WELC Report

Message from the acting WELC Coordinator 

- Ms Debby Morgan

Term 2, 2020 will be remembered as a very strange term.  We have had to cope with moving to remote learning and then changing back to face-to-face learning again. The Language Centre has now spent two weeks back at school and students are adjusting well to ‘normal’ learning again.  I want to say a huge congratulations to all the students for the effort they put into their studies during the remote learning. Students showed motivation, proactivity and a willingness to try new things, which helped this term run smoothly.  I would also like to say a big thanks to all parents, guardians and carers who helped the students at home so that the learning process could run smoothly. While it was difficult at times, both students and teachers have learnt a lot which they can now use in future learning and in general life.  I am so impressed by how well everyone handled this unprecedented situation.

During the remote learning period, students showed off their creativity by doing many different art and cooking activities.  They then sent through the pictures to their teachers to show what they had done and I have included some in this newsletter so you can see the talents of our students.

A few of our students are exiting to Westall Secondary and Westall Primary at the end of this term.  We will have a small graduation ceremony to celebrate their achievements.  The WELC staff wish them all the best in their future studies.  The remaining students will continue on at the Language Centre for Term 3.

The last day of Term 2 will be June 26, followed by two weeks of holidays.  I hope all our students have a very happy and safe break. Enjoy time with your family and friends. I look forward to seeing you all again in Term 3.

Ms Debby Morgan

Remote Learning Reflections

I prefer remote learning. I think this is better than going to school.

Remote learning can save me from getting up early every day.  If I want to go to school, I have to get up at 6 o'clock every day and take the car for an hour and a half to get to school. My sleep time is reduced. If at home, I can get up at 8 o'clock every day and have ample sleep time.

Remote learning can also save me more time to study. I spend 2-3 hours on the way home from school and to school every day. If I am at home, I can save these time to do more studying.

Remote learning allows me to spend more time with my family. If we go to school every day, we will spend less time with our family. We should spend more time with our parents and loved ones. This is very important for family love.

Remote learning allows me to go over my homework and learning content more conveniently, without having to bring my folder and books every day. I can easily find the homework and Powerpoint presentations I want to do on Compass.

For these reasons, I think distance learning is better, allowing us more time and more free time to spend with our family.

by Lintao

There are some disadvantages of remote learning. First of all, I cannot concentrate when I study at home like I do in school. For example, if I study at lunch time, I can hear many distractions that my host makes when she does the household chores. 

Secondly, I cannot see or socialise with my friends and teachers, and there is no face-to-face contact. For example, when I am doing the teachers’ work, I can ask them, but they may not answer me immediately, which takes me a longer time to finish their work. Thirdly, I can become unmotivated as my teachers are not besides me to push me to do their work. Finally, too much screen time from our laptop or phone can be bad for our eyes, and also can make us feel tired. In conclusion, even though remote learning can help us in our learning but it has many drawbacks as well.

by Chi

WELC Hospitality

During the remote learning time in Term Two, the students at WELC continued with their hospitality elective classes from home.

Students were encouraged to have a go at being home cooks and bakers. They took on the challenge and here are some pictures of their efforts. We’d like to thank the students for taking part. 

Miss Katerina Tetoros

WELC Teacher 

Science and Maths Activity

On Wednesday we had a WELC Science and Maths activity in small groups. This included a quiz based on their schoolwork this term and a tower building challenge.  Students were able to demonstrate their knowledge about things they had learnt in their science and maths lessons as well as learning how to work cooperatively.  Students had a lot of fun trying to make the tallest tower that could hold an egg. They showed a lot creativity and good engineering skills in their tower-building.  Points from the quiz and the tower challenge were combined to find a winner and the winning team was Team Lion (Chi, Azwar, Vu, Rithypol and Aban). Well done to the winners, and to all students for putting in a lot of effort!

Below are some reflections from students about the activity;

On the quiz we worked together and Linh is the writer, we were answer the question together.  Our team is very quiet but we are working hard and think new idea to make the tower. That we can successful to make the tower.  So next time we should think new idea to make it well and win. 

by Devid

Our strategy to answer the quiz questions was unity and cooperation but some question we couldn’t remember and didn’t answer it but we try our best to answer the questions.  The tower is successful but not tall.  We do together and respect all ideas of the group.  We could improve by doing it fast. (Peter)

We weren’t the winner but our tower was quite good.  It could stand and hold an egg.  Our team did the base very well.  It was very strong.  The top or our tower wasn’t good.  I think we should make it more solid. 

by Linh

The strategy my team used for the quiz was unity and cooperation. Some question we didn’t know but we tried our best to get a good result.  When we made the tower we listened to each other to get a good result but sometimes we didn’t know what we needed to do next but our result was perfect, we did very well.  But we not a winner, next time we will  make the tower more high and strong by another way. 

by Thanh