For our Secondary students and staff, living in the midst of this new reality, the challenges are evident, but the response of our school community has been affirming and at times remarkable.
I am enormously proud of our students and the secondary staff at Britannica as we tackle this situation together. It is not always straight forward, and the points of difficulty for each of us will differ based on the specific circumstances we face. The contents of this newsletter, I hope, give a flavour of things that have been happening for members of our school community. I hope you enjoy reading, and wish all our students, their families and our staff on-going resilience, patience, happiness and health.
IGCSE and A Level Examinations:
For those students completing their IGCSE and A Level Examinations, Cambridge International Examinations Board has released the following statement and guidelines:
Some matters are complex, and we have to make sure our approach works for all Cambridge schools worldwide, in a variety of different national contexts. Our priority is to make sure our actions protect students’ safety, and to help them obtain the fairest outcome possible. We will be asking schools to collaborate with us as we make evidence-based decisions about grades for students in each subject.
We are asking schools to follow a four-step process:
Step 1, School determines students’ predicted grades for each syllabus
Step 2, School determines each student’s place within a rank order of all candidates within each grade for each syllabus
Step 3, Head of school confirms the predicted grades and rank orders, and school sends them to Cambridge International
Step 4, Cambridge International combines school data with a standardisation process and awards final grades for each student.
I am pleased to report students, both those in school and overseas, have approached this process with maturity and the evidence collection process is proceeding smoothly.
Science Fair:
Student in Years 7, 8 and 9 have been working hard on their individual investigations for Britannica’s first online science fair event. This student led project combines work in ICT, where students are creating a website for their submissions to be uploaded and viewed by their peers, alongside work in Science, where students are going to physically carry out their investigations.
Students have now submitted their initial research proposals which have included some very original and creative ideas such as:
- Does different genres of music effect academic performance?
- Is it possible to make chemically neutral and safe bath bombs in a science lab?
- Does the mass of an object effect the speed it reaches after sliding down an inclined slope?
I would like to congratulate all students who have submitted their proposals and look forward to seeing the results.
E Learning Excellence:
Our secondary mathematicians were awarded certificates this week for outstanding participation and achievement in Mathematics during the e learning period. Congratulations to the following students:
Year 7: Olympia and Carlson
Year 8: Larisa and Ricardo
Year 9: Jerrell and Julia
Year 10: Selina and Elisa
Paul Farrell
Head of Secondary and Vice Principal
