Principal's Update

Dear Families, Students and Community Members,

Remote Learning

A lot can change in a week or in a day in our current climate. It is most unfortunate that lockdown continues to be extended and thus remote learning continues for all of our students in Years 7-12. However, we do understand the reasoning behind it and feel it is the best decision for the health and safety of all within our community. Understandably this may have caused considerable stress and anxiety, especially for our students in their final year of school. We will continue to do our best to support all our families navigate through this uncertainty together. Please don’t hesitate to call or email a member of the College leadership team, IT or wellbeing team if you need our assistance in any way. We are also keen to work with our student leadership team to consider how we can acknowledge and celebrate the graduating class of 2021 in a meaningful way with the rest of the College community, depending on what restrictions are in place during Term 4.

Given this period of remote learning has been extended, it is really important that students stay connected with their teachers and classmates through active participation when a Google meet is running for their class. We understand that some students may feel uncomfortable having cameras on, or prefer them off for a number of reasons, but all teachers and students are being encouraged to have cameras on, at least during the explicit teaching part of the lesson to support the student’s connection to the class and engagement with their learning. It also provides a valuable opportunity to check in on student wellbeing. Please encourage your child/ren to have their cameras on during our video lessons.

Our teachers are missing working with their students in person and continue to work exceptionally hard to keep everyone connected with school and others in the class. They are most grateful for any support parents can give in assisting to ensure this has been able to take place while managing the rest of the household and their own work commitments.

We are conducting mid-term surveys with parents and students to gather feedback on remote learning to date and plan to use the results  to inform our planning for the rest of the remote learning period. Students will be sent the student version to complete in their home group/mentor lesson week. 

For parents, please complete the short survey that was distributed via Compass email yesterday or click here: https://results.pivotpl.com/pulse/2841

There are also a number of Department supports available. These include:

• A short video produced by headspace with Tips and strategies for Victorian parents and carers during lockdown.
• Student Mental Health and Wellbeing resources for advice
• Advice for students about how to adapt during COVID-19
• Resources for learning from home
• Translated resources for learning from home

As part of the phased COVID-19 vaccination rollout, more Victorian parents, carers, and students are now able to receive the COVID-19 vaccines. With more appointments now available over the next two weeks, we encourage you to book your vaccine at  Victorian Government’s COVID-19 vaccine online booking system.

I trust our school community will ensure we do the right thing at this time, by complying with the restrictions in place and making careful and supportive decisions that limit movement through the community.

Practising Gratitude

It is so easy to get into a negative mindset with the ins and outs of Remote Learning this year. The importance of focusing on gratitude during these uncertain times can help. Learning to practise gratitude every day can help bring some stability to your life by getting you to focus on what is good rather than what is uncertain or unpredictable. 

Please click on the following link to get some tips on ways you can practise gratitude.

https://www.verywellmind.com/why-gratitude-is-important-during-covid-19-5097076

You may like to share some of the suggestions in this article with your family and friends.

Arrangements for Year 12

At the time of writing, we are still waiting to hear the official advice from the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority regarding Year 12. At this stage we don’t believe the final exams will be delayed. We are sticking to our current timelines and still plan to have practice exams in the last week of this term. The Year 12 VCE camp that was planned for Week 3 of Term 3 has already been rescheduled twice. We are hoping to reschedule yet again, such is the importance of this event for our cohort, in Week 3 of Term 4. However, we are still waiting to find out about the new date for the General Achievement Test (GAT).

Special Consideration arrangements that were in place last year for our Year 12 students will again be in place for 2021 students. The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) has put in place the ‘Consideration of Educational Disadvantage’ process to calculate VCE scores, considering disruptions to learning this year.

To calculate scores, the VCAA will consider a range of data provided by schools, together with each student’s exam results.

The Consideration of Educational Disadvantage process when calculating VCE scores will require schools to provide the VCAA with information on students and school circumstances to help calculate their study scores.

This will include information about the circumstances and impact of the disruption on students, as well as additional data, such as estimated assessment scores.

To ensure the fairness of final results, the VCAA will consider all available information, including the General Achievement Test (GAT) and appropriate comparisons of performance across all assessments and schools.

Based on this analysis, where disadvantage has been identified, this will be factored into students’ final scores, which will then contribute to the study score calculation. This approach will ensure that Victorian students are not disadvantaged in comparison to interstate students in the calculation of their individual ATAR.

Examples of significant severe impacts relating to coronavirus include:

•     direct impact on the health and wellbeing of the student and/or their immediate family

•     ongoing issues while learning remotely, e.g., internet connectivity issues, unavailability of a suitable device or workplace

•     students dealing with substantial extra family responsibilities, e.g., increased caring responsibilities for other siblings

•     ongoing mental health challenges

•     financial stress

•     family violence

•     family member losing their job (student needing to extend their hours of employment or gain employment).

I have a great team of Senior Coordinators and Wellbeing staff who are already working closely with our Year 12 cohort. However, if any of the situations listed above apply to your child and we aren’t already aware, please let Ms Greenhalgh or Mr Randell know to ensure your child is given a fair and accurate consideration, in addition to any support we can provide to assist over the remainder of the year. Please note: further details about the specific process is still to be communicated to schools. 

