Middle Years Update

Welcome back

There were many excited faces (from what we could see above the masks!) on Monday from our Year 7 students and staff as we all came back together once again. Our Year 7 students have been in Remote Learning for 20 weeks this year and, in some cases, returned to classes with teachers that they have not met in person before. In some ways, returning to onsite learning for our Year 7 students has been like starting high school all over again and so our focus for the week has been on reconnecting and re-establishing relationships, routines and expectations.

Our teachers have been working incredibly hard to ensure that we have provided our students with a positive experience for their return and that we have been flexible in the way that we have approached and supported student learning. The key areas that we have focused on are:

Re-establish: During classes we have spent time reconnecting and re-establishing relationships, classroom norms and expected behaviour. We have focused on getting to know each other again and working together as a team.
Positive Environment: We have focused on a ‘can do’ environment fostering positive relationships between students and staff.
Collaboration: We have provided opportunities for collaborative learning and team building to allow students to work with each other and to develop relationships with their peers and the teacher.
Taking the time: Students have been working for shorter periods of time whilst in remote learning and have been working independently. Teachers have designed learning activities to support students as they returned to full time lessons, easing them back into their learning onsite. In saying this, many students (and staff) commented on how exhausted they were after the first day on Monday!
Routine and Structure: We have spent time getting back into our regular routines and developing a shared understanding of how we do things whilst at school.
Checking in: Teachers have spent time checking in with students individually or in small groups to see how they have been going with remote learning and to plan for how they can best support them to move forward with their learning.
Curriculum: Our focus has been on seeing where students are at with their learning and then to support them to continue to build and extend their knowledge and skills as they prepare for their transition into Year 8.

The transition back to school for our Year 7’s has also been supported by our exciting Connect Program which is taking place during Periods 3 and 4 on Wednesdays when Year 7 students have the whole school to themselves. We have also launched The Wellbeing Hub going live where students are able to access a range of activities during lunchtime and online. Students have been able to get involved with Cricket, Art Club, Building their own machine, watching a Spanish movie, Paper Plane competition, Word games, Taboo game, Mask making, Maths games, online Yoga and online Personal Training. What a week!

Shane Kruger

Assistant Principal.

Connect

Welcome back onsite to Year 7 students! It has been great to walk around the yard and see students happy to be back at school and reconnecting with each other.

One of the ways we are encouraging students to reconnect, work as a team and communicate with each other is through the Connect program. Yesterday was the first of two days where students had fun playing dodgeball on the COLA, stacking cups with rubber bands and string, creating their own class mural and solving clues to find words around the College which combined to form the quote:

“Courage is like a muscle. We strengthen it with use. Be brave. Take risks. Stand tall.”

The final rotation is next Wednesday Periods 3 and 4. Hopefully the weather is just as nice as it was yesterday.

Kathleen Timms

Leader of Middle Years Catalyst Programs and Transition

Year 7 First Week Back

The Year 7s returned to onsite learning on Monday and it was great to see so many smiling faces (behind the masks). We can successfully report that everyone remembered where their lockers were and found their Homerooms still in the same location. Mason House was happily festooned in celebration welcome back colours, and the students enjoyed reacquainting themselves with their friends, their teachers and their classmates.

We are endeavouring to ease them back into real-life school by offering a flexible and engaging programme which is based on catch-up revision classes, collaborative learning opportunities and a varied curriculum. Middle school, Wellbeing and the Learning Areas are offering lunchtime activities to break up what may seem a long day after so much time at home online learning.

On Monday there was cricket at lunchtime and the art Learning Area offered lunchtime in the art room, and a range of activities were offered every other day. So far so good – we are all getting back into the swing.

Bethany Gaschk

Year 7 YLL