From the Head

In a strange twist of fate, earlier this week the Coronavirus Action Team (CAT) was considering Girton’s response so far to COVID-19 lockdowns and our delivery of remote learning. Incredibly, we now head into “Lockdown 6” and call again on the reserves of students, staff and families as we all endure the curbing of our natural liberties, our professional networks and our social structures.

Those who were at Girton last year will recall that students, staff and parents were surveyed in detail about their experience of remote learning. Based on the feedback received, adjustments were made to how the school delivers online learning, and there have been opportunities to share with teachers’ best practices for the digital classroom, which has been an education in itself for all of us. 

The students, of course, are our main focus, and in re-visiting 2020 survey results earlier this week, we were reminded of how our young people have responded to lockdowns. Our Senior School students said that their best achievement during remote learning was increased self-directed learning. What they reported most liking about remote learning was the increased flexibility in their days. Perhaps surprisingly, the number one activity that Senior School students reported doing more during remote learning in 2020 was walking. Family walks, in particular, were cited as a pleasant ritual for which students felt grateful. 

These three survey findings alone are reason to feel confident that all is not lost during lockdowns, even though it can sometimes feel that way. The fact that 42% of students said, “I believe I was academically more productive during remote learning”, gives further reason to feel optimistic. 

As students prepared to return to school after a long lockdown last year, they were asked to reflect on remote learning and to identify the things for which they felt grateful. Our teachers were delighted to learn that “my teachers and school staff” ranked second on the list of Senior School students, eclipsed only by “friends”. 

As any educator will confirm, nothing compares to being face-to-face with students. When it comes to student participation in Zoom or other video conferencing, students were asked to rate their participation compared to their normal level of participation in a face-to-face class. 65% of students rated their participation as normal to much higher. Students who said their involvement was lower or much lower than normal describe feeling self-conscious and worried about talking over other people. They also point out that there seems to be less invitation from teachers to comment and that they are too embarrassed to ask questions in front of the whole class, comparing the experience to discreetly asking questions when in person. Our teachers know and consider these things and accommodate as much as possible in the digital classroom. 

Interestingly, the overall level of student satisfaction with remote learning increased between Term 2 and Term 3 of 2020, with 75% of Senior School students rating their overall experience in Term 2 as adequate or higher compared to 86% in Term 3. Perhaps this speaks to the adaptability of young people. We will have more idea about this when we have the results from the forthcoming satisfaction surveys devised by Independent Schools Victoria.

So, as we enter lockdown six today, consider that your children might be improving their self-directed learning and appreciating the flexibility in their day. There is a good chance they will respond well to the suggestion of a family walk. However, we still hope that this lockdown ends as currently planned, and we are back at school this time next week. 

Dr Clayton Massey

HEAD