Teaching & Learning

Key Dates for Mid Year Reporting Process

Student Reports

Thanks to all those who spent some time over the weekend looking at and discussing the midyear report with their child. The time spent in discussion with your child about their learning has many benefits, some you will see immediately and others that will develop over time.

These reports are completely different from what have been delivered in the past, which required teachers to look at how they assessed student achievement; some will believe these reports focus on more important issues and others will be more conflicted in what has been presented. Either way, we have had an extraordinary term of teaching and learning and one, I am sure, we will not forget in a long time. Our thanks to the students, teachers and parents for the flexibility, creativity and sacrifice shown to ensure the continuity of learning, enabling a midyear report to be even possible.

Some questions that will assist in having a discussion about the midyear report and creating goals for the future include: (Please change to suit developmental needs of your child)

Parent Teacher Interviews

The Parent-Teacher interviews will also look different this year as we comply with physical distancing and health and hygiene protocols. This semester the interviews, for those who wish to discuss the midyear reports, will be held on your teacher’s Webex Meeting Room. The following organisation will help the virtual interviews run smoothly:

Bookings can be made on your Compass portal.
Bookings will close at 12 noon on Wednesday June 17. Any bookings after this time can be made directly with your child’s classroom teacher.
Your child’s teacher/s will send a message on Wednesday June 17 informing you of the Webex Meeting Room number. Your child will be able to help you with this should you have trouble.
Each interview will have 10 min with a 5 min break between each.

How to book an interview on your Compass Portal?

Making the Most of the Interview Time

As the interviews will be conducted virtually on Webex, the following protocols will assist in the sessions running smoothly:

Please don’t enter the teacher’s Webex Meeting space until your designated time.
Please find a quiet space that will allow yourself, your child and the teacher to concentrate on the discussion.
Having a conversation in the virtual world is a little different to that when we meet face-to-face. Please be understanding that there may be glitches and buffering from time to time.
The interview is about discussing the midyear written report. Due to the COVID-19 remote learning situation, teachers may not have the evidence to discuss specific outcomes based on the Victorian Curriculum.
Have some questions ready, so they can be discussed first.
If time runs out, that is fine, another time can be organised to continue the discussion.
Your child is encouraged to be part of the discussion, it is their education after all. Ultimately, it is up to the parent, should you wish to have your child present for the interview.
Be kind, as this has been a challenging situation for everyone involved.

Self Reflections:

As part of the reporting process, all students have been working on a self-reflection of their learning from the past term. We believe this reflection would be a wonderful keepsake for students and their families to look back on in the future. What the students have experienced will probably never be repeated in their lifetime and is completely unique to this generation of learners.

Each year level at the Buninyong campus and each class at Scotsburn campus have taken a slightly different approach to how the self reflection looks and have been prepared. The consistency throughout the whole school is that students take some time to think about their learning journey, celebrate the highs and plan for the future.

All reflections will be sent home on Thursday June 25.

A Special Self-Reflection….. just for the parents/carers.

Attached to your child’s self-reflection, there will be another self-reflection page that is designed specifically for the parents/carers.

Just as your child has had a very different learning experience, the parent’s role in supporting learning has also seen a huge shift. I am sure there have been many moments during the last 10 weeks that have allowed parents to celebrate and enjoy the learning alongside their child and other times where the struggle and challenge of juggling work, family commitments and remote learning have required some creative strategies to be implemented.

I am sure there are plenty of stories to tell. This very special parent self-reflection form is there for you to record your feelings and attach it to your child’s as an additional keep-sake for the future. Please note, this self-reflection does not need to be sent back to school.

STEM Shed – The Tinker Box

In 2019 the school was lucky enough to secure a science grant that supported the implementation of STEM based learning. A STEM shed was built near the BER at the Buninyong campus and has been, up until this point, the home of the Solar Boat Challenge and the Energy Breakthrough. Both of these are STEM centered learning experiences for our senior students.

We are now at a point where this facility can support STEM based learning for all students across the school. Over the next fortnight, classes will have the opportunity to spend some time in the space learning how to be innovators.

What is STEM?

STEM is an integrated approach to teaching Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. STEM is very much based on a process of innovation that is used when creating a solution. It asks students to think like a mathematician, scientist and engineer to:

Identify a problem.
Imagine what a solution might look like.
Plan to build the solution.
Create the solution.
Test the creation.
Improve the creation.

Looking for STEM Based Tools

We need your help. While we received a grant to create the physical space, we now are looking for tools to allow students to be the innovators we would all like them to be. We have sourced the majority of resources required, but are always on the look out for more specific tools that will enable students to design, cut, connect and shape their designs.

Innovation means tinkering and tinkering requires tools. If you have any spare tools lying around the house or shed that you would like to donate, we would be extremely grateful.

The list below is a helpful guide:

Hammers - Screwdrivers - Spanners - Shifters
Levels - Pliers - Hacksaws - Wood saws
Vices - Allen keys - Cordless drills - tape measures

There will be a box at the front office of the Buninyong campus for any donations to be placed.