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Japanese Teachers' Association of NSWABN 94 045 344 808 |
July 2008 Newsletter
Hi Everyone
Hope you had a relaxing break and are recharged for the busy term, especially teachers who have year 12 classes.
Year 12 Extension Workshop and AGM
Are you equipped enough to cope with the new extension prescribed text and issues? JTAN is organizing the Year 12 Extension Workshop on 11th October. This workshop is the ONLY in-service available that will deal with exam style questions.
All workshop participants will get a free copy of a CD on the day of the workshop. The CD will include some teaching programs on the new prescribed text and/or issues, and some sample HSC style questions. All participants will work on ways to prepare students for better responses as well as some answers to the sample questions. The workshop will run from 1pm to 4pm (registration 12:30pm). The cost is $80.00. Applications close on 29th August. The application form will be available on the JTAN website soon.
The Extension Workshop will be followed by the Annual General Meeting where we will report on JTAN activities to members. We will also be nominating committee members for next year. Why not consider becoming a committee member yourself? It is both challenging and rewarding.
Mailing Address
Just want to remind you yet again that JTAN's mailing address is P O Box 419, Belrose 2085. If you are sending your late order forms, membership applications, etc., please make sure you send to this address.
Late Exam Orders
Schools that have placed their exam orders AFTER the application deadline will need to pay an extra administrative cost of ten dollars ($10.00) per exam. Some schools, however, did not include the administrative fees in their order, which lead to the delay in their orders being dispatched. Please make sure that you use the correct order form and check with your school office that the right amount has been sent.
JTAN Exams and Embargo Date
Teachers who have purchased JTAN exams must agree that the JTAN exam kits are of a very high quality, reflecting the aims and objectives of the syllabuses. Please note that JTAN holds the copyright of all JTAN exam kits, whether it is a hard or soft copy, or whether it is the word documents or sound files. Schools that have purchased the exam kits may freely alter the content to suit their internal exam specifications. The exam kits are only to be used by the purchasing schools. Please respect the copyright and refrain from making pirated copies for other schools or teachers.
Please be reminded that the exam papers are embargoed until 31st August, ie, the beginning of week 7 of Term 3. The Preliminary Yearly papers are embargoed until 22nd September, ie, week 10 of Term 3. It is of the utmost importance that the embargo rule is adhered to strictly so that the integrity of the exams can be maintained. Of course it is ok to discuss the exam papers with your students. However, please remember to collect the exam papers back after the discussion. Students are not allowed to keep the exam papers until after the embargo date. Please note that independent schools may have less than 10 weeks in Term 3. If this is the case, please make sure that your students do not keep the Preliminary Yearly papers until Term 4.
JTAN Exams and Embargo Date (continued)
JTAN does not sell its exam kits to coaching schools directly or via any third party. However, if the embargo dates are not adhered to strictly by teachers, coaching schools may illegally obtain a copy of the exam from their students and so the confidentiality of the exams cannot be maintained. As you can imagine, one careless mistake can have a major disastrous impact on all schools which intend to use the JTAN exam kits. Please be vigilant!
Regional Workshops
The regional teachers, with the support of JTAN, held HSC workshops in Ballina and Coffs Harbour. The Ballina HSC Workshop was held on 28th June. Students in this workshop were given opportunities to practise the HSC style oral exam by having mock interview sessions. Students and teachers were also given HSC exam tips and practice for some reading and writing tasks. Thank you to the regional co-ordinator, Motoko Christensen, who took the initiative to organize the event. A round of applause also goes to Mami Izuishi, JTAN Workshop Co-ordinator, who flew to Ballina (on her birthday!!) to help the Ballina teachers with the workshop.
Another regional workshop was held on 23rd June at John Paul College in Coffs Harbour. This workshop was for both the beginners and continuers students. Participating students were given opportunities to practise HSC style speaking questions. Students were also given practice for global questions for the beginners listening and reading components. Like all other workshops, the Coffs Harbour one was reported by all students to be beneficial and worthwhile. Thank you to the Coffs Harbour co-ordinator, Rikako Degens for organizing this event.
Year 10 Day
The Year 10 Day on Friday, 25 July was such a big success. We will report to you more in the next issue.
That's all for now! Keep warm and relax!
Regards
Angela Lam
JTAN Communications Officer
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