As the Premier has indicated, the school holidays will commence for students this Tuesday 24th March.

At this stage Term 2 for students commences on Wednesday 15th April.

Remote learning will not commence until advised by DET.

New Students

This has been another big term for our learning community, for many reasons. We had a very strong start to the year with 200 new Year 7 student commencing the newly established Explore Program. We have also had an additional 70 new students join our college.

New Learning Opportunities

This year we have introduced many new and exciting learning opportunities for our students. Empowering students to take control of their learning was a considerable shift in our approach to learning. 100 new subjects and a new Mentor Program have added new dimensions for our students. Our lunchtime Clubs Program is set to expand. This has been in response to a request from our student leaders.

Events Postponed

Recently, due to the evolving coronavirus and social distancing, both the Benefit Concert and the Trivia Fundraiser planned and organised by our VCAL students had to be postponed. I wish to acknowledge the significant work undertaken by the VCAL students and staff with these projects.

Staffing Changes

The following staff will be departing HPSC, as their contract ends. Thank you and best wishes to

Rundi Yang and Sarah Carnevale. Next Term, we will welcome the following returning staff; Rabecca Mphande and Prunelle Prahaladh.

Whole School Assembly

Last week, our planned Whole School Assembly on the National Day Against Bullying, featuring a guest speaker had to be postponed, due to the social distancing measures. The importance of the focus on the National Day Against Bullying was enabled via our Mentoring Program.

College Open Day

A few weeks ago, we had our College Open Day. Tours with student leaders were held throughout the day, with an evening information session for prospective parents and students. Our student leaders demonstrated excellent leadership skills. All students spoke clearly, demonstrating their love of our college and of the learning opportunities available for students.

Flexible and Remote Learning

During these uncertain times, staff and students have been preparing for a possible school closure. Staff have been engaged in additional professional learning to prepare for more flexible learning options such as remote learning.

If/When remote learning commences, we all have a role to play.

Students:

Will need to log onto Compass each day at the usual lesson time for details of their learning tasks
Will need to upload and submit learning task(s) to their teachers by the required date.
Can contact teachers for support with learning via Compass and Microsoft Teams during normal school hours
VCE students can access Edrolo and Studyclix
Are reminded of high expectations regarding respectful and ethical behaviour while communicating online. Please note, all comments made using Microsoft Teams can be read by all. It is important to remember that we all have a digital footprint

Parents:

Are requested to check with students and discuss daily learning tasks
Log on to Compass to see both Learning and Assessment tasks
Are asked to ensure that students are fully utilising ‘normal’ school days to complete daily learning tasks set by teachers
Ask students when learning tasks are required to be uploaded and submitted for feedback and assessment
Please contact the school by email hampton.park.sc@edumail.vic.gov.au to indicate student illness. This is important when teachers are assessing student learning tasks
Asked to remind students that they can contact teachers for support in learning during normal school hours
Are asked to speak to their children about respectful and ethical behaviour while communicating online. Everyone has a digital footprint that can be traced back to the writer

Teachers:

Will be preparing online learning for students. These lessons will be accessed via Compass
Will be providing modified tasks to support students with additional needs
Will be providing students with clear due dates for submission of work
During normal school hours, teachers will be available to answer questions from students
Assessing learning tasks uploaded and submitted by students

To keep our whole learning community informed, I will be communicating regularly with all staff, students and parents.

Thank you for your support during these challenging times.

Wayne Haworth

Principal

HPSC Newshamper

Hampton Park Secondary College is rich in our diversity, and by empowering and engaging student we remain whole hearted in our pursuit of excellence.

Issue 2 · 28 Feb 2020

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