How We Should Be Preparing Our School Leavers for Next Week’s SACE Results Release
Leading SA girls’ college Principal flags the importance of providing extra mental health support for Year 12 students, as they prepare to receive their SACE results on Monday 19th December.
As Year 12 students around the state prepare to receive their SACE results on Monday 19th December, Dr Nicole Archard, Principal of Loreto College Marryatville has emphasised the important role of parents and caregivers in supporting high school graduates’ mental health during this period.
Specifically, Dr Archard encourages parents to ensure they are not contributing to the mental health and anxiety pressures felt by their children towards the impending end-of-year results by linking academic results to self-worth.
“Too often we forget the purpose of high school, to prepare students for life in the real world. By placing such a high emphasis on Year 12 results, many students can experience feelings of disappointment and a subsequent reduction in confidence due to lower-than-expected results,” said Dr Archard.
Dr Archard’s key advice to parents includes positively recognising the achievements of their children, regardless of the outcome of their SACE results. As well as ensuring school leavers feel reassured about the many diverse pathways to university and the first steps towards their future careers.
“This is a momentous time for both parents and children. Parents should feel proud of their child’s achievements and equally, they should ensure their child also feels proud of their achievements. It is also an important time to remind school leavers that success through life, whether this is personal, or career based, will come down to attributes such as confidence, strength and passion, and skills such as the ability to work in a team, think creatively and divergently.”
Modelling this advice for students at Loreto College, Dr Archard emphasises the role of educators in shaping graduate’s beliefs around the importance of results and recognising student success and growth outside of purely academic measures.
“At Loreto College, we tell our girls that whilst a high ATAR might open doors to get into university, it does not keep the door open. What keeps the door open and sets girls up for lifelong success is the development of their self-concept as strong, independent, and confident women. We do this in conjunction with developing girls to be analytical, critical, and creative thinkers,” said Dr Archard.
Moreover, Dr Archard acknowledges the broader need for a shift in thinking around how society frames the final few years of schooling. She advocates that by placing less emphasis on results-based outcomes and greater importance on fostering a love of learning, both educators and students are in the best position to excel in the future.
She continues, “If we shifted our focus from results and instead focused on fostering a love of learning, understanding that learning can occur and be represented in different ways and that learning does not come down to a league table of results, we would provide schools with the space they require to be creative and innovative with the delivery of curriculum and the assessment of learning outcomes.”
South Australian SACE results will be available to students on Monday 19th of December from 8.30 am.
About Loreto College
Loreto College Marryatville is South Australia’s leading all-girls day and boarding school, catering for students from Early Learning to Year 12.
Established in 1905, a Loreto education is built on a 400-year-old tradition first inspired by the founder of Loreto schools worldwide, Mary Ward, and encapsulates her beliefs in delivering an education that inspires strong, passionate, and confident girls and young women.
In delivering this view, Loreto College Marryatville provides girls with a well-rounded education where students are presented with a broad range of opportunities and given the support and encouragement to become confident and engaged learners with the knowledge and skills to make a difference in their world.
Shannon Muscolino