7 Mathematicians.

Class 7.1 are currently involved in the ‘Maths Learning Stations’ enrichment program.  Every three weeks the students are grouped to work together on a variety of enrichment tasks aligned with their current Stage 4 Mathematics course. The activities are designed to challenge the students to solve problems within a collaborative learning environment. Thanks to Mr Kleber, Mr Walker and Ms Dove for their work in developing this exciting initiative. What do our students think?

Newman Maths is an enriching experience, which opens up new opportunities for me to use my previous knowledge and boost it with the new knowledge we learn in Newman Maths. This class is why I find Maths a great opportunity to give myself a challenge and think creatively.

Charlotte Brailey, Year 7

Being a student in Newman Maths, I experience many different Math problems and strategies that help me adapt and broaden my knowledge when working with my classmates. Newman Maths opens up many opportunities for me to use my prior knowledge and add to my current Maths skills and is an amazing opportunity to challenge what I know and think outside of the box. I find Newman Maths a great chance to use collaborative thinking and to work in a team to achieve.

Sofia Vella, Year 7

This article on College life meets The Archbishop’s Charter for Catholic Schools – Charter #1, #2, #8 & #11