Principal's Report

The last week has reminded us of the challenges we all face as a result of Covid-19 both in our personal lives and here at the college. As a school we are working hard to provide continuity of learning to all of our students, but in particular to our Year 12 students. The teaching and learning program has been the major focus for our college, however we are also very aware of the mental challenges the lockdown brings with the uncertainty and disruption to our regular routines. I encourage parents to ensure their child is connecting with the remote learning program to ensure some routine is maintained, and teachers are able to keep connected with the students of our college. 

Currently the advice that was provided last week remains and is shown below. Additional to that I have listed DET advice around students who are presenting as unwell.

Based on advice from the Victorian Chief Health Officer, all schools in metropolitan Melbourne will continue with remote and flexible learning until Thursday 10 June. This includes our school.

Existing arrangements for on-site supervision of vulnerable children and the children of authorised workers continue to be in place.

There is one important change to the current settings.

Students enrolled in schools in metropolitan Melbourne who are enrolled in Unit 3/4 VCE studies and students in their final year of a VCAL qualification will return to face-to-face learning from and including Friday 4 June. This includes students who reside in regional Victoria. Currently the Year 11 Exam program will remain as scheduled. This means students in Year 11 will attend on site to complete their exams and then leave. Please check the exam schedule which runs from Friday the 4th of June until Thursday the 10th of June for Year 11 students. More information may be provided on these arrangements tomorrow.

Remote and flexible learning

The following arrangements are in place for all students for remote learning:

•             Years 7 – 100% of classes will run via Microsoft Teams. This will continue as per the previous arrangements.

•             Teachers of Year 7 students will be checking in 100% of the time but classes will only run for 30mins. Tasks set during that time and then followed up the next lesson.

•             Years 8, 9 & 10 - These classes will run for 50% of the allocated class time (If the class has 4 periods a week, 2 periods will run) via Microsoft Teams. Instructions for class scheduling and tasks that need to be completed will be listed on each class’s home page on Compass. 

•             All teachers will communicate to their Year 8, 9 & 10 classes their scheduled classes for next week via Compass on Friday afternoon after their planning time.

The following link is for parents with Information available to support your child’s learning from home. 

On-site supervision

Our school will provide on-site supervision for students in the following categories:

• Children whose parents and/or carers are authorised workers who cannot work from home and where no other supervision arrangements can be made, including children of teachers in government schools who are required to return to work on-site.
• children experiencing vulnerability, including:
• children in out-of-home care
• children deemed vulnerable by a government agency, funded family or family violence service, and assessed as requiring education and care outside the family home
• children identified by a school or early childhood service as vulnerable, (including via referral from a government agency, or funded family or family violence service, homeless or youth justice service or mental health or other health service)

If your child requires on-site supervision please email me directly on corey.jewell@edcucation.vic.gov.au on Thursday the 3rd of June. This will allow the college to arrange adequate supervision for the number of students on site. Those students attending on site in Years 7, 8, 9 and 10 will complete the remote learning program in the Science Centre.

Face masks 

Secondary school students aged 12 or older must always wear a face mask at school, including when attending an Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) program, unless an exception applies.

Children under 12 years of age and students at primary school are not required to wear face masks when at school, or when attending an OHSC program.

Face masks are mandatory for all school students aged 12 or older when travelling to and from school.

The school has a scheduled Curriculum Day on Friday the 11th of June. No classes will run on this day. At this point in time students will return to on site learning from Tuesday the 15th of June. This may change depending on the information provided by the Victorian Government.

I wish everyone the best over the coming week and please stay safe by following the guidelines outlined.

Kind regards

Corey Jewell

College Principal

Lalor Secondary College