Postponement or Cancellation of Events

As I wrote in my last newsletter article, with each lockdown or lockdown extension, we find ourselves reorganising and juggling events to try and fit in as much as possible, so our students don’t miss out. Unfortunately, we are now running out of time to be able to have all extra-curricular activities and planned events proceed. 

We have had to cancel the Year 7 camp that was due to leave next week and we haven’t been able to secure a new booking as the venue is booked out for the rest of the year. We will be running some alternative activities next term for our Year 7 students.   I wrote to all families last week about the production and the refund of tickets to the live shows which we are no longer allowed to do. I had outlined our alternative plans to film the production, to then stream to interested families and we had this booked in for early Week 8. We obviously can’t go ahead with this now and will have to wait until we have more certainty before attempting to reschedule this again.

The Year 11 and 12 Formals planned for this term have also had to be cancelled and we are hoping to secure new dates in Term 4 with the venue, as long as such events are allowed to proceed under Department guidelines.

Facility Development

Our new two storey learning centre development is continuing to progress with the roof flashing and fascia nearly completed. The building is starting to be enclosed with some internal and external walls work commencing, along with window framing measured in readiness for fabrication.

Reporting to Parents and Parent Teacher interviews

Last Friday, our latest round of progress reports were released on Compass for student and parent access. Please make sure you check to stay informed about your child’s progress. 

A reminder about our modified arrangements for Parent Teacher Student interviews for Years 7-12 to be held on Thursday 26 August now from 9.30am-5.30pm. Classes will not run on this day as students are expected to attend the online interviews with their parent/s. Bookings opened last night through Compass. Please contact the General Office if you have any issues or need assistance in making the bookings. Assistant Principal, Andrew Moffat, will send out instructions to parents and students regarding how the online interviews will work on the day utilising your child/ren’s Google account for a Google meet interview.

Literacy and Numeracy Support continues in Remote Learning

We have invested a lot of resources in providing literacy and numeracy support to our students this year. As in previous years we have a number of intervention staff in place in Years 7-9 for both literacy and numeracy. In addition, this year with additional DET funding, we have employed a number of tutors to support students in Years 8-12 in class time. It is important that parents are aware that these supports exist for our students and continue during remote learning. Classroom teachers are setting up the relevant Google meets with students and tutors and/or the intervention teachers. In some cases, the tutors/intervention teachers are setting up the meets for students referred to them. 

Please encourage your child to access these critical supports during remote learning. If you believe your child needs the additional support but hasn’t been included to date, please contact Assistant Principal, Tracey Bastin at the College. 

I would like to introduce each of our tutors who have started working at the College this year. 

Literacy

Nadia Davison

I have a passion for teaching English and have taught for the past 14 years in the public and private sectors. My aim is to help students build their confidence and achieve their personal learning goals. So far, I have enjoyed tutoring the Year 9 students in Semester 1 and I am now supporting the Year 10 students as they prepare for their next assessment.   

Laura Graham 

Hi everyone! My name is Miss Graham and I am one of your literacy tutors. Besides tutoring all of you, I like playing badminton and watching all of the Harry Potter films! If you need any help, don’t hesitate to ask us. We’re not scary, we promise!

Bella Barker

Bella is a Literacy tutor in the Year 8 program. She teaches VCAL Foundation, Intermediate and Senior Literacy at the College. She has a Master of Teaching (Secondary) from the University of Melbourne, graduating with First Class Honours, and has seven years’ tutoring experience.

Numeracy

Tanya Whiteley 

Hi, my name is Tanya Whiteley and I am a numeracy tutor at Mordialloc College.  I have over sixteen years of experience working as a mathematics teacher, and I am currently working with Year 8 and 10 students providing numeracy support.  I am passionate about making mathematics accessible for all students and enjoy working with the students at Mordialloc College.

Rosemary Russo 

Rosemary is an expert secondary mathematics teacher. She has numerous years of education and teaching experience within the maths classroom. She has taught all year levels from VCE Mathematics through to Year 7. Rosemary is a positive, friendly and empathic numeracy tutor. She strives to help students succeed in maths by being engaging, flexible in her approach and will always work to find the right learning strategy to employ for each individual student. She enjoys working with the students to help them firstly feel good about numeracy and then fill in the learning gaps to achieve success through growth. 

Thameena Mahomed

My name is Thameena, I am currently in my final year of my Masters of Teaching at Melbourne University. Here at Mordialloc I am lucky enough to be a numeracy tutor. When I'm not stuyding or at work, you'll find me at the beach or playing with animals. 

Student Numbers 2022

Endorsing our reputation as a leading education provider in the area is the continued growth in our student enrolments. We have 130 Year 12 students leaving at the end of the year and 250 Year 7 students coming in at the start of next year! We did have to knock back some out of zone applications and this will now continue in subsequent years given we have reached our capacity. Our total student population next year will be approximately 1200 students. 

Michelle Roberts

Principal