Preparing for Remote Learning

Staff and senior students have been preparing for the event that our College is required to move to a remote learning environment. Remote learning sessions have been set up using Webex Meet, with trial classes for staff and students to familiarise themselves with the platform and style of learning.

Year 12 Biology class learning Webex Meet. Mr Hall presenting the lesson from outside the classroom.

Students, teachers and technical staff ensuring

remote learning platforms are running smoothly.

The aim is for senior students to effectively continue their learning if schools are required to move to a remote learning environment.

Tomorrow Man/Woman Workshops

In Week 7 of this term all Year 10- students attended workshops run by the Tomorrow Man / Woman organisation. Students attended a two hour workshop, exploring the impact stereotypes have on all of us. The workshops created a unique opportunity for students to have an open and honest conversation about 'the secret life of us' and our peers. They learnt about ways to re-write the rules on what it means to be a man or woman in the world today.

Students overwhelmingly gave positive feedback about the workshop, with the common response being: 'We need more activities like this!'

Other feedback included: 'Being at this workshop made me feel differently about myself and others. I want to thank all the girls I was here with today', 'We need to be more aware of the impact we have on others and underneath we all have something going on' and 'I will ask more people how they are going and I will talk more to my mates about how I’m feeling'.

All students who attended have been reminded that the College has an experienced Wellbeing Team and they should speak up if there are any issues that they would like to talk further about.

Insight Into Your VCE Survey

This week, Year 12 VCE students were asked to complete a short survey to help the College understand which of the new programs are the most useful for them, particularly in relation to improving VCE results.

The response has been great so far, and the results are reassuring for the goal to achieve improved overall results in VCE in 2020. If your student has not completed the survey, please encourage them to do this as soon as possible.

Some of the programs implemented this year include: ELEVATE, adding a second second after-school study session each week, and opportunities for students to have individual meetings with the Careers Practioner, Sue Monahu. For good measure, we threw in the move to four sessions per week, per subject and the information sessions with Ross Huggard, Assistant Chief Assessor at VCAA.

There were many encouraging and varied responses to the following two questions:

What strategies are you employing from the ELEVATE program?

What strategies are your teachers using from the ELEVATE program?

And the question on everybody’s lips is whether or not the myriad of extra holiday workshops will proceed due to the covid-19 virus. It would be a pity to disappoint our keen and eager Year 12 students!

The Great Polynomial Long Division Stakes

The competition was on. Who could find the factors of x4 - x³ - 7x²+ x + 6 first?

Connor was off and racing and was the overall winner in a well-planned and calm attack. Melanie was second after a few clues thrown by her class mates. Kurtis, a late entry after Jaime threw in the towel, took out a well-deserved third place. Jasmin, another brave late entry, came in after that and persistence paid off for Ash who arrived at the correct solution after a couple of false starts.

Musings from the Hub Desk

Do you remember wondering about where you would be, or what you would be doing in the amazing sounding year of 2020?

As a very small child, I remember watching a TV show called Sea Lab 2020… Hmmm. Well, we don’t live in an undersea city, many of us still enjoy books, but not everyone drives a 'self-driving' car yet, nor are 'flying cars' commonplace. Virtual reality is real and smart phones have enabled the most amazing portable entertainment and instant information sources. I haven’t yet met an alien and our planet is still somewhat intact. Never in a trillion years did I expect fire and virus to bring such an auspicious sounding year to arrive at the uncertain state of affairs that we find ourselves in today!

There are so many varied opinions and unknown factors determining where we will end up amid the Covid-9 virus. It is refreshing to observe our students being pro-active in the event that perhaps, at some stage, they end up doing remote learning. Teachers and students are working hard to ensure that any interruptions will cause minimal upset in the path to achieving excellent results this year.

Teachers are giving students their email addresses and in some cases, trusting students with their private phone numbers. We have agreed to use the Compass platform to upload work to and this can be found in each subject’s 'Resources' tab. Parents/carers are encouraged to sit with their children and ensure that both can navigate to each subject’s Resources tab. Many teachers already use this and it is very familiar to many students.

We are concerned that there may be some families who do not have internet access at home and there are sometimes limits to available internet credit. Please contact the Hub if this is the case so we can put some things in place to manage this.

VCE Environmental Science

On Wednesday 4th March, VCE Environmental Science students visited Cape Conran Coastal Park to measure the biodiversity in the environment.

Shayla using a quadrat , Caleb with Lauren Halstead from Trust for Nature, Ashlee using a quadrat.

Students used quadrats (a frame that is laid down to mark out a specific area) and transects (used to investigate a gradual change in a habitat) to measure the impact of a 2017 fire on the vegetation. Students worked with Trust for Nature employee, Lauren Halstead, to place wildlife cameras to monitor the presence of animals in the 'critical weight range'. Students worked efficiently to effectively measure the presence or absence and abundance of species in the environment.

VCAL

As Term 1 comes to a close, we reflect on the amazing progress we have made in the VCAL program for 2020. After a bit of a rocky start as we all got used to the new system, students have settled well into their respective groups for Maths, Industry and Enterprise and Projects. Projects incorporate Personal Development Skills and Literacy subjects. There are four project groups (2 x Art and Technology, Community and Kitchen Garden), that have been hard at work planning and organising their projects.

There is a great array of ideas coming into fruition (probably the best I have seen so far!), including: planning the refurbishment of our new space, transporting our already successful kitchen garden from Wallace Street to McKean Street campus, planting and beautifying other areas of the College, creating a cultural awareness space, organising an Evening on the Green in aid of Gippsland Fire Relief, building bird boxes for bush-fire affected animals, fundraising for sleeping-bags for the homeless, organising driving awareness for our senior students through the CFA and more… No wonder we’re exhausted! Watch this space for updates on all these projects as they develop.

Our first group has returned from their structured work placement and the feedback we have received from the employers has been hugely positive. The second group are out this week and reports so far are looking good. It always makes us very proud when our students go out into the community as a representative of the College and do such a good job – and I am sure parents/carers share in that pride too! All students are encouraged to keep organising their placements, even if they need to be postponed due to the current climate.

As a group we have developed our goal for 2020: 'To develop as independent, self-motivated, autonomous learners, taking responsibility for and an interest in our learning' Students are working hard to achieve it. We encourage parents/carers to make appointments with your child’s teachers for the parent/teacher interviews that have been rescheduled for Week two of Term 2 to hear how well your child is doing at meeting this goal.

VET Hospitality Class of 2020

Dates to Remember