Marden Matters

Term 2 2017

your pathway to success

From the Principal

We recently welcomed approximately 80 new students to Marden Senior College for the start of semester two. These students are now getting a feel for the opportunities on what Marden offers, and understanding what is involved as a member of a purposeful adult learning environment. All the best to these students and their families for this new education phase.

With the shortest day for the year now behind us (Winter Solstice, June 21), there is a real sense of progress amongst our 800 or so continuing students. Semester one 10-credit subjects are complete, a number of assessments are finished and trial exams are being conducted before the end of the term. In fact, students studying year-long courses are at the 2/3 mark of the academic year. So that end of the year light is shining brighter.

As a student, now is the time to reflect on what you have achieved to date and to re-visit your personal goals. Energy and motivation can flag at this time of the year as motivation is tested. It is a good time to consider what motivates you.

Although there is no single recipe or secret to academic success, research and experience show that the level of success is often related to:• enjoying the feeling of progress and

achievement through setting and re-setting short term goals

• studying for short, high-intensity bursts — quality of study is more important than quantity

• being prepared to take risks with your learning, try creative directions and learn from your mistakes

• seeking enjoyment and finding things of interest in your studies helps - be curious

• committing to your study, attend classes, meet deadlines and persist

• networking with other students• looking after yourself – sleeping,

eating, exercising and balancing other commitments are all important

There are many different ways of achieving personal goals. The trick is to find what works for you. If you need any support to re-assess your goals, a conversation with your teacher or mentor a good place to begin, as is making an appointment with one of the counsellors in Student Services.

A way to keep motivated is to get more involved in College life. Two recent successful events come to mind: Pedal Prix and tree planting day. There will be a second 6-hour Pedal Prix at Victoria Park on the first weekend in Term 3 - join in, get involved or simply pop in for a look to show your support. A number of lunchtime activities, including 4-a-side soccer and chess tournaments have been offered and others are planned for Term 3. The Student Government Association (SGA), who support many events, continue to seek new ways to provide opportunities for students to connect

and participate in the college community. Don’t forget that Monday to Thursday lunchtimes you can get the blood pumping at the MARS gym and soccer players will soon be preparing for the annual Re-Entry Schools tournament. The library also offers a range of activities and is a great place to shelter from the cold weather. So there is lots on offer at the College. Get involved.

Planning for Marden Senior College’s 25th year anniversary celebrations is taking shape. A feature will be a day when the College will be open to interested members of the community, including past students and staff. Current staff and students will play a lead role on the day by exhibiting 2017 learning at the College. Plans are also underway for the creation of a time capsule.

Keep an eye on that light at the end of the tunnel and remember that any study will hold some challenges but it can also be enjoyable, and persistence will get you much closer to your ultimate goal. I leave you with this quote from famous physicist Albert Einstein (1879-1955):

“It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”

Stephen Inglis

SGA Report

On behalf of the SGA I would like to thank everyone who was involved in the planting day on June 1. Thank you to the students who came out early in the morning and cut onions in the cold, as well as the students who came down during classes to help plant. It was a successful day and plenty of snags in bread were had. We look forward to seeing you for another successful day next year.

Also, remember that tickets for the formal are now on sale in the book room.

Kayla Gough, SGA

The first day of winter was a cold but sunny day for the planting day at the River Torrens. Led by the Stage 1 & Stage 2 Environmental Action classes, students and their teachers planted 350 native seedlings throughout the day. An ‘Acknowledgement of Country’ ceremony was conducted by Mic Bradshaw at recess time and a BBQ provided by Tim and the SGA at lunchtime.

Work on this site began in 2001 with a Stage 1 Environmental class planting native plants in a boggy area to assist the council’s maintenance. Since then the site has expanded with thousands of native plants established, making this one of the most diverse re-vegetation sites along the urban channel of the River Torrens.

2001 – Meeting to establish the ‘Our Patch’ site and a photo of the first planting.

2017 – The current state of this section of the River Torrens is a credit to the Marden Senior College school community. Over 100 species included some rare plants have been re-introduced by thousands of students over past years.

