Middle Years 

Middle Years Update 

Social distancing and isolation are not new to our world: they were used as far back as the times of the Plague.

Willliam Shakespeare lived through several outbreaks of the Plague in England during his lifetime. It struck his household in 1606 when his landlady died of the Plague. Shakespeare went into isolation and there is considerable evidence that in that time he wrote " King Lear". "Antony and Cleopatra" was also probably written whilst social distancing was in force.

Years later another brilliant mind was handed the opportunity to have time to work on his special areas of interest. Isaac Newton was a student in Cambridge in 1665 and 1667 when students were sent home to distance themselves from new outbreaks of the Plague.

Newton isolated himself in the country. In this time he unravelled the mystery of gravity and discovered calculus.

Saturday's copy of The Age had an interesting article on student, Alexander Contrerasot , whose family live in rural El Salvador.

Due to the Covid19 outbreak, Alexander was sent from his school in San Salvador back to his parent's home to socially distance himself. His home is a very humble dirt floor home which they share with five other relatives. Not an environment very conducive to study, however, his biggest problem was accessing the internet.

Alexander found a solution. The only way he could get an internet signal was by climbing a tree. He has been climbing that tree with a mobile phone and perching there, to pick up a weak signal, for up to four hours a day to access his classes. 

We take so much for granted!

Allira Howe

Director of Learning - Middle School

A message to Year 7

The term “unprecedented times” is one that is being used a lot by news services to describe the current state of affairs across not just Australia, but the world. Obviously many aspects of our lives have changed and education is also one of these. However, I would argue that the current situation also presents a great deal of opportunity as so often a “crisis” can. We now have an opportunity to tackle problems in a different way and to improve aspects such as self-motivation, written communication and also organisation. I would also argue that while being fully isolated is certainly not the future anyone wants; working effectively using the myriad of communication tools and learning platforms which have been employed as a result of the Corona virus, may well be. The notion of autonomous learning and terms such as metacognition are definitely encouraged in the world right now and will continue too, and maybe more so, in our not too distant future.

It is a great time to test these capabilities, to learn new things and, dare I say it, have some gratitude for those things that perhaps we take for granted. So the message I would like to send to all Year 7s, and the wider school community for that matter, is to take up the challenge that this situation has offered up. Take it personally and don’t let it get the better of you. I have emailed a personal Loom recording to all Year 7s with some tips on tackling your studies at this time.

Stick to the routines and the structures around preparing to learn that you know work and simply give it your best. Yes, you will be tested and at times and you will regress, but that does not mean you are beaten. So, be kind to those around you, be patient and never give up.

Stuart Kofoed

Year 7 Coordinator

Year 8 Update / From the Year 8 Coordinator

I have been really impressed with how well all of Year 8 have been taking remote learning in their stride. Everyone has been participating really well and respectfully in all Zoom sessions and contacting teachers when a problem or question arises. It’s been great to see a lot of your faces online and reassuring to know you are all safe and going well! Just remember to be kind to yourself and don’t stress when things come up. Personally, I am ready to go back to school! All this computer use all day is giving me headaches. I really miss all the day-to-day conversations with you out in the yard and seeing you succeed in all that you do. When things get hard try to think about 3 things you are grateful for and make sure you go out and enjoy the sunshine!

Looking forward to seeing you all again when the time is right!

Stephanie Goto

Year 8 Coordinator

Remote Learning from Year 9/Middle School Perspective.

As the Year 9 Coordinator I have been very impressed with the way that the Year 9 students and their parents/carers have quickly adapted to remote learning at Koonung Secondary College this term.

The Year 9 students, like the rest of the Year 7-10 students, are required to do at least one weekly Zoom meeting in every subject. The timetabling skill to make sure each student has at least one ‘daily check-in’ Zoom meeting where the classroom teacher takes the roll and sights the student has been achieved under the direction of our skilled mathematician, Assistant Principal Sandra Greenhill!

Although remote learning obviously provides many challenges to young people, their teachers, parents/carers and the Victorian education system in general, as Year 9 Coordinator I believe it is working very well at Koonung Secondary College, so far. Having said that, nothing beats learning face-to-face with a skilled teacher and motivated peers at the school.  Remote Learning must be more difficult for parents!

The 14 and 15 year olds in Year 9 at Koonung Secondary College are mostly telling me the biggest challenge of this Remote Learning and the Coronavirus restrictions is socially not being able to see and hang out with their friends. This makes sense as this stage of human development, adolescence, is the time when peers often become the centre of a young person’s world!

Luckily during this time of staying at home, young people have access to so much social media and technology to at least keep in contact digitally/virtually. But it is never the same as face-to-face  person contact.  If anything, this is being highlighted more than ever – young people need to be in contact with one another as much now as any previous generation (even with so much available social media).

