Principal's Report

“To change the way people see and do things is to challenge how they define themselves.”

Our world has truly changed in ways that we would never have imagined. The global landscape has transformed and Australia is trying to navigate these changes while battling COVID-19. This means that the usual “heroes” of fame and fortune are struggling to determine their relevance in our new way of looking at the world. While those who are important in our daily lives such as nurses, doctors, police, cleaners, shop assistants and teachers become the centre of what we begin to value more highly. These times are not easy nor predictable but they can bring out the best in humanity as we show kindness, compassion and care for each other. We want this to be how we connect with each other and our students as we have transitioned to remote and flexible learning.

I know that our school community with the support of the outstanding educators at Beaumaris Secondary College will promote a sense of safety and routine that will be made through the learning experiences provided in the coming term. Our goal at Beaumaris Secondary College is to ensure that there is continuity of teaching, learning and support for all students.

Students have embraced the new structure although when you are accustomed to 75 minute sessions it is a challenge to fit in what is needed within 60 minutes. Our students are certainly craving the interactions of the sessions online where they can interact with their classmates and friends. They are enjoying the comfort of home while doing schoolwork but miss the interactions. Learning is a social activity and this is becoming extremely evident to all in the community.

We have adjusted learning to accommodate our “new normal”. We know that the more practical and hands-on activities will be adjusted to provide students with similar learning but different approaches to reach there. We are developing a range of approaches to encourage students to use Teams to interact. We are aware that we cannot supervise students using other apps like Houseparty during school time and hope that parents can monitor this and support students on task where possible.

We have included Wellbeing tips for students and for parents in previous Compass messages and again in this newsletter. We know that our current circumstances puts pressure on families and that everyone is working, living and learning in close proximity. This has an upside but it is also challenging and can lead to frustrations no matter how much you love each other. We recommend using some of the strategies provided and talking through the challenges together.

Parent communication is key to remote and flexible learning working. It is important to note that there is no expectation for teachers to communicate outside of school hours.

Our website is available with more general information as required.

Below is another way to approach our current COVID-19 challenges.

Camps/Excursions/Incursions

We have had to postpone or cancel all excursions and camps for Term 2 which has disappointed students and teachers. We will be reviewing these over the coming weeks and provide further updates.

Year 8 camp was cancelled and we will need to determine next term if there is an alternative in Term 4 at Lord Somers.

The Year 9 Reef and Rainforest camp was postponed to 2021 and families have been given the option to be reimbursed.

The current environment is a challenging one to plan beyond the end of Term 2. However, we are hoping that should the global situation improve, we can again look to offer in 2021 the European History Tour as well as a service based trip with Antipodeans.

Parent Teacher Conference

We have at this point postponed the conferences and will explore how we will do this moving forward.

Course Selection for Year 9 and 10 2021

We will be sending out a video to families to begin the process. This is to replace the information evening that was set up for the last week of term.