Queensland Students Prepare for Lift-Off

By Kayla de Candia and Sony Tseng, Bond University Journalism Students

Every year Queensland students in Grade 12 sit the Queensland Core Skills (QCS) test in the hope of increasing their chance of gaining entry into their desired university degree.
Head of the English, Language and QCS and a teacher at Varsity College Megan Roderick said the school started preparing students for the exam when they began Year 11.
“We work on team building, understanding of the test and the skills tested, basic literacy and numeracy revision, test readiness and practice testing," she said.
"Our students participate in a very intensive two year preparation program."
Ms Roderick said she played an integral role in preparing students.
"I coordinate the program, organise curriculum, staffing and resources," she said.
"I am also responsible for organising the team building days ... [and] interview students one on one about their academic achievement and progress.
"Overall, my role is to support the students to do the best they can."
Ms Roderick said the preparation methods were successful and hoped this would be reflected in the 2009 results.
"We are confident our 2009, Year 12, students will perform well this year," she said.
"They work hard, are engaged in their studies and are committed to the preparation program we are providing."
Charlotte Hall a Bond University student who graduated Varsity College in 2007 said the program was tedious at times but helped her feel confident going into the exam.
"Sometimes it could get a bit boring, because we did a lot of preparation in our individual subjects too," she said.
"When I actually did the test ... I really felt like I understood it all, it wasn’t as overwhelming because I’d already done practice tests and knew what I had to do."