Students commenced in their 2026 classes during the term four early commencement period. Timetables have been constructed to maximise student elective choice. Students in Years 7 – 9 cannot make changes to their elective or core subjects. We encourage students and their families to work in partnership with the subject teachers and to seek support from their tutor teacher where the transition to new classes may be challenging.
A new school year is an exciting opportunity for all students to commence fresh with new goals they hope to realise. We encourage all students to consider the College’s PEERS agreement and especially consider how they may better engage with their schooling and elevate their expectations to ensure they strive to achieve their personal best.
All Year 7 students should now be completing regular homework and independent study. The My Personal Planner poster distributed at the Meet the Tutor night is a key tool to help students stay organised. As a general guide, Year 7 students should be completing approximately 10 minutes of homework for each one period of class that they had that day. At times, students may need to complete more homework or independent study as they prepare for upcoming assessments.
To support students in their transition to secondary school, Study Support Sessions will not be assigned until Term Two. However, we seek parental support in helping our young students develop good study habits. Thus, your child’s subject teacher may reach out when your child is not meeting homework expectations.
NAPLAN will be occurring in March. The test schedule is below:
Year 7 and Year 9 |
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Wednesday 11 March |
Thursday 12 March |
Friday 13 March |
Monday 16 March |
|
Period 1 & 2 |
Writing |
Reading |
Conventions of Language |
Numeracy |
Catch up sessions for students who miss a test(s) due to absence will be available. Students who miss a NAPLAN test(s) should email Ms Nadia Bonvicino.
NAPLAN will be conducted on your child’s school laptop, and he will be required to use headphones in order to access and complete questions. All Year 7 and 9 students are required to bring their own headphones that are compatible with their school laptop. Wired headphones are preferable, but Bluetooth headphones will also work.
We are mindful that headphones were not on the booklist as students and their families may already possess headphones and that they may also be sourced from numerous retailers at a more affordable price.
For the tests, students need a specific browser application. We seek your support in checking that the below icon is present on the desktop of your child’s laptop.
Students and parents can access further practice via the public demonstration website
NAP - Public demonstration site
Students must fully charge their laptops each night at home, to ensure they can complete the tests. They should also bring their laptop chargers to school, in their laptop bags.
Note: Year 9 students that normally have a timetabled ExCEL class at the Preston Campus need to attend the Bundoora Campus on Wednesday 11 March.
Parents and Guardians that wish to discuss their child’s participation in NAPLAN for 2026, or access to headphones, should contact myself or their child’s Learning Diversity Coordinator.
In situations where students are absent from class for short or extended time periods, then they are encouraged to access the details of the lessons that were missed by accessing each subject’s ‘lesson plan’ on SIMON.
Where a student in Year 7 to 9 is absent for an assessment as a result of an approved reason (e.g. illness, bereavement, medical reason etc.) students and their families should be in contact with their child’s teachers to negotiate a revised date to submit the task. Generally, this is upon return to school or may be up to seven days after a student’s return. The revised due date will appear on SIMON/PAM. Where a teacher is of the opinion that it is unreasonable for a student to sit an assessment due to approved absence, then the grade ‘X-Special Circumstance’ may be used.
Where a student is absent due to an unapproved reason (e.g. holiday etc.) then he will receive an ‘NS – not submitted’. Parents will also be notified of the non-submission via a letter on PAM indicating the new date by which the student will need to submit the task. For Years 7-9, the original grade of ‘NS’ remains as the student grade even upon satisfactory submission.
An afterschool ‘Academic Redeemer’ session may be issued by your child’s House Leader in situations where they have not submitted a task even after being provided with a new resubmission date. Where this is the case, parents will receive communication from their child’s House Leader.
In the coming weeks, Learning Tutors will commence at the College to support students in their literacy skills. These learning tutors are qualified and experienced secondary school teachers who will work with students across the junior school.
The literacy learning tutor will support students predominantly in Year 8 in varied subject areas such as English and Humanities. They will work alongside the classroom teacher and may facilitate small group sessions with different students. The aim of this program is to further enhance the literacy learning opportunities here at Parade College.
We look forward to the positive impact these tutors will have on the literacy development of our students.
Homework Club is open to all students across the College; however, it is of particular assistance to our junior school students. Homework Club runs each Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon in the NLC from 3:15 pm until 4:30 pm. Students are encouraged to come along and seek assistance from the College’s Learning Support Officers. No bookings required!
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