Teaching and Learning

The 2020 school year was an extraordinary and challenging one for every school community. 

Many Victorian students spent much of Terms 2 and 3 in 2020 learning remotely and Victorian schools and their communities made exceptional efforts to provide continuity of teaching and learning to our students during this time. 

We know that the remote learning experience was different for every student. While some students thrived, some students may not have engaged as fully with remote learning. For most of our students, regular high-quality teaching in 2021 will be enough to help them progress to the expected level of learning. Some students will benefit from additional intensive learning support in 2021. 

As you may be aware, in response to this, the Victorian Government has invested in the Tutor Learning Initiative. St Joseph's College has engaged additional teachers to support children with intensive learning in literacy and numeracy. Classroom teachers will have greater capacity to ensure that all other students’ achievement, engagement and wellbeing needs are met, so that all students receive the support they need in 2021. 

Parents of students in Years 8-12 will have today received an Operoo Letter regarding our Turoring Program. If you are concerned about your child’s engagement in their learning, whilst learning at home or following their return to school in 2020, and believe that they fell behind significantly in their literacy and/or numeracy last year, please click on the link in the Operoo Letter to complete the survey by 9am on Monday 1st March. 

Our Tutor team will then follow up on your concerns to determine if your child may benefit from the small group tutoring support provided in our school through the Initiative. This is based on achievement data and other measures of learning, which indicate whether their expected learning progress may have been impacted by remote and flexible learning due to COVID-19 in 2020. They will be in touch to inform you of their findings. 

Lisa Saillard 

School Leader- Teacher and Learning