Twenty-three senior students and 11 teachers from Lightning Ridge Central School got together at the Bowling Club last week to focus on aspects of the HSC examination.
In the opening session, principal Peter Partridge, deputy, Penny Lehman and head teacher secondary studies Rosemary Laurens addressed issues such as the importance of the HSC in creating opportunities for our senior students' future, personal goals and motivation and how the exams are created and marked.
The second session focussed on the one compulsory subject, English, and was run by head teacher of English/ HSIE Krystal Sinclair and Cory MacDonald.
Not only were study skills reviewed but also sample answers from previous examinations. These had been selected from the Board of Studies' Standards Packages. In fact, close examination of these sample answers was a main focus of the day across all sessions.
The Standards Packages are produced each year by the Board of Studies to help teachers and students understand why HSC answers are put into a particular 'band'.
The highest band is 6 (90 to 100 per cent) and the lowest is 1 (1 to 49 per cent).
Naturally, all students would like to gain the highest band they can for each of their subjects.
Not only were the different features of the bands analysed but also the terms used in constructing the questions on the exam papers.
This terminology is often referred to as the ‘Glossary of Terms' and understanding what words such as ‘explain', ‘describe', ‘analyse' and ‘evaluate' require a student to do in an exam answer is crucial to student success.
After the tea-break, students then broke up into subject groupings: Aboriginal Studies (Paul Nelder), General Maths (M. Bhaskaran) and Senior Science (Simon Graham).
Following the half-hour lunch break, Information Technology (Nicole de Losa), Hospitality (Justine Reid) and Metal and Engineering (Alan Curry) were the subjects of attention. Students then came together for a brief conclusion to round off the day, run by Mrs. Lehman.
While it was not possible to cover all of the subjects that our seniors are studying, we felt that the program benefited all those who attended and has given them a better understanding the HSC processes.
We also hope that it has taken some of the anxiety out of what is usually an extremely stressful time in students' lives. The message is: work steadily, focus on your long-term goals and view the HSC as a ‘door of opportunity' rather than an immense obstacle!
The school thanks all participating teachers who put so much effort into preparing their presentations and to all students who attended.
Hopefully, a day such as this can become a fixture on our calendar. We want our Stage 6 (years 11 and 12) to grow and see an Exam Strategies Day as one of the ways in which we can support our senior students to achieve their best.
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