Peter Allen

Marden Senior College Our Patch Planting Day

Two of our CSWE students, Nancy and Kaori presented a demonstration of step by step cooking and flower arrangement skills as part of giving a sequence of verbal instructions. As a result of these demonstrations, our class now has a weekly morning tea at recess on Thursdays.

Certificate in Spoken and Written English

Careers Information

Keep up to date with the latest in careers informationMHS Careers produce weekly bulletins that are packed full of valuable information about careers and tertiary education. This service is completely free for Marden Senior College students as you and your parents have access under our subscription. To receive the newsletter, click on the link below and enter your details, along with the login and password.

www.mhscareers.com Login: msc

Password: sa5070 Also www.myfuture.edu.au has been updated significantly and is now an even better resource. This is available for South Australian students and is a great replacement for the old “Job Guides” and bullseye posters, neither of which are being produced in hard copy any more. And www.skillsroad.com.au is a completely free resource that is also extremely good to help students find their feet in the world of work. Like the myfuture website, skills road has a test that you can do to identify jobs that may suit your passion.

For more info or a tour through these resources, feel free to drop into Student Services and speak with a counsellor.

Uni and TAFE EntryTerm 3 is a very busy time for all students who are intending to study at University or TAFE in 2018. Not only are your subjects in full swing, but TAFE and all three universities, Flinders, Adelaide and the University of South Australia are holding their Open Days for prospective students. These are excellent opportunities for students to gather information about various courses in the lead up to making applications through SATAC for tertiary study in 2018.

Open Day activities for Flinders University will occur on Friday 18 and Saturday 19 August 2017. Adelaide University and the University of South Australia are holding their Open Day on Sunday 20 August 2017.

Uni Guides will be distributed as soon as they becomes available in early Term 3. Counsellors are able to provide one on one support to students who need assistance in making a TAFE/Uni application during Term 3.

Tertiary Education PanelAs part of our service to students and in conjunction with the Open Access College, we have organised for the three universities

and various other training organisations to come to Marden Senior College on Thursday 7 September 2017 from 12.00 noon until 1.30 pm. This visit will provide students with an opportunity to:• speak with advisors from the tertiary

education sector• gather information about courses• enquire about alternative entry pathways

into university.

This event will be held in the cafeteria.

uniTEST for Flinders UniversityAre you keen to enhance your opportunity to attend university? Do you wish to increase your options to gain a place in the course you want? Are you looking at a way to show the University that you have the ability to succeed at University study? Then uniTEST is your chance to impress!

uniTEST is an aptitude test that has been designed to assess the kinds of generic reasoning and thinking skills that underpin studies at higher education and that are needed for students to be successful. uniTEST assess this reasoning and thinking across the broad domains of mathematics, science, humanities and social sciences.

Flinders is offering uniTEST to any eligible applicant wishing to enhance their opportunity to attend university. Flinders will select students based on both an applicant’s Year 12 results (60% weighting toward the ATAR score) and uniTEST performance (40%).

Whilst it won’t guarantee you a place at University, if you do well in the test the results will be taken into consideration by Flinders, and it may assist you to enter your course of choice. If however you don’t do so well in the test, don’t worry as you cannot be disadvantaged by sitting uniTEST.

Marden Senior College is a test centre for uniTEST. More information will be distributed to students as we near the test day.

Additional information can be found at www.flinders.edu.au/future-students/how-to-apply/special-entry/unitest.cfm

Work ExperienceA Work Experience placement can provide you with a great insight into a particular job or the world of work in general. Your performance in the placement is assessed and can be a valuable addition to your personal portfolio, as well as providing you with feedback about the employability skills you need to develop.

Completion of Work Experience along with some additional tasks can provide you with a SACE Stage 1 unit as part of Community Studies. Changes in the process regarding preparation for work experience require that you speak to a counsellor at least 1 week prior to commencement.

Come and have a chat with the Student Counsellors if you would like to know more about any of the issues detailed above.

