Principal's Report

Welcome Back

Dear parents and carers

On behalf of our school, I want to say a big thank you to all our students, parents and carers for your continued resilience and support throughout this year. I know remote and flexible learning has not always been easy, but through our collective efforts, our students have continued to make valuable progress in their learning. You can be confident that our school will support any student who has fallen behind to catch up.

Term 4 is important for every student, and our teachers will strive to deliver high-quality learning for everyone. Whether we’re teaching remotely or face-to-face, our focus for Term 4 is on making sure that every student is supported in their wellbeing, learning and transition needs.

The Victorian Government has outlined the staged return to on-site schooling for all students as part of its gradual roadmap towards reopening.

Term 4 on-site schooling arrangements for students

Following advice of the Victorian Chief Health Officer, the Victorian Government has released a staged approach for students to return to on-site schooling.

The purpose of the plan is to get students back in the classroom as soon and as safely as possible without putting at risk all that has been achieved through the period of restrictions to reduce the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).

For our school, the following arrangements apply:

From 12 October (second week of Term 4)

Students enrolled in years 7 , 11 and 12 (and students in any other year level undertaking VCAL or VCE studies) will attend on-site schooling
remote and flexible learning will continue for all students in Year 8 to Year 10 (except students in any other year level studying VCE and VCAL units)
on-site supervision will remain available for students in Year 8 to Year 10 who are the children of permitted workers and vulnerable students.

From 26 October (third week of Term 4)

students in Year 8 to Year 10 will return to on-site schooling. The existing remote learning program will not continue for these year levels

Health and safety measures

The Term 3 remote and flexible learning arrangements were put in place to significantly reduce the movement of more than one million students and their families across Victoria, to help slow the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). Thanks to you and your family for contributing to this on behalf of our school community.

As on-site schooling resumes, we will continue to have in place strong measures to protect the health and safety of students, staff, families and the community. This includes restricting parent access to school grounds and continued emphasis on hand hygiene and physical distancing where possible.

Please give particular attention to reducing the risks associated with congregation at school gates and taking steps to contribute to physical distancing within the school.

Whether your child is, or children are, returning to face-to-face learning or will be continuing with remote and flexible learning for a short period, please be assured we will be focused on three key priorities in Term 4:

Mental health and wellbeing

Our highest priority will be the wellbeing, particularly the mental health, of every student and member of staff. This means effectively mobilising all available resources to support our most vulnerable students and enabling staff to access the relevant support services.

In the Student Wellbeing tab of this newsletter you will find a simple guide to assist with helping your children return to school. “Returning to school: 7 tips for parents/carers to help young people cope.”

Learning and excellence

Some of our students have thrived in the remote and flexible learning environment, others have maintained their learning progress, and some have fallen behind, despite their best efforts and those of their families and teachers. Our priority will be supporting both those who need it to catch up and those who have progressed to continue to extend their learning.

Transitions

We will make every effort to ensure successful transitions for children moving from Grade 6 into Year 7, and the Year 12s moving into employment or further education and training.

We know some families are worried that their child may have to repeat a year due to the disruptions of coronavirus (COVID-19). There is little evidence to support the benefits of repeating a year to catch up. Instead, schools will use teaching strategies that draw on the best evidence available to help students meet their learning needs.

Parents, families and carers can be confident that the best option for almost every child is to stay with their peer group, whether that is moving from kindergarten into Prep, moving from Grade 6 into Year 7 at secondary school, or students moving up any year level in between.

Our school, working with you, has shown it can be flexible and adaptable in responding to the challenges of coronavirus (COVID-19) and will continue to meet student needs as we look towards the end of the 2020 school year and ahead to 2021.

Staffing

I welcome back from Long service Leave Ms Judy Bishop and Ms Lyn Cemeljic for Term 4 and advise that Mr Mark Alexander will be on long service leave for the first two weeks of Term 4. Mr Alexander will be replaced by Miss Natahlia Poli.

As previously communicated Ms Millership has commenced her maternity leave and is being replaced in Term 4 by Ms Bortolus and Ms Hughes.

Appointment of New Director of Faith & Mission

Following Mr Rhynehart’s resignation from the role of Director of Faith and Mission, the acting Director of Faith and Mission, Mr Tim Swan has been appointed to the role for the next 4 years. I congratulate Mr Swan on his appointment and look forward to his contribution to our school community over the next four years.

General Achievement Test – Wednesday October 7th

Our Year 12 students and most of the Year 11 students returned to school for the GAT last Wednesday. After a long period of remote learning it was pleasing to see them back and to hear the joyous sounds of human interaction at school once more. We look forward to our Year 7’s joining our Seniors on Monday and then the remainder of the school returning on October 26th.

Year 7 Enrolments in 2021 and 2022

Due to the Coronavirus our Open Events have been rescheduled as an online event. Parents wishing to take a virtual tour of our facilities and meet the Principal in an online forum should make a booking through https://www.trybooking.com/BALBU for the following dates in term 4:

Thursday 22 October – 9.15am

Tuesday November 17 – 6pm