In the last six weeks I have met so many fantastic staff, students and parents. How lucky am I to be a part of such a great community!

What I have enjoyed the most is talking to people over Microsoft Teams and on the phone, as this has allowed me to connect with people and get to know them personally. You don’t realise the importance of those side conversations you have with people that really make the difference! What a joy it will be to meet our community members face to face on our wonderful school site.

The deputy principals and school administrative and support staff have been kept busy express delivering several laptops and dongles to those families in need. We have now delivered 57 devices. Well done to our forever vigilant teaching staff, technical support officers and our school administrative and support staff team for ensuring all students have access to remote learning.

One of my many rewarding roles is to work with the Learning Support team to ensure we have programs and strategies to support our students with a variety of needs across the school. Like many meetings across the school, our meetings are conducted through Microsoft Teams.

What an awesome team of talented professionals.

Education Week - 26 to 30 July 2021

Our theme for Education Week was preparing young people to be agile thinkers and lifelong learners. Year Advisers shared our theme of Lifelong Learners during Connect sessions over a 2 week period. School Captains and Vice Captains: Violeta, Max, Tina and Brendan designed a short movie on what Lifelong Learning means to them. This was shared to all year groups during a Connect session on Friday the 6th of August. It was great for our students to see their leaders in action and to share their love of lifelong learning. You can view this short movie on the following page, titled "Lifelong Learners".

Education Week - Student Voice

We are very proud of our leaders across the school and our school captains have devoted their time to writing a letter about what education week means to them. They continue to devote themselves to our school community and do their job with pride and an earnest attitude. You can read this very well articulated letter from our student leaders on the following page, titled "Lifelong Learners".

The skill of handwriting

Don't forget we cannot lose the skill of writing. When you write your notes by hand, you develop a stronger conceptual understanding than by typing. Writing generally improves your understanding of the material and helps you remember it better, since writing it down involves deeper cognitive - processing of material than typing it. Students' writing must be legible and clear for written examinations. Many teachers are encouraging timed written formative tasks that are scanned and uploaded to Google classroom where applicable. Some hints on how a student can use an iPhone to do this are below. There are other apps and applications that can do this as well.

How to upload a written document to your teachers using an iPhone

Go to Notes on your iPhone
Press the writing style button
Press camera
Scan documents
Keep scan
Save
Email to teachers address

Student Wellbeing - RU OK? Future initiatives for our students

For students, learning how to support their peers and talk about how they feel is an important life lesson, so where better to start than in a pandemic. We will be adapting and using resources we have subscribed to from the RU OK? resource hub in the up and coming weeks to support our students. We are hoping this will help students across the school to ‘start a conversation’.

We are looking at hosting a series of sessions in Connect lessons which encompass the RU OK? themes and initiatives.

RU OK? for students!

Encourages our students to ask for help!

There are some simple steps you can take to start a conversation with someone.

R U OK? has developed our four conversation steps to give you the skills and confidence to navigate a conversation with someone who is exhibiting signs of distress, anxiety or psychological injury.

Getting ready to ask

1. Be ready - to listen and give time if needed

2. Be prepared - to be open minded and understanding

3. Pick a moment - where and when will you approach them

Starting a conversation

1. Ask R U OK?

2. Listen without judgement

3. Encourage action

4. Check in: If a student confides that they may need additional support, it is important to respond.

Remember there is always someone there to help you. Teachers and staff members value your wellbeing and are here to help and support you every day!

What is lockdown fatigue? Australian Psychology Society

Lockdown fatigue has been described worldwide as a state of exhaustion caused by the long-term effects of COVID-19 and the changes it has caused to every aspect of your life. It is a state experienced when people have had to come to terms with a virus that has affected every aspect of their life, including their freedom, and which has continued for months, sometimes with no end in sight until a vaccine or treatment is discovered.

Take a look at the following resource! It will help you understand lockdown fatigue and how to deal with it yourself or help other friends, family or members of the community on how to manage it. This resource can also be located on our Facebook page.

Timber Kahoot in Action!

On Tuesday, 10 August I was invited to participate in Mr Miller's Year 9 Timber class. It was full of engagement and energy and all students made me feel such an integral part of the class - Mr Miller certainly did too! We all dressed up as a character and played a 41 question Kahoot. The questions were based around timber products and the personalities and characters in the class. It was an awesome lesson that I feel very lucky to have been a part of. A very engaging teaching strategy, creating a high level of student learning and involvement!

I would like to congratulate Mr Miller and the Year 9 Timber class. You should be very proud. I really enjoyed being Kung Fu Panda for the day! Guess who Mr Miller was??

Mr Miller's class in action below.

Congratulations to the winners of the Kahoot:

Big Jules (1st), Gru (2nd) and Jasmine (3rd)

Chris Lord

Deputy Principal - Year 9

In our Support Unit

They're not letting lockdown stop them!