From the Head of Junior School

We are very happy to be able to welcome the balance of our Junior School students back as of next Tuesday 9th of June. Over the past fortnight we have welcomed our Preparatory to Year 2 students back and they have made a very smooth transition back into the classroom routines. We are sure that this will be the same for our older students. We are very much looking forward to seeing them back at school and learning in their respective classes. The students who returned last week have loved catching up with their friends and classmates. We expect that this will be the same when our 3 to 6 students return next week.

Thank you to our parents for supporting the safe return to school by abiding by the new drop off and pick up routines. It is important that we continue to minimise congestion around the school to limit the opportunity for social transmission of Covid19.

While we are glad to be cautiously moving out of restrictions and certainly do not want to repeat the experience of having to close the school, we have been reflecting on what we have learned from the experience. Overall, I have been very proud of the way staff, students and our wider school community have adapted to the different way of learning. I know from a teaching perspective the learning curve in how to leverage technology to maximise learning and maintain connection with the students has been very steep. Mr Flanagan was reflecting on this last week and provided the following thoughts to his parents.

Dear Parents,

In what has been a term like no other I wanted to outline to you a number of skills and benefits I have noted over the past eight weeks. Too much has been made about the negative impact of our lock down on education. I want to share with parents what I have seen through my lens over the past eight weeks.

Online learning can sound so wonderful that some students started with an unrealistic vision. In reality, online learning required just as much, if not more, time and energy as the traditional Year Four Classroom. It also required specific skills and learning strategies in order to succeed.

I have noted growth in a number of areas across our eight weeks and I wanted to point these out to you all.

1. Persistence

Persistence is perhaps the biggest key to success in learning. Students who succeed are those who are willing to tolerate technical problems, seek help when needed, work daily on every class, and persist through challenges. We had plenty of challenges but students persisted through these and backed up the next day to face the next set of challenges. Take that skill to your approach to life and you are well on the way.

2. Effective Time-Management Skills

You must be able to manage your time well when you don’t have your teachers reminding you every five minutes about a task or a job you have to complete. Flexibility is one of the great benefits of online learning. It can also be a drawback for a student who procrastinates, is unable to stick to a routine study schedule, or is not able to complete tasks without those daily reminders. Effective time-management skills don't just happen. They have to be learned. Our students have been thrown in the deep end with time management and I am pleased to say all have learnt to dog paddle very quickly!

3. Effective and Appropriate Communication Skills

Communication skills are vital in online learning because students must seek help when they need it. I was always willing to help students, but not always able to pick up on non-verbal cues, such as a look of confusion on a student's face or a pondering pose. Zoom backgrounds and avatars had a way of hindering this. The improvement in creating emails and using chat sessions to communicate has been an amazing development I have noted. With an agreed upon approach by our class to effective and appropriate communication we were able to distribute and receive information quickly and effectively each day.

4. Basic Technical Skills

Online learners need basic technical skills to succeed. These include the ability to create new documents, use a word processing program, navigate the Internet, and download files. We started the journey on Easter Saturday with our Zoom rehearsals. We had log in problems, wifi problems, username, password issues. Today I can confidently say students have managed their way through these problems. A student told me this week a solution to a file management issue that amazed me. Again these skills going forward will set students in good stead for our technological world.

5. Motivation and Independence

To be successful, an online student had to want to succeed. Online learning requires independence, internal motivation, responsibility, and a certain level of maturity. I attempted to foster this with many activities and interactions online and I am pleased to say whilst motivation rose and fell like a roller coaster ride it was always there. Whether it was you the parents pushing in the background or the carrots being dangled at my end, students were able to get themselves up to go and go again in the online classroom.

I hope you will reflect on this time in your child’s education not as a point in time where learning was hampered but more where learning was fostered from a completely different angle. An angle that has provided a skill set for the future.

I look forward to seeing all students on Tuesday in full winter uniform. Thank you for your support and feedback over the past eight weeks.

Mr Paul Flanagan

Teacher of Year 4D

Head of Emotional Intelligence

I think that Mr Flanagan’s observations could be applied to all of our students. While it is certainly not a situation that we want repeated, learning from home has allowed our students to grow in ways that may have taken a lot longer in the school setting. I look forward to catching up with all of our students next week to share what they have learned while they were away and to hear what they missed most about the school.

Mr Donald Thompson

Head of Junior School

Welcome Back Prep to Year Two!

Please enjoy the gallery of photo's showing the joy and excitement the Prep to Year Two students had returning to school. It's wonderful to have our students back!

Year Two Reflections

The best part about remote learning was…..

