Need to know

Events

Thank you to all who attended our Year 7 BBQ and Music Recruitment Night.  It was fabulous to see so many families there enjoying the beautiful weather,  a sausage or two ("better than Bunnings!") and the music performance of our talented students.  

VCAL sailing camps were also fortunate with the weather this week, and they had a fabulous time away.

Next Friday is our whole school Pool Party and Swimming Carnival.  The weather forecast is promising, so please make sure you consent on Compass so your child can take part in this annual event.  There will be lots to do, even for those who do not compete, and it is a great opportunity for us all to be together and spend time with friends and classmates.

Year 7 camp is coming up soon too - please make sure consent and payment is up to date.

Next week our Year 12 Leaders Sailing Camp will enjoy time away together, learning all about teamwork as they learn to sail but also planning their events and plans for 2022.

Year 12 and Car Parking

Unfortunately we cannot currently provide parking for Year 12 students.  This is due to half our car park being commandeered for the builders' compound.  Year 12 students need to park off campus.  If they take up spaces that are desperately needed for staff, it means that staff may be late to class - and they have a duty of care to be in front of their students.

As soon as the car park fully reverts back to us, we will open it up for Year 12s.  In the meantime, please be considerate.  

Staffing problems

Like all industries, education is suffering from a shortage of staff currently.   At any given time, schools will have teachers who have tested positive with Covid-19 or who are isolating as a household contact on top of our normal absences due to illness, or extracurricular activities and excursions.    

We have a small number of staff who have an allowance to take relief classes built into their allotment. However, we find we are exhausting this resource early in the week.

Principal class have also been taking relief classes and relief yard duty, but we have our own work to do as well and there is a limit to how many relief classes we can take.     

Our Casual Relief Teacher agencies have cancelled our bookings on three days this week because they simply don't have the staff to send us.

Schools across the state are reporting the same experience, and it is worse in rural areas.

We are meeting tomorrow to look at a contingency plan should we arrive at the unfortunate moment where we literally have no one to take a class.   This may involve having to cancel excursions (because we have to cover staff who are out of the school on excursion), combine classes, or share supervision with Education Support staff.

We ask for students' cooperation, and parents' patience, as we navigate through these difficulties.  Our first priority is to enable continuity of learning as much as possible.  

Toilet issues

*insert silent scream here

Rather than respond to every parent and student email I have received this week, I will address the frequently asked questions and issues raised here:  

1.  Yes, the senior toilets are not pleasant.  They are next in line to be refurbished.
2. Yes, there are only 2 cubicles in the senior toilets.   Once the refurbishment is complete, senior school will have access to two sets of refurbished toilets.  This should be in the next couple of months.
3. Yes, a small number of students have been vaping in the toilets.   Unless we position a teacher in there, which is not feasible or desirable, it is difficult to police these currently.  We are looking into purchasing Vaping Detectors - these will set off an alert to Principal class mobiles if any students are smoking or vaping in the toilets.  We hope to have these in place shortly.  We don't want students vaping or smoking for their own health, but also because it deters other students from using the toilets.
4. Yes, we are aware older students have been accessing the Middle School toilets when they are fully aware they should not be.  We have a large list of names that we are working through currently and there will be sanctions.  These students are able to access the toilets largely because other students are swiping them in or opening the door for them.  We will be cracking down on this.  These students are enabling the damage and vandalism by admitting them and I urge them not to put themselves in that position by admitting other students.  
5. We are very confident that a number of these names are linked to the vandalism that has been occurring - if not actually taking part, certainly standing by while it happens.  It will take a few days for us to work through all the information we have, including out of class logs, toilet logs and information offered up by responsible students who have had enough of having to either avoid the toilets, or put up with their disgusting state.  
6. Yes, we are aware that there are sometimes issues of cleanliness not to do with vandalism.   As I have previously written about, our cleaning contractors are struggling to get staff at the moment.  Students are asked to come and use the First Aid toilet if their own toilets are not usable and report any mess or lack of toilet paper/soap (or damage) to the office as soon as they see it.  We will arrange a clean and replenishment of any supplies that have run out.  
7. We know that students will need to go to the toilet during class time.   It is inevitable that with 1600 students not everyone will be able to access them during the breaks. Students should not be worried about not being allowed to go.   We encourage students to go whenever they can in the breaks, but otherwise they will be permitted out of class one at a time to access the toilet.  Teachers will be logging this on Compass however, so please don't think you can arrange to meet up with your friend for a chat!!
8. Any student who desperately needs to access a toilet and is unable to do so due to there being a queue, will be given access to the First Aid toilet (off the office area). Yes, this is a gender neutral  toilet.  However, there is a double door into the cubicle and it is staff supervised.
9. No student should need to feel anxious or intimidated about accessing a toilet.  This is why we have toilets for particular year levels.   This is why we will be responding to students going to other year levels' toilets with firm consequences.    Our aim is to have the toilets accessible, clean and used only for the purpose for which they are intended - not for some students to hang out with their friends or vape.    I thank you for your patience with this, and thank the many responsible young people who have stood up and given us names because they care about their school's environment. 
10. Yes, your child will need their Compass card to swipe into the toilets (the refurbished ones).  Year 7s report to Junior School for a key until they obtain their cards which will be distributed after school photos are taken.   No student is permitted to use another child's card.   If they lose their card, it should be reported immediately via AskLeadership@sthelena.vic.edu.au so that we can deactivate it.     If another student finds their card and uses it, the log will show that your child has accessed the toilet.  You can obtain a replacement Compass card via Compass.   Here is how:

