Learning Updates
- School of Innovation

Students voice distance learning thoughts

The rapid implementation of distance learning by our St Anne’s College community has yet again been an enormous transition. We asked the Student Voice committee to share some personal reflections about their distance learning experience:

Lillian, Year 7: “During distance learning there are many different challenges, including procrastination and feeling disconnected.”

Alick, Year 8: “Distance learning presents many different challenges, such as not being able to socialise and collaborate with peers. It also presents a challenge to those who have trouble concentrating and understanding. But it's also a good way to build independence and hard work. Distance learning also helps with gratitude and resilience.”

Darcie, Year 7: “Distance learning can be very different for everyone. Some people like the quiet and focus better, whereas some people need the support from their peers. I personally like a bit of both.”

Riley O, Year 9: “I don’t mind distance learning. I do manage to complete my work but it’s a bit different. I can struggle with motivation at times.”

Miette, Year 8: “It’s good because you don’t have many distractions and you can get more work done. But it’s bad because you don’t have as much help as you normally would at school.”

Dante S, Year 8: “I’d much rather be at school with my friends and to actually be at school . . . but all the teachers respond to emails within half an hour so if I need help it’s not that far away.”

Kasey, Year 7:"I know for some people distance learning can be very overwhelming and stressful, so it is good to be able to check in with someone like a teacher, your parents or even a friend. Sometimes when I'm having trouble with some of my work Darcie and I call each other and work through it together, or if I need to I can email a teacher to help."

Parneet, Year 7: "What I feel is difficult is keeping my focus while doing my work. I always get distracted when doing my work at home. I found a solution to keep focus on work. I searched up ‘study with me’ on YouTube and it has 1-4 hour study sessions where you study for 25-40 minutes and then have a break. It was helpful for me."

While these reflections affirm the tremendous effort we all face to be able to transition to distance learning as positively as possible, there are understandably some difficulties students may encounter such as procrastination, low motivation and lack of interaction with peers and Learning Mentors. The resilience, flexibility and understanding St Anne’s College students have demonstrated throughout each lockdown is astounding; we are all in this together and for that we are grateful.

In this extremely demanding and stressful time, please make sure you are taking care of yourself, specifically as it relates to your wellbeing. Some great websites to check out are:

Stressed about study during coronavirus? (Reach Out)

https://au.reachout.com/collections/stressed-about-study-during-coronavirus

Headspace:

https://headspace.org.au/headspace-centres/knox/supporting-young-people-during-covid-19/

Black Dog Institute:

https://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/resources-support/coronavirus-resources-for-anxiety-stress/schools-young-people/

St Anne’s Student Wellbeing Hub:

https://sites.google.com/sackialla.catholic.edu.au/wellbeing-online/home

- Mel Formica, Wellbeing Officer

A message from Pat

Hello everyone out there in our beautiful St Anne’s College community. Well, it has been a rollercoaster ride for the past week and a half, starting on site with students on Wednesday in Week 1 and then going back into lockdown by Friday. But, those two days were amazing and it was so good to see the resilience and independent capabilities of all students and staff when asked to wear masks again, social distance and then adapt back to a distance learning format.

The best feature of this college and one of the main reasons why I wanted to be employed here is that strong focus on wellbeing and building positive relationships with every member of our community. Keep in mind to be kind to yourself and to be kind to others. If you need some support in any way, that is when we need to reach out to people in our community. Keep smiling and finding some joy in the days ahead.

- Pat Noonan, School of Innovation Leader

Drawing challenge a bit of fun for everyone

The college's ICT Administrator Jamie Hatch offered students a fun drawing challenge from Apple this week. They could use Pages on their iPad or pencil and paper to create themselves as a Peanuts character. Staff got in on the fun too! Here are some samples:

Fruit salads created in Food Technology

Year 7 students were busy in their kitchens during distance learning this week, creating fruit salads for Food Technology. We're sure these went down a treat - they look delicious!

St Anne's College Careers Website launched

We are excited to launch the St Anne's College Careers Website for our School of Innovation students! Students will be introduced to the website once they return to onsite learning at the college, but please find attached a guide to help them explore the website in the meantime. Any queries can be directed to Careers Practitioner Belinda Gleeson at bgleeson@sackialla.catholic.edu.au

Careers Website Guide.pdf

Be familiar with college's Social Media Policy

All parents/carers are strongly urged to read the St Anne's College Social Media Student Usage Policy (below) and to discuss with their child the college expectations regarding the responsible use of social media.

Social Media - Student Usage Policy.pdf

Carly Ryan Foundation - supporting young people

https://www.carlyryanfoundation.com

Resources created by the Carly Ryan Foundation are valuable and beneficial to regularly revisit - their aim is for all young people to have a positive online experience.

CRF_Online Contract 1.pdf

App fact sheets

Would you like to know more about the following apps?

See the parent booklet below for details on these and other commonly accessed apps.