From the Head of Junior School

Dear Members of the St Gregory’s College Community,

Well, I must say that the past couple of weeks have been the most unusual of my career! We are certainly living in unprecedented and uncertain times. Last week, as the staff gathered (observing social distancing) to prepare ourselves for the launch of what we now know as remote learning, I  reflected on the challenges that we as a College community are facing. Whilst the challenge of moving to remote learning is obvious, our community has had to tackle this amidst the personal anxieties associated with the COVID-19 many new realities. I reflected that times such as this highlight the importance of being part of our Marist and Catholic community. 

LEARNING HAS CONTINUED!!!

Learning here at St Gregory’s has continued but it has been done in the absence of the most important stakeholders . . . our students in the classrooms, which has been quite hard for all. As I have wandered around the Junior School this week to touch base with teachers it has been eerily quiet and yet as I have moved onto our online platforms, Seesaw and Google Classrooms, the presence of students has been almost deafening. It has been so encouraging to see the huge amount of learning that has taken place across the week despite the lack of physical contact. I attribute this in no small way to the commitment to learning and commitment of our teachers, students and parents! A huge thank you from me!

TEACHING AND SUPPORT STAFF

All of us are gaining an even deeper appreciation of the professionalism and commitment of our teaching and support staff. I pay tribute to them all for their labours this week. Please do not underestimate the changes they have undertaken. They have re-trained, upskilled themselves and completely changed work habits in a matter of days, much of which was achieved whilst they were still face-to-face teaching. We intend to continue next week and then spend time in the following week reflecting, refining and further up-skilling ourselves to ensure even better teaching and learning should these circumstances continue into Term 2.  

FEEDBACK

I have been particularly overwhelmed by the feedback from parents. It is fair to say that some parents have grown in appreciation of teachers as they have taken responsibility for overseeing the learning process at home. Please continue to share your emails or messages of support for the staff. I know to you it may just seem like an insignificant comment, but the staff are absolutely adoring the personal messages of support that you are all sharing with them. This Remote Learning is very different and I thank you all for your constructive and positive feedback about the process.

ROUTINES ARE NEEDED TO ACHIEVE SUCCESS

As reflected above, a number of parents have suggested the students have found it challenging to manage the day given the lack of bells, other students and a timetable. I recommend setting aside some time to develop a personal timetable with your child that consists of routines, break times for exercise, food and fun, and a start and end time. We understand that every household will be different. As such, it is not an expectation that students will complete the activities at the exact time they are released. We hope that students will complete them before the end of their school day…whatever time that is.  

As I stated in my letter to all Junior School families, what your children need right now is to feel comforted, supported and loved. Reassure them that it is going to be okay. We ask you to make our Remote Learning work with your family. If you only get half of our work complete because you stopped to do some cooking together, snuggle under a blanket, kick a ball outside or perhaps even spend the afternoon doing your work online – that is okay!

AN ESSENTIAL AGREEMENT HELPS TO KEEP EVERYONE ON THE SAME PAGE 

One of the tricks of the trade that we use with the students in the classrooms is the establishment of an Essential Agreement in each learning space. An Essential Agreement is simply a set of jointly agreed expectations between all of the learners that are involved. A routine, as described above, could be part of this as well as agreements about any of the following; where the student will work, length of break times, use of social networking tools, offline activities, use of manners, etc. We find these agreements work best when they are written up and posted on a wall in the learning space. 

BREAKING UP THE DAY 

I encourage parents to embrace the opportunities that exist in the home beyond the learning experiences being provided. Cooking, learning an instrument, building with LEGO, fitness with Mr Howe, chess against siblings or mum or dad, working on a puzzle – these are just some of the many things that students can be doing in their additional time at home. The best thing is they’re all offline! 

On behalf of all the teachers and support staff, I want to thank you for the support you have shown us all and for what you are achieving at home with your son or daughter in what is challenging circumstances. Continue to stay connected with us as we are only a message away!

As our St Gregory’s College motto states, ‘You will reap what you sow"

Joel Weekes

Head of Junior School