I got to work with my family, not just my friend Alice McIntosh (2 Frew)

I had my birthday and I did not have to go to school Asim Mohummad (2 Frew)

At recess I could ride my motorbike and play my Nintendo switch

William Bickley (2 Aherne)

Being with my mum and getting lot of writing done

Hazel Anderson (2 Frew)

I was at school and Mr Beever was fun and magic

James Jackson (2 Frew) & Cynthia Wah (2 Jones)

Doing zoom

Fletcher Welling (2 Aherne) & Myles Waller (2 Jones)

Staying in my pyjamas most of the day

Lilly Hetherington (2 Riley) & Evie Kruger (2 Millward)

A French worksheet

William Martin (2 Jones)

Meeting Mr Beever

Allegra Krelle (2 Aherne)

I can spend more time with family and eating whenever I want

Kate Marsh (2 Riley)

Staying with my mum and finishing my work fast and when my mum zooms, I had free time

Luca Krelle (2 Aherne)

Being with my family and just being home

Violet Turner (2 Aherne)

I got to stay with my mum

Caroline Batters (2 Millward)

I got more eating time and doing my work quicker and being able to exercise after school

Zororo Tamangami (2 Aherne)

I am enjoying being back at school because….

I can see and play with my friends (many students)
I can draw pictures of sharks
I met Mr Beever and seeing Ms Juergens
Piano lessons are easier at school
Having the best teacher

Reports

Some parents have contacted the school to ask what the reports will look like after our period of home learning. There has been some concern that some students may have been disadvantaged as they were not able to complete all of the work or that families had differing capacities when it came to providing children with support at home. As a school we recognise these issues and have adjusted our reporting timeline and structures to account for the different delivery in Term 2.

Parents will still receive a full report that includes assessments from every subject area but this will not be produced until the middle of Term 3. This will allow all students time to settle back into classroom learning routines and allow teachers time to adjust the curriculum to identify and address aspects that need to be covered. Mrs Peter, our Junior School Head of Curriculum, has completed a review of the curriculum covered by each year level while in the home learning phase of the restrictions. She has found that at least 80% of the expected Term 2 curriculum has been covered, in some cases more. Even so, teachers will need time to assess individual student progress over this period and differentiate teaching in the last 2 weeks to account for the differences. Parents will receive a full report in Term 3 and then a summary report at the end of Term 4.

Junior School Production

After much discussion with the Performing Arts staff, classroom teachers and venue providers we have made the hard decision to cancel the Junior School Production for 2020. We did explore the option of putting on an online performance of the whole production or putting the production timeline back into Term 4. Unfortunately, due to the loss of face to face rehearsal time, not knowing what the audience restrictions will be in Term 3 and 4 and the already crowded calendar in Term 4, a decision was made to cancel the Junior School Production. We have applied to have our permission to produce Madagascar carried over into 2021.

As this is the last opportunity that our Year 6 students had to take part in a Junior School Production we are working to replace it with some memorable performance opportunities for them. Planning is underway for a Year 6 performance at Speech Night in whatever form that takes this year and a Year 6 dramatic presentation. Mrs Stagg is well into the preparation for the dramatic presentation and is looking forward to having the Year 6’s return next week to begin.

Learning From Home

Girton students doing a wet weather PE session, "just dance".

Teacher Reflections

Lockdown Challenges - Mr David Ruddick

While I was getting ready for another day of remote teaching a few weeks ago, I noticed my seven-year-old daughter playing with her dolls. She was very absorbed in her game. 'How nice,' I thought. 'Even in these trying times, a child can still get lost in the sanctuary of her imagination.' I asked her what she was playing. 'I'm playing Lockdown,' she replied cheerfully. Okay, I thought. Slightly worrying, but she seems happy. Children manage stress through creative play. I asked her why her dolls were lined up and spaced out. 'They're social distancing,' she said. I nodded sagely. Children process world events in contexts they can understand. This is normal. Then I noticed a little cubby made of couch cushions. 'What's that for?' I asked. She said, 'That's the panic room.'

When, I asked myself, will it all be over?

We've all been playing the real-life game of lockdown for almost three months now, and although it's definitely been a new experience, I for one am glad to be heading back to school in Week Nine. The students of 5V have told me they're a bit nervous about coming back, and overall there is a feeling of relief and excitement. Things will be different for a while. But the game of Lockdown is being packed away at last.

A definite shape to this school term of remote learning has emerged. To begin with, there was the honeymoon period when Zoom was still a novelty and just seeing our faces all together on a screen was fun. This wore off fairly quickly as we hit the second week slump. My students began to understand that this was what school would be like for a while, and we didn't know for how long. The students started to feel a bit 'flat'. But being a highly experienced teacher with advanced emotional intelligence skills, I knew exactly how to breathe life back into the classroom.

Wear a funny hat. Yes, nothing perked my students up more than being told that it was 'Funny Hat Day' or 'Funny Wig Day'. I haven't checked, but I'm fairly confident I was the first teacher worldwide to think of creating theme days during remote learning. Sadly, my Kurt Cobain wig wasn't going to keep everyone motivated indefinitely, no matter how much it rocked. I needed to dig even deeper.

