PRINCIPAL'S REPORT
Staggered Return
We are thrilled to be welcoming students back onsite in a staggered manner. Our Year 12 students have been well supported at the end of last term and commencement of this term, to reconnect to face-to-face learning, engage in the GAT last week and to prepare for their upcoming exams. Our Year 11 students returned to classes on Wednesday October 6th very positively.
Year 7 students commenced onsite Monday, October 11th and it was truly wonderful to see their beaming faces as they reconnected with their peers and teachers.
Year 8 and 9 students will attend on site on a Tuesday and Wednesday during weeks 2 and 3 of this term and learn remotely other days.
Year 10 will attend on site on a Thursday and Friday during weeks 2 and 3 of this term and then learn remotely the other days.
The current roadmap plans for all students to be back to on site learning full time from Tuesday October 26th 2021.
Year 12 End of Year Celebrations and Exams
Our Year 12 students have demonstrated so much resilience and support for each other during 2021. They have always been a cohort of extremely positive young people who have been there for each other and well connected socially to excellent supports. For this, I am so thankful.
This year has no doubt been a challenging one for all. It is disappointing that after three attempts we could not manage to run the Senior School Formal this year due to restrictions being in place that prohibit us from operating such events and/or venues not being able to cater to such large numbers which is currently the status.
However, we have some fun activities planned for the Year 12 students in the last few days of classes here onsite at SCSC, as we do each year. There will be dress up days and some interactive games (with COVID safe measures in place) to create a fun atmosphere and memories for them in their final days of secondary schooling.
We are still also planning to have a Year 12 Valedictory Evening on November 25, this is due to be at The Pier in Geelong pending restrictions, but we do also have a ‘back-up plan’ onsite so that the students can still have this memorable occasion to mark their graduation from SCSC.
Before this can happen, we must first support our students that are studying VCE to complete their end of year written exams which commence with the English exam on Wednesday October 27th. Many measures are in place to support students to successfully complete these exams on site at SCSC.
Respectful, Responsible, Resilient and Routined
The above four things are what we are focusing on supporting our students to be upon return to onsite learning here at SCSC.
Respectful – students have not been around each other, or a large amount of people for quite some time. We will be reminding students of the need to be patient, use manners, speak with tolerance and also consider that others may have a different experience of lock downs and remote learning than you, and to be considerate of the feelings of others at all times.
Responsible - all mistakes need to be seen as an opportunity to learn. We will work WITH students to ensure that they are supported to understand when things are not going well and how we can all work together to improve, get back into a positive routine and mindset and get a better outcome for the future.
Resilient - students may be feeling deflated after remote learning. They may have misunderstood things, missed chunks of information or skills and be feeling ‘what is the point?’ It is our role to help them return to a growth mindset and set goals to recover from gaps in learning. Our staff will focus on helping students to set goals, track their progress and find opportunities to celebrate successes as much as we can.
Routined – getting back into routines that are predicable are important and give us comfort. Please help us to ensure that students are coming to school:
- In full school uniform
- Arriving on time
- With fully charged devices
- With cash or cards to be paying for canteen items
- That phones are to be stored in lockers during the entire school day
- With all equipment that they need for classes that may have been taken home
As always, we appreciate the important relationship between home and school and your support of us as we work to get students back to on site learning in a positive way this term.