There’s some new rules you need to know…….

The most important things you can gain from your education are being able to….. think and solve problems; read for meaning; write for a purpose; and use numbers in various ways.

Why are these important? to get an HSC at the end of schooling; for further study and education; to be able to cope with life and work.

In the future, you may have to….. write a letter to fix a parking fine; work out a medicine dosage, or order the right amount of timber; or understand a lease agreement.

To get an HSC……. the NSW Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards (BOSTES) has now said that you need a minimum of Band 8 for reading comprehension, writing and numeracy in your Year 9 NAPLAN tests.

In reading comprehension, you need to be able to….. locate information; scan for main topics; decide what the writer is saying, and what the writer is meaning; pick the methods the writer is using get his or her message across.

In writing, you need to be able to….. spell and use a good range of words (vocabulary); write in sentences, and pay attention to grammar and punctuation; make your writing flow, and easy to read; plan your writing, and use paragraphs, introductions and conclusions.

In numeracy, you need to be able to… use scales on number-lines, graphs and charts; use fractions; measure different quantities, and use units of measurement; do calculations, including percentages;

also……. gather data into tables, and use the information from tables; use statistics.

In the Year 9 NAPLAN tests, 2017….. achievement will be reported from Band 5 (lowest) to Band 10 (highest): 10 9 8 minimum to get an HSC 7 6 5

Students who don’t achieve at least a Band 8 for all three areas…….. can still move to Years 10, 11 and 12, but they have not reached the standard for an HSC at the end of Year 12. At the end of high school, they will get a Record of Achievement, but not an HSC.

In Years 10, 11 and 12……. these students will need to do catch-up courses, and show that they can reach Band 8 standards by taking other on-line tests. It’s much like going for a driver’s licence.

Wherever possible…… it will be much better to achieve the Band 8 standard in the 2017 NAPLAN tests. Across the State, and in this school, there will be plenty of students who will have to work hard to get there.

To help you, this school will be….. getting extra teachers to assist, especially in Years 7 and 8; in all your classes, giving you more practice in reading comprehension, writing and numeracy; including writing in Year 8 assessment tasks;

and……… bringing the Accelerated Reader program into Year 7; using Google Classroom to provide extra help in Year 8; running Homework Help after school on three afternoons (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) in the library.

During the next couple of weeks….. all Year 8 classes will be logged on to Google Classroom. Each week, new practice exercises will be put on, for you to complete at home. Answers to these exercises, and other feedback, will be put up the following week.

On Google Classroom…. you will be able to ask questions, and have those questions answered at Homework Help sessions. Your parents will be informed about how you are using these programs.

You can help yourselves by……. paying close attention in every class you have, especially with reading comprehension, writing and numeracy; doing your regular homework; doing the exercises on Google Classroom, and using Homework Help in the library.

Your parents will be asked to help by… taking note of all feedback from the school, including letters, phone calls and reports; encouraging you to make your schooling an absolute priority, including work done at home.

If this were a driver’s licence test…… practically all of you would find a way to get to the standard needed, and get a licence.

Most of you also have the ability…. to get to the standard needed in your schooling. You just need to be ready to work hard to get there.