From the Principal

Congratulations to all members of our community for the way you have managed the first 3 weeks of term 2 – learning in a way we have not experienced before. It is a huge learning curve for everyone and your positive approach has made these challenging times easier. Our staff continue to be focused on providing the best remote learning experience for our students. We appreciated all of the positive feedback we have received and suggestions for improvement. Communication is key so please do not hesitate to contact me at any time.

Managing the time students are on a device

We certainly do not want students on devices all day.  Staff will endeavour to provide 30 – 35 minutes of work in a lesson so that students have time to stretch or move about a bit before the next lesson. If you are wanting more resources for your child we suggest Edrolo (Year 11 and 12 students), Education Perfect, JacPLUS LearnOn, ABC ME etc. and students can do these if they want to do more. Teachers will have provided other resources relevant to their subject on the Google classroom.

It is also important that during this time of remote learning we maintain safe and responsible use of information and communication technologies. This includes the appropriate use of digital platforms, privacy and information protection as well as respectful online communication. Please see the ‘Behaviour for learning online’ document attached below.

NAPLAN has been cancelled for 2020 for students in Years 7 and 9. GEC exams for term 2 for all relevant year levels are cancelled. We will reassess scheduling once we return to regular schooling. VCAA is moving the GAT for all students undertaking a Unit 3/4 sequence to term 4 on a date to be determined. For students completing Year 12 subjects, there are several key changes:

• The GAT test will move from June to October or November 2020.
• End-of-year exams will be postponed until at least December 2020.

For prospective families, our Open Night has also been cancelled. In its place, we will conduct online information sessions, and a virtual tour of the school has been posted to the college’s website. If you would like to be part of the online information sessions, please contact administration.

Looking after ourselves

It is important to make time each day to check in on your child’s mental health and wellbeing. As your child adjusts to their new routine and not being able to see their friends in person, it is important to be understanding of their feelings of frustration, anxiousness and even anger – every child will react differently.

• Remind your child to complete the wellbeing check in survey during team meeting at 9am so we can accurately record attendance and check on student wellbeing.
• Remember we are not looking to replicate the school day at home.  Our aim should be to keep your child engaged in learning over this time.
• Everything takes longer! If your child is struggling to complete work please let the teacher or year level coordinator know so that we can make the necessary adjustments.
• Provide an opportunity to talk about how they feel and listen to what they say.
• The email address wellbeing@gec.vic.edu.au  has been created for students to use if they have wellbeing needs during a period of online learning.

Attached  is the ‘Parent advice for home learning’ which gives some useful tips.

Some reminders:

1. The new web address for our library web page/catalogue.

Please take a virtual tour of our library and all of the wonderful resources you can access.  All you or your parent needs to do is go to our library page https://au.accessit.online/GLN12  (you do not need to login), simply search for 'Virtual excursions' and have fun exploring the links provided.  This will soon be on the GEC Hub – if not already!

2. From the IT department: The IT staff have created a Google form where you can log IT concerns. Currently there is a link from GEC Hub to the form. 

The link is https://forms.gle/gdoZGG6savm2AHtp9

3. The Department of Education provided a range of activities and resources that will supplement the work provided by our teachers through the FUSE Fun at Home page https://fuse.education.vic.gov.au/Pages/funathome) It has ideas for parents to use with their children at home and provide fun, stimulating activities that can be used as described or adapted and built upon as desired. 

The quality learning tasks are mostly self-directed, meaning children can do it by themselves, and are generally open-ended and can be interpreted by children of differing ages to suit their own capabilities/strengths.

4. ABC ME is showing educational programming from 10am - 3pm every weekday for Term 2.  Mornings will start with primary school content, and move to secondary school in the afternoon.

Staff absences - If a staff member is absent, this will be listed on XUNO.  Work will have been left in Google classrooms.  As part of the Victorian Government Schools Agreement 2017, teachers receive one day per term when they are out of the ‘classroom’ to focus on the improved delivery of high quality teaching and learning.  A number of staff have this day on Thursday of this week.

Just a reminder that all students will be learning from home, except for children on days when they are not able to be supervised at home and no other arrangements can be made.  As such the Department of Education provides an On-site Attendance Application Form which requires you to indicate the days or part-days you require your child/ren to attend school on-site.

If this is the case for you please contact the college by email (glen.eira.co@edumail.vic.gov.au) 

Thank you for all that you are doing to support the learning of students – I know it will be a steep learning curve for you so please look after yourselves too.

Sheereen Kindler, Principal

Nick Hamer-Smith, Assistant Principal

Aaron Petersen, Assistant Principal