THERE were P-Plates as far as the eye could see at St Joseph’s High School Aberdeen on Tuesday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
About 20 Year 12 pupils were taking advantage of one of three Higher School Certificate (HSC) study days.
In its third year, the Upper Hunter Education Fund (UHEF) initiative has provided previous grades with insight into their nearing exams, as well as life after high school.
UHEF committee member and St Joseph’s teacher Alison Tilse said it was really important to broaden the exposure for students.
“For kids in the Upper Hunter, it is still really restricted, often in the class sizes that you have, and knowing what the big picture is for the HSC,” she said.
The program brings students, often from Sydney, who excelled in the previous year’s exams, to help the current year’s pupils with any tricky questions they may have.
“Often it’s about not so much the content, but the strategies,” Ms Tilse said.
“It puts the HSC into a big picture and how competitive it is across the board.
“We conduct a forum at lunchtime with them and we get them to talk strategies.
“We talk about what they were doing to be successful, even two-and-a-half weeks out from the HSC.
“Hopefully [the 2017 class] just pick up something else that will give them that little bit more of an edge.
“Last year here at St Joseph’s we had some great results and most of them that were highly successful attended the study days.”
The UHEF added Scone High School to its list of involved schools this year, which was well-received by its students.
“It’s slowly gaining momentum as kids learn about it,” Ms Tilse said.
The program aims to meet the demands of the students who turn up for each workshop.
And, every tutor has a few subjects they can advise on, depending on what is required.
Looking forward, Ms Tilse said the UHEF was planning to continue growing the program into the future.
“We had three years of funding through Coal and Allied and we’re going to reapply again,” she said.