The Hamilton and Alexandra College Newsletter

Myrniong and ELC

Week Ahead

Monday 23rd March – Assembly cancelled

Wednesday 24th March - Easter Service cancelled

Basketball training & games - cancelled

How to Manage Remote Learning

Earlier this week Dr. Hirst sent home a letter outlining the College’s position with regards to the COVID-19 virus and a possible school closure.  Remote learning would be set up by Junior School classroom teachers.  Below are a few considerations for parents and care givers when establishing home routines for primary aged students.

Parent Responsibilities during Remote Learning

Provide support for your children by:

  • establishing routines and expectations
  • defining a space for your child to work in
  • monitoring communications from teachers
  • beginning and ending each day with a check-in
  • taking an active role in helping your children process their learning
  • encouraging physical activity and/or exercise
  • checking in with your child regularly to help them manage stress
  • monitoring how much time your child is spending online
  • keeping your children social, but set rules around their social media interactions.

Setting up a Learning Environment

Try to create a quiet and comfortable learning space.  Your child may have a regular place for doing homework under normal circumstances, but this space may not be suitable for working in for an extended period of time.

A space/location for extended learning should be a public/family space, not in a bedroom.  It should be a place that can be quiet at times and have a strong wireless internet signal, if possible.  Above all, it should be a space where you or another adult is present and monitoring your children's learning.

Wellbeing

Being confined to home for an extended period of time can cause stress and conflict.  Tips for looking after your children during isolation include:

  • Talking to your whole family about what is happening.  Understanding the situation will reduce their anxiety.
  • Helping your children to think about how they have coped with difficult situations in the past and reassure them that they will cope with this situation too.  Remind them that the isolation won't last for long.
  • Exercising regularly.  Options could include exercise DVDs, dancing, floor exercises, yoga, walking around the backyard or using home exercise equipment, such as a stationary bicycle, if you have it. Exercise is a proven treatment for stress and depression.
  • Encouraging your children to keep in touch with family members and friends via telephone, email or social media (where appropriate).

Managing Screen Time

Screen time refers to the amount of time a user spends on a device to access on-screen activities.  There are limits as to the amount of time everyone should spend online, but the amounts and the rules for screen time vary by age.

The following recommended screen times are based on the recommendations from the American Academy of Paediatrics:

  • Ages 2 to 5: 1 hour, broken into sessions of a maximum of 30 minutes.
  • Age 6 and above: no specific screen time limits, but screen time should not affect physical activity and face-to-face interactions at home and school.  Consistent limits on screen time are also very important.

Some screen time activities such as online socialising and gaming can be very immersive. Make sure that non-school activities are limited in length.

NAPLAN Practice Tests - Years 3 and 5

In preparation for NAPLAN testing in May, Year Three and Year Five parents were emailed the NAPLAN Demonstration Site.  In advance of taking NAPLAN online in Term Two, students and parents are invited to use the public demonstration tests to familiarise themselves with the type of questions and related functionalities available in the NAPLAN Online assessment.  Some of the key features include a range of question types, onscreen tools, timers and interactive navigation.  Students are encouraged to try all the tests for their year level to practise the complete range of question formats available in the online assessment.  The demonstration tests cover a sample of possible questions and do not reflect the range of literacy and numeracy content or skills NAPLAN Online will assess.  While it is helpful for students to become familiar and comfortable with the format of the online test, ACARA does not encourage students to study separately for NAPLAN.  That is why you will not find answers to the demonstration tests.  All question types are keyboard accessible.  Where applicable, there are tests that provide adjustments (audio and visual alternative questions, and five colour themes), which may improve accessibility for some students with disability to access NAPLAN Online.

Term One Interim Reports

Term One Junior School Interim Reports will be available to parents via PAM (Parental Access Module) on Thursday, March 26th.  Due to the cancellation of three-way goal setting interviews, the documents will be in a modified form.  They will include Term One Learning Behaviours, Teacher Goals and Students Goals.

 

Stephen Nelson

Head of Junior School

District Sports

Last Thursday, 45 athletes from the Junior School donned their new athletics tops and participated in the Hamilton District Sports Association Athletics Carnival at Pedrina Park.  It was a warm and windy day which made some running, hurdles and high jump events quite a challenge.  All of our students should be commended on their outstanding sportsmanship and positive participation on the day.  Our students received placings in many events, but particular congratulations must go to Yolanda O’Sullivan and Harry McDonald who won their respective Age-group Champion titles.  Well done Yolanda and Harry!

 

The following students qualified to compete at the SSV Athletics Championships: Harry McDonald (100m, 200m, 800m), Millie Mould (800m), Charlie Jarvis (200m), Harry Mercer (Hurdles), Thomas Templeton (100m), Sam O’Sullivan (Long Jump), Sophie Spence (Hurdles), Taylor Haley (Hurdles, 100m, 200m).

 

Many thanks to the maintenance staff, parents and teachers who assisted to set-up, pack-up and run events on the day – your help, as always, was greatly appreciated.

 

It was off to Warrnambool the next day where 14 of our very talented students traded athletics tops for swimming caps to compete in the School Sports Victoria Division Swimming Championships.  All of our swimmers rose to the occasion by putting on beautiful individual and team performances.  Congratulations to Sophie Satchell (Freestyle) and Molly Walker (Backstroke) in their individual events and to Ruby Hausler, Andreas Mikulic, Harry Mercer and Thomas Templeton who combined to place in the Freestyle Relay event.  Unfortunately, the scheduled SSV Regional Swimming Championships have been cancelled; however, these swimmers should be commended for their outstanding performances.

 

Again, I would like to thank the many parents who volunteered to time-keep on the day, your help is an absolute Godsend and on behalf of our swimmers and our school I thank you very much!

 

Mrs Louise Patterson

Head of Junior School Sport