Stage 1 Gaming Space

The stage 1 Gaming Space class engaged in a Sphero Ball activity which involved programming the ball and then running the program by directing the ball through a maze.

2017 Pedal Prix Event 1

On June 17, the Stage 2 Integrated Learning – Sport and Recreation class saw the chequered flag waved as the Marden Senior College Pedal Prix team as Maelstrom II embarked on its opening race of the season.

The team did excellently, but sadly we couldn’t uphold the high standards of racing set throughout the opening hours, with a few technical issues losing us around 30 minute of racing time during the late afternoon. Without the missed laps the team was on track to set a new personal best for MSC but still managed a fantastic total of 142 laps.

A special thank you to everyone who came to support on the day, most notably Lucy, Ted & Barb, Rachel, Stephen as well as Malcom and Graeme for their much needed leadership during the day. Overall an impressive display from the team which shows plenty of potential for the next race on the July 29.

There are still positions available for the next race, please contact Graeme or Malcolm if you are interested.

Nick Golfis & Ricky Monserrrat

2017 National Careers and Employment Expo

As part of the Stage 1 Ancient Studies course students participated in a practical activity. The students were given boxes filled with gravel and dirt and asked to do a mini archaeological dig using the tools that an archaeologist would use.

Part of this simulation was uncovering the pieces followed by numbering or documenting of them, before trying to put them back together. This was done so we could learn more about some archaeological methods studied in class and put them into practice. Team work was also used as not all the pieces needed are in your “site”. It is a great hands on way to learn how basic archaeology works out in the field.

Kayla Gough

Marden Senior College has participated in this annual two day event since its inauguration in 2005. This year the event attracted more than 15000 visitors over the two days including some 7000 students from dozens of metropolitan and country schools on Friday to research future career options.

The Saturday audience consisted mainly of adults and families looking at training opportunities for themselves or school options for their children. Marden, together with Hamilton and Thebarton Senior Colleges, has used the event to inform school students and the general community of the multiple education and training pathways available to them in our colleges.

Our conversations with the public at this Expo are always useful with invariably positive responses. People are often surprised by the comprehensive range of SACE and Vocational Education Training programs available to them, while others comment on the appeal of studying in a flexible adult learning environment. School students are often unaware that they are able

On Tuesday May 23 thirty-five Marden students and accompanying teachers attended the State Theatre Company’s adaptation of George Orwell’s classic dystopian novel 1984 at Her Majesty’s Theatre. The attendees from Marden comprised of students from Stage 1 English, Stage 2 English Literary Studies, Modern History and Australian and International Politics classes.

The outstanding production challenged, shocked, entertained and provoked the students into exploring a world where an invasive government keeps a malevolently watchful eye on its citizens. This radical and richly praised staging explored surveillance, identity and why Orwell’s vision of the future is as relevant now as ever.

The play formed the basis of assignments given to students across a number of class assessment tasks with the students delivering their own historical and political perspectives on one of the most influential novels of all time.

1984 Excursion

to enrol for single subjects at Marden while remaining enrolled in their own schools for the bulk of their studies.

Interacting directly with the public in this way ensures that people are able to receive quality information and advice in response to their particular needs and interests.

We look forward to seeing some of you there next year!

Janet ElliottStudent Services

Archaeological Dig

your pathway to success

AN INVITATION

www.msc.sa.edu.auFor more information visit

Principal’s Tour & Information Session

Wednesday 6 September 2017

9:30am - 10:30am & 4:30pm - 5:30pm

Marden Senior College Marden Road, Marden SA 5070

(08) 8366 2888 Fax (08) 8362 0451

International +61 8 8366 2800 info@msc.sa.edu.au

Specialist Senior Secondary Education✓ Academic Excellence ✓ SACE Stage 1 & 2 ✓ VET

✓ Registered Training Organisation (RTO) ✓ Flexible Learning

From The Pastoral Care Worker

I offer a very warm welcome to all our new students commencing semester two here at Marden Senior College. I hope you are able to settle in quickly and celebrate being in a great place.

