Shining Lights for Week 3, Term 3, 3/8/2023.
As the Year 12s begin their Trial Examinations this week and with Year 5 and 6 students preparing for Confirmation, I thought it appropriate to reflect on the importance of role models in our lives.
As leaders of the College, all Year 12 students play an important role in re-creating anew each year what it means to belong to the Lumen Christi community. It’s fantastic to see that the founding principles of service and spreading hope and joy continue, after 22 years, as core values that students exemplify in their daily lives.
Regardless of their results in their examinations, Year 12 students are encouraged to see their worth as immeasurable, beyond a number or rank; a belief that they can take with them into adulthood, guiding them to “love one another” and focus on the interconnectedness of every human person. We see this interconnectedness as they support each other in their studies, bond with their peers in Pastoral Care classes, celebrate having a go in House events and look for opportunities to give back to the College and wider community.
Our Confirmation candidates are asked to choose a Saint who will be a special role model, interceding for them through their prayers. We’re very blessed to have John Liston as our chaplain, a living saint, who told parents of Confirmation candidates that his Confirmation Saint is St Peter - The Rock, on which Jesus built his Church. Despite all his failings, St Peter is remembered as the first Pope who still inspires hope in us today, especially when we find ourselves looking more inward than outward.
Another special Saint is St Mary Mackillop who established the Sisters of St Joseph and many schools in poorer communities in the second half of the 19th century. Through service, she inspired hope and joy, and when she was excommunicated for a time, she continued to stand up for justice, trusting in God’s providence.
Everyone is welcome to celebrate St Mary Mackillop at the annual pilgrimage on Saturday, 19 August in Eden. The pilgrimage will begin at 11:00am at the AFL grounds, followed by Mass at Our Lady Star of the Sea Church at midday and then a parish lunch at 1:00pm. Confirmation candidates will have a special role to play as we continue to learn from role models, past and present.
To Exam or Not To Exam??
This week our Year 12 students commenced their HSC Trial Examinations. It is a stressful time for our community – students, staff, and parents – and, inevitably, the question of the value of exams is raised.
Exams form an important part of a robust assessment program. Assessing student knowledge and understanding in a variety of ways over time is essential to give students every possibility of demonstrating what they have learned and how they can apply that knowledge in different circumstances. When I was at school, tests and exams were basically the only way we were assessed. Thankfully, across all courses a wide variety of methods are now used - from speeches to research, multi-modal tasks, and practical work – to help teachers form a more accurate professional judgement of student achievement.
Why do we still have examinations? There are some key reasons why these still form part of developing the whole picture:
- Exams can focus on a student’s breadth of skills and knowledge. We want future doctors to be able to draw on knowledge of body systems, and future teachers to know a full range of teaching and learning skills.
- Exams make cheating difficult. In the age of technology and AI, the good old take home task alone cannot provide reliable evidence of exactly what a student knows and can do.
- Exams do enhance learning. There is evidence that undertaking exams deepens learning. Studying for exams is exercise for the brain. The process of recalling information stored in the brain strengthens memory pathways for future uses. This means that in future careers and circumstances people encounter the information they need is now easier to access.
(Adapted from an article in The Conversation, December 19, 2014)
So, exams form part of a comprehensive assessment process. However, it is important to remember that they are not the ‘be all and end all’ of assessing student understanding. Exams last no more than a few hours – learning is a life-long process.
