Our Students


Student Services

Everything you need to know!

Student Services comprises 5 teachers and a College Psychologist.


Role of Student Advisors at Narrabundah College

Some of the issues we cover are:


Support systems offered by Student Services

Library Study Hub - After hours 4.00 - 5.30pm Monday and Wednesday.


Transition issues for students coming from Year 10 into college

Subject choice

Students' main advice comes from their high school teachers, then parents, siblings and friends.

Our advice is to pick subjects that you are good at, as you can gain high scores from all subject areas. Generally, the better you are at, and the more you like a subject, the more motivated you will be to put in a strong effort. However, all students should have an English or ESL course as well as a course in Mathematics.

Subject level

T Tertiary courses are Year 11 and 12 courses which are considered to prepare students for higher education. If you are thinking of going to University do at least 4 courses that are T level.

A Accredited courses have been deemed to be educationally sound and appropriate for students in Year 11 and 12. These courses will not be counted towards a UAI (University Admission Index).

V A Vocational course is a learning program which leads to a Vocational Certificate or Statement of Attainment as defined by the Australian Qualifications Framework. These course can be at T or A level.

R Registered classification is given to units or courses designed to provide personal development, recreational or community service activities.

Choosing a college that is right for the student

Go to the information sessions, as all colleges vary in the courses that they offer, as well as varying in their culture and college climate.

Assessment (norm and criteria referenced)

Assessment in T courses is norm referenced. Students that have coasted before now find they have to work and study to achieve the same results as they did in high school.

Issues about transition

Generally, your Year 10 work habits follow you on to college!


Understanding Your Report

Grades

A - E: Your performance against the standards for the course.

V: You have not:

Unit does not count.

S: You have missed too much work through illness / misadventure to be accurately assessed.
Unit counts towards your package.
No score attached.

Z: You have completed some assessment, but for reasons of illness or misadventure you have missed other assessments.

Scores
How are scores derived
Standardising

Ultimately the Board of Secondary Studies will scale the courses based on the ability of the group in the AST and other courses.

Backscaling
Standardising can only be an estimate of final scores because:
Scores

Assessment item scores --> Unit scores --> Course scores --> Aggregate score --> UAI


Careers Information

In the student services area we have course, degree and institution information about every university in Australia and Britain as well as several other international universities.

Students are welcome to come and browse the material at any time.

University applications take place towards the end of September. Students apply through the admission centers. All states have their own admission centre to cater for the universities of that state. For example UAC (University Admission Center) caters for all ACT and NSW universities. All ACT year 12 students will be issued with a UAC guide. Victoria utilises VTAC; South Australia uses SATAC and so forth. Guides from other states are usually available at big newsagencies. Griffith newsagency orders a number of copies of all guides for our students. Each state is independent so a student can apply at a NSW university as well as a Victorian one and be offered two places, one for each state.

Applications are usually via the web or by phone.

Students should check out the web sites before they apply to see what courses are offered and by which unis.

Web sites are:-

NSW & ACT - www.uac.edu.au

Victoria - www.vtac.edu.au

South Australia - www.satac.edu.au

Western Australia - www.tisc.edu.au

Queensland - www.qtac.edu.au

Northern Territory - www.ntu.edu.au

Tasmania direct to University of Tasmania - www.utas.edu.au

CIT Canberra Institute of Technology - www.cit.act.edu.au

In Student Services we also have the Career Builder and Myfuture computer programs that help with career choices.

Websites useful to career information, application writing and resume writing are:

www.myfuture.edu.au


Course score calculations (80% Rule)

(BSSS Policy Manual 3.3.5.2)

The premises for calculating and reporting course scores are:

For all course types (minor, major, minor/major, double major), the top 80% of available unit
scores are to be used to calculate the course score. Once a course type is met any additional
units may contribute to course score calculation. Therefore, course scores will be based on the highest calculation determined from the following methods:

Special attention should be given to the ranking provided by the course score of a student who
is eligible for special consideration (which may include the awarding of status) at any time
during a course.

2010 80% rule for students GAINING a ATAR - college explanation

The rules for calculating course scores have changed in a positive way and will apply from 2007 onwards for Year 11 and Year 12. Previously, a student's course score could potentially drop if they enrolled in an extra unit having already completed a course (minor, major, major-minor or double major) and achieved a low score in that unit.

Now, a student's course score cannot drop by completing more than the minimum requirements for a course, provided they do not raise the course type to the next level (ie from a minor to a major, or a major to a major-minor, etc). For example, if a student completes a major comprising 3.5 standard units by the end of session 2 in Year 12, they could complete an extra unit in Session 3 Year 12 to give 4.0 standard units. A course score calculation will be made based on the best 80% of the first 3.5 standard units (the minimum course requirement) and a second calculation will be made on the best 80% of the whole 4.0 standard units and whichever course score is better will count. This will be extended to all additional units over the minimum course requirement provided the next course type is not reached.

To completeMinimum standard unitsExtra UnitsExtra UnitsExtra Units
Minor 2.0 2.5 3.0  
Major 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0
Major-minor 5.5 6.0 6.5  
Major-minor 7.0 7.5 8.0  

Best 80% of units calculated

Whichever is the best 80% calculation is the final course score.

For Year 12 students enrolling in the final session this means under the conditions above your course score cannot drop by completing an extra unit(s). This removes the dilemma of whether to enrol in a unit or whether to complete it for fear of lowering you scores. We encourage you to complete the full two years of study as any of the final units contain very useful material and are often some of the more interesting in the course.