Using Compass

If you missed last week's webinar for parents about using Compass, you can access the recording here:   https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1unQnjlcn0v7RnyIvK-den2KDOoC1WgOO

Session 1 recording (23 minutes) explores the essentials of navigating Compass for parents to support your child/ren in their schooling with us. Should you have any queries related to this session you can contact Andrew Moller (amr@sthelena.vic.edu.au).

Session 2 recording (21 minutes) explores St Helena's approach to assessment and reporting your child's learning progress on Compass. Should you have any queries related to this session you can contact Kate Williams (kws@sthelena.vic.edu.au).

Watch Mr Gin on TV

IT’S THE ‘BATTLE OF THE TEACHERS”! (Mr Gin appears on ABC Hard Quiz, Wednesday  2/3/22, 8 pm)

Two Mathematics teachers vs two English teachers; trivia peers who are well-versed in their respective Expert Round specialty topics. (What could possibly go wrong???)

So how hard is Hard Quiz? What was the outcome of this episode? More to the fact, could Tom Gleeson get “a word in” against Mr Gin? 

To answer these burning questions and more, watch ABC TV on Wednesday 2nd March @ 8-00 pm.

Mr Gin wrote, “without spoiling the outcome of this episode, preparing for and participating in the show was an exhilarating experience. I hope that you’ll find it entertaining. Watching last year’s Hotseat episode, Google “Gin, Millionaire” will give context to what transpires. 

Our school’s motto is never far from my mind whenever I enter the game show arena. Like you, I always Dare To Be Excellent!”

Elevate's Parent Support Series is back for 2022 -and it starts on Wednesday 23rd February!

Last year, we had over 800 schools and 50,000 parents from across Australia join Elevate’s free Parent Support Webinar series. Here’s a taste of some of the feedback we received across the year: 

"I just wanted to let you know how much I have enjoyed the webinars you have presented over the past few months. I have found the exam prep ones particularly useful, as has my daughter. The one thing that particularly resonated with me was your emphasis on past year papers/practice exams. Once again, thank you for the excellent series of webinars" Ashika (Parent)"Can’t wait to dig into the exam preparation webinars you have shared, they are so useful, and just a huge thank you for the work Elevate Education and the people behind it do!"Sheba (Parent)"I think this is an amazing platform. Thank you for the webinars that are so relevant" Erica (Teacher)

Given the great response, our Parent Support Series is back bigger and better in 2022, with more webinars and more free resources for parents. We kick off the series on Wednesday 23rd February (6pm-7pm) with one of our most popular sessions: 

How to Get (and Keep) Your Child Motivated

Here’s what we will be looking at in this 60-minute webinar:

• The causes of student demotivation and how to solve them;
• Goals that actually cause demotivation;
• How parents can help their child set goals that will help them get (and stay) motivated;
• The role parents play in motivation.

I will be sending out an access link separately on Monday via Compass.