I’d like to thank all the Year 9 teachers for making their lessons so interesting and adjusting their lessons to the context of 14 and 15 year olds who are learning at home.  I’d also like to thank you, the parents/carers, for your amazing flexibility and hard work in ensuring remote learning is functioning as best it can for your children.

It is important that the Year 9 students continue with their motivation for learning at home. I argue this learning is more self-directed and this gives more responsibility and autonomy to the students. So far, I have noticed the Year 9 students rising to this challenge and producing quality work during the past few weeks.

Please encourage/insist your child keeps their school schedule class routine, but takes lots of breaks from the computer screen, and gets at least 30-60 minutes  of daily exercise. In fact this term, all Year 9 students are completing an innovative, high quality Koonung Secondary College Physical Activity Logbook which requires the students to complete 60 mins of daily physical activity/exercise. Students who complete this log book will develop healthy lifelong physical activity/exercise patterns, if they haven’t already done so. 

Alistair Tuffnell

Year 9 Coordinator

Student perspectives

Keira Singleton (Middle School Captain)

The first two weeks of Term 2 have been very different to any learning environment we have ever seen before. At first I thought that working from home would be a difficult adjustment and that I wouldn’t enjoy it very much, but so far, I have really liked online school. I love being able to work from the comfort of my own home and the fact that I get to wake up just that little bit later. I find that I am able to work quite efficiently whilst working from home as I am able to do my work with no distractions and complete tasks way in advance before they are due.

My advice for other students is to get into a routine that you can follow every day, just like if we were at school. I have been waking up and stretching, going for a run each morning before class and making myself a hot drink at recess time. I also think that it is key, to take breaks each hour or two, as we are sitting in the same spot all day. So it is important to get up and walk around, make something to eat or organise your school items. Lastly, online school can sometimes feel stressful and that it is hard to keep up with the work from every class, so it is important to stay on top of it. Keep a list of assignments and tasks you have to finish near you while you are working, so that you know what you need to complete and can stay organised.

Self-isolation and staying at home can be challenging sometimes, but we need to remember that we should still be trying our best to stay healthy, keep up with school and to enjoy this unique time in our lives.

Harry Thomas (Middle School Captain)

Hi Middle Years 

I hope you are all coping okay with life in lockdown.  I’m trying to stay active every day, taking our dog for a walk or going for a run or a bike ride … some days it’s hard to be motivated though.  On these days I just might play a bit of basketball in my driveway.  I haven’t been sitting in front of the PS4 all day!  Most of us are probably missing the sport we play.  I am definitely missing basketball, so I am trying to use this time to improve my skills and not lose any condition.

Learning from home is very different to what we are used to.  Zoom meetings are so new to all of us but I feel as though I am really getting to know them now.  It’s also nice to be able to see other students and teachers.  I am trying to keep my home school routine the same as my normal school routine.  I am waking up at 7.30am …. most days and having a lunch break.  I have two whiteboards that I am constantly updating, one with my zooms for the week and the other to tell me what assignments I have due.  I am finding Koonung is keeping me very organised and our teachers are always available via email.  I have definitely been contacting them if I have needed any help. 

One thing I am loving about working from home is that you can have food whenever you want!  But the biggest thing about this pandemic and isolation, is that I am missing my mates.  I don’t know how long this remote learning will be going on for, no one really does, but remember to check in with your mates, keep up with your school work, stay active and stay safe.  I can’t wait to be catching up with you all in our school corridors!

Ava Booth (Middle School Vice-Captain)

I have found working from home very different as I am sure you all do. Not only are we going fully digital but we are also unable to see friends and be in physical contact with each other. This has made me feel a little bit distant but I am so grateful that we can still keep in contact via text and zoom chats. I am definitely missing the school bells for each period as they always kept me on schedule and in the right lesson.

 Some tips that I have for other students are:

• Print out the zoom timetable. This means you can never miss a zoom meeting.
• Wake up when you normally would on a regular school day. This will help you to focus and hopefully motivate you to do your school work so you don’t fall behind.
• Create your own zoom chats just for you and your friends. If you don’t have facetime or skype but want to have a video chat, just use Zoom!
• I certainly advise everyone to keep active. It may seem like more of an effort to but trust me, you will feel a whole lot better afterwards.

A few ways I am keeping active are; taking the dog for a walk at lunch, cycling to school in the morning like I would on a regular day, doing sport at the park and yoga and aerobics classes off the internet.

One thing I love about working from home is having extra time after finishing  class work. It may only be 5 to 10 minutes but it means in that extra time I can start on a new subject so that I don’t ever have homework and I am never behind.

I hope these tips will help you throughout this term but if you ever need to talk to someone I am here for you. My email is:  boo0009@koonung.vic.edu.au

Stay safe!