As our school logo states, you together with our student body from semester one, are on a ‘Pathway to Success.’ Our whole student demographic, in whatever they might be enrolled to study, is on a journey; on a pathway to success.

Pathways however, sometimes become overgrown, can become hazardous. Trees strewn across them, overgrown plants forming trip hazards. This time last year, extreme weather events were causing roads and pathways to be washed away. And in the same way, a journey or pathway to success at Marden can sometimes have barriers placed across it. There might be hurdles in the way that prevent smooth passage, obstacles that have to be overcome, roundabouts to be traversed that hinder safe travel and a successful journey.

My name is Tim Wells and I am your personal Restorative, Advocate and Assistant. On this journey, I am your RAA! I will work with you to restore you to the journey you are making; – to the best of my ability, I will advocate on your behalf and I will assist you as you continue along your pathway. I will work with you to remove the barriers that sometime turn up unexpectedly. I will support you around the roundabouts and assist you over the hurdles where I can; and when I can’t, I will strive to find the people who can. Like the other famous RAA, I will work with you to get you back on your journey.

A unique place to learn, Marden Senior College offers you a safe place to explore and discover and affords you the opportunity not just to learn but to excel in your studies. There are no assemblies, or house meetings, just a focus on you as an individual on a journey. But I am pleased to advise, that once a week, our community can come together. Every Wednesday recess time, come along to the gazebo and share in free bread and cakes, made available by Bakers Delight, North Adelaide.

Be comfortable in the knowledge that it is often here, you can seek my support and assistance and…have free bread and cakes! At the same time, enjoy that sense of belonging and community!

I have an office in the 600 Block, adjacent to the Lecture Theatre under the verandah; please be confident to come and say hello on Mondays, Wednesday and Thursdays. I will be happy to journey alongside you and ensure your stay at Marden is not only a successful one, but a really enjoyable one too.

Tim Wells

Marden Education Centre Library

It has been an eventful Term 2 at Marden and in the library. There have been a number of events to promote reading, literacy, learning, as well as community events. It was also a busy time for students working on assignments but also making use of the resources for recreational purposes too.

Some of the online resources available from the Library link on the front page of the MSC Website and Library Catalogue page may be useful at this time. If you need assistance to find and use them, please ask the library staff.

A variety of displays have been set up to promote events this term. Refugee Week, Matilda the Musical, Tree Planting and World Environment Day, National Reconciliation Week, The Cancer Council Biggest Morning Tea and the 20th Anniversary of the first Harry Potter books have all been showcased. The MSC Pedal Prix car is currently on show in the entrance to the library too after a successful stint at the recent event at Victoria Park. Chocolate sales to assist the SGA with fundraising for the Formal have also been popular – especially on those cold days!

We also have games at recess and lunch for students to borrow and a jigsaw as well as colouring in sheets and puzzles to try during the breaks. A chess competition has been run at lunch time too. Students have also been encouraged to set up “clubs” to run at lunch times in the library and we hope to see a few happening in Term 3.

An enthusiastic team of staff are available to assist students in the library. Staff are available to support with finding and using resources and information as well as assisting with drafts, grammar checking and more.

We are open from 8.30am until 3.45 pm Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, 8.30am until 8pm on Wednesday, and 8.30am until 3.30pm on Friday. The extended hours on Wednesday as well as after lesson 2 on Friday afternoons are very useful for students to use to spend that extra time to work. The staff are here to support you at all times and we look forward to seeing you at the Library!!

Sue JohnstonLibrary Manager

Café and Barista Graduation

On Friday June 23 the Independent Institute of Food Processing conducted the final class for semester 1 and acknowledged student achievement with the end of semester celebration. The Café and Barista students were able to showcase the knowledge and skills that they had developed throughout the course by catering for the event, treating parents, students and staff with great food, coffee and service. Independent Institute trainers were impressed with the class and made comment on what students were able to achieve, making reference to future job prospects that were secured as a result of the training. Congratulations to all the Café Barista students.