Principal's Report

It’s with some difficulty that I write to everyone today with the expectation that the lockdown conditions we are all facing will continue into the school holiday period. While there has been no official communication from the Premiers office all of our staff are currently planning to deliver remote learning until the end of the term.  

The conditions we are currently facing are causing a strain on everyone within our community, and we hope that we can return to on-site learning as soon as possible. We know that the majority of our students are better off at school experiencing the social connections that the school environment is able to provide.  

To assist with our school returning back to the environment we value and love, I ask all members of our community to follow the health advice provided by the Chief Health Officer of Victoria.  

Our current remote learning arrangements remain in place. 

Remote learning program: 

• In the interests of avoiding excessive planning for staff the focus of the current syllabus will remain in all areas. 

• Cameras being switched on will remain compulsory for students in Years 10 to 12.. I would encourage students in Years 7 to 9 to also switch their cameras on for the remainder of this lockdown period. It helps your teachers engage with you during the instruction of lessons and promotes better communication between students throughout the lessons. 

• In Year 7 to 10, 50 percent of classes shall run for about 45 minutes (20 minutes instruction/20 minutes for students to work on tasks/ 5 minutes to conclude/ check understanding). There should be no work of any kind set for completion outside of scheduled classes. The remaining 50 percent of classes need only consist of roll-marking and checking on student progress. These classes should run for approximately 5 minutes, possibly longer if students need support or have questions. 

• The length of the VCE / VCAL classes will run according to the discretion of the teacher for all scheduled classes. 

• All VCE assessment tasks will run online as determined by the classroom teachers. 

• All students need to check both Compass and Microsoft Teams to ensure they are logging onto every class scheduled. Classes run according to the scheduled timetable shown on Compass. 

The VCAA has confirmed that the same process for Consideration of Educational Disadvantage will run in 2021 as it did in 2020. This process is for all students completing a Unit 3 /4 subject. This process should be completed by all students completing a Unit 3 /4 subject. Students who do not complete the process may be disadvantaged as the circumstances they have faced over the past 18 months may not be reflected in the process. The process has been clearly outlined by Ms Carmody to students and must be followed. 

Student attendance on site 

As with other remote learning periods, our school will provide on-site supervision for students in the categories below: 

Children where both parents and/or carers are authorised workers who cannot work from home, work for an essential provider and where no other supervision arrangements can be made:  

Where there are two parents/carers, both must be authorised workers, working outside the home in order for their children to be eligible for on-site provision 

For single parents/ carers, the authorised worker must be working outside the home in order for their children to be eligible for on-site provision. 

Children experiencing vulnerability, including:  

children in out-of-home care 

children deemed vulnerable by a government agency, funded family or family violence service, and is assessed as requiring education and care outside the family home 

children identified by a school as vulnerable, including via referral from a government agency, or funded family or family violence service, homeless or youth justice service or mental health or other health service. 

Where a parent/carer indicates that a student with a disability is vulnerable because they cannot learn from home, and/or informs the school the student is vulnerable due to family stress, the school must provide on-site supervision for that student. This may apply to students enrolled in specialist schools and students with a disability enrolled in mainstream schools. 

If your child needs on-site supervision, could you please fill out the on-site attendance form and return to me via my email – corey.jewell@education.vic.gov.au  

For more information, refer to learning from home information for parents. 

Student Access to the College 

Any student wishing to the access the college will need to contact the general office and make a booking to attend the school. Students should call – 9463 7300 to make a booking. 

When attending the school to collect resources students will need to sign in at the general office via the QR code on the front door. They can then attend their lockers to collect anything they need and then leave the site.  

IT Support 

Any student who needs assistance with their school log in details or passwords will need to contact Luc Labigang via his email – luc.labigang@education.vic.gov.au  

Wellbeing Support 

Any families or students requiring support at home can contact the wellbeing team via the links listed within the news feed on all student and parent news feeds. If you are having trouble locating this information please email Laz Zaekis our Student Wellbeing  Leader via his email – laz.zaekis@education.vic.gov.au  

There will be office staff and a Principal class member on site for each of the days next week. Any queries or questions can be directed to these staff via the school office number – 9463 7300. 

Thank you for your continued support and understanding during the conditions we all face. I hope that everyone is able to stay home and safe and that we are able to come together soon. 

I will keep everyone updated with information as it is made available.  

Best regards 

Corey Jewell 

College Principal