I set my students 'Lockdown Challenges'. Each week they were asked to complete a new task such as 'Learn To Juggle A Soccer Ball', 'Take a Cute Photo of a Pet', 'Learn the School Song on Your Instrument', and so on. We shared our efforts on the class blog. These challenges were great for giving the students a chance to share a bit of life at home, to connect, and to take their minds off world events, at least for a little while.

At times in Term Two I felt my own emotional state take a dip into the blue. To move back into the yellow again, I set some lockdown challenges for myself. These included such feats as 'Drink Seven Coffees In A Single Day', 'Don't Go Outside At All,' and 'Bingewatch the Michael Jordan Documentary'. I can take pride in the fact that even in such stressful circumstances, I'm still able to push myself out of my comfort zone and rise to a challenge.

Another lockdown challenge I've faced has been to replicate the lively atmosphere of the 5V classroom over a Zoom lesson. Students have naturally become a bit reserved sitting in their cosy homes. Early on, I cracked a joke and wondered why I couldn't hear gales of laughter from my students. 'That's right,' I thought. 'The 'mute-all' button is on.' I hit 'unmute-all' and turned my volume down a little, to protect my ears from the burst of hilarity that was sure to come. Dead air, except for a parent in the background on a conference call to a colleague. Elsewhere, I heard a dog barking. Tough room, I thought to myself.

Eight weeks of remote learning have come to an end. Sure, there have been times when I've wanted to build a little panic room out of couch cushions and crawl inside. But for the most part, the experience has been positive. The Year Five students have been amazing. We've been on a great learning journey this term, and in spite of the inconvenience of remote learning, they've achieved a lot. The sense of humour and willingness to adapt to challenging circumstances on display has been inspiring. Lockdown has been a challenge indeed, and we've met it head on.

Returning to school reflection - Mrs Tabatha Peter

When the government announced that Preparatory to Year Two along with Year Eleven and Twelve students would be returning to school on May 25th there was an eruption of excitement that came through my zoom class from the students, parents and myself. We would finally be able to see each other in ‘real person’ as we called it. Once the excitement settled and we started to prepare for our first day of Term Two, seven weeks into the term, it became apparent that some of our norms would be very different.

The students arrived at school on Monday morning, entering via different locations. Year One entered through the MacKenzie Street gate in Greenland. Many of the students happily waved their parents goodbye and entered the gates where they had their temperature taken and hand sanitizer squirted on their hands. The students proceeded to our classroom where they were greeted by a very enthusiastic teacher. Seeing all the beautiful faces approach me with beaming smiles made me realise just how much I had missed the human interaction with the students. This experience can never be replicated over a computer screen. The real joy came when the children were interacting with each other. The energy in the room was electric. It was evident that the students had missed simply talking to each other.

The bell rang and it was time to mark the roll and greet each other formally before commencing ‘face to face’ learning. Our first activity was a reflective task, developing a time capsule which the students will collect upon completion of their schooling in 2031. As a class we spent a lot of time talking about our experiences. We discussed many things that are the same about school and the things that had changed. The one thing that was evident was that the students were thrilled to be back at school to see each other and play together. We laughed about many of the experiences we had over our zoom lessons and discussed their favourite learning activities at home.

It was time for recess. The students lined up ready to play in the front playground or in the back playground. They were given hand sanitizer before trotting off to play those playground games they had missed. This has very quickly become part of our normal day to day routine. When re-entering the classroom, hand sanitizer was squirted again, and the children entered the classroom eager for the next learning experience. Checking in on our Mood Meter after recess, had most of the students sitting in the yellow. They used words like cheerful, joyful, content and even spectacular. When asked to share why they were feeling this way the responses had the same theme. “We got to play games with our friends.”

Time really flies when you are having fun, and lunch time was drawing near. Again, the hand sanitizer was distributed to all students and they happily went and ate lunch at their new eating area on the concrete steps. The students were so excited because many of them wanted to go into the Library and discover if there were any new books on the shelves and to simply be in that beautiful space with their friends. The Library was clearly missed over the isolation period.

Schools are a very busy place with lots of things happening. Music lessons, Art lessons, PE lessons, language lessons and Drama sessions. The students greeted each teacher with the same wholehearted smiles and the genuine sense that they had missed seeing them each day. This feeling was clearly reciprocated.

When reflecting upon this experience, it has allowed me to truly understand the importance of the school environment and the role it plays in all our lives. For the students there is so much learning that takes place, delivered by very dedicated staff, but it is so much more than that. It is the daily interactions, the conversations and the friendships that are developed that truly develops the whole child. Schools are a magnificent place full of so much life and energy that each individual child brings with them daily. It is wonderful to feel that energy again.

Camp Australia

Message from the School Captains