Melton Mail

A Message from the Principal

Term 3 Congratulations and Thank You

Well done to our students for all of your amazing efforts this term. You have shown such persistence, adaptability and responsibility through this second round of remote learning. Remote learning has not always been easy, but through our collective efforts, you have continued to make valuable progress in your learning. Enjoy a well-deserved vacation break.

 

Thank you to our parents and carers for the support you have given us in the partnership we share in educating your child. Many of you are supporting multiple children with remote learning, caring for family with additional needs, managing a household and doing your own work - all at the same time. Your dedication and support are visible and appreciated in so many ways. 

Term 4 

Term 4 is important for every Victorian student, and our teachers and support staff will strive to deliver high-quality learning for everyone. Whether we’re teaching remotely or face-to-face, our focus for Term 4 is on making sure that every student is supported in their wellbeing, learning and transition needs.

 

Subject to the advice of the Victorian Chief Health Officer, the Victorian Government has released a staged approach for students to return to on-site schooling. 

 

The purpose of the plan is to get students back in the classroom as soon and as safely as possible without putting at risk all that has been achieved through the period of restrictions to reduce the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).

 

To achieve both these aims, the return to onsite learning needs to be staged, just as the easing of all other restrictions is staged.

 

There are two reasons for this.

 

The first is that in metropolitan Melbourne, health authorities need to monitor the impact of students and parents beginning to move across the city again before schools move to a full return. Having one million students return to school all at once could compromise the ability to monitor this impact.

 

The second reason is that VCE students must return in week one of Term 4 and must be able to complete the three-hour General Achievement Test (GAT) that week. In order to ensure the focus is on these students and the appropriate safety measures are in place, this means no other students can be on-site on our secondary or P-12 campuses the week before the GAT.

 

This is the best way to ensure the ongoing safety of the whole community.

 

For our school, the following arrangements apply:

 

5 - 9 October (first week of Term 4)

  • Remote learning will continue for all students
  • Students studying VCE Units 3 & 4 attend the college on Wednesday, 7 October for the GAT Exam
  • On-site supervision for children of permitted workers and vulnerable students recommences in line with existing guidelines.

From 12 October

  • Year 11 and 12 and Year 10 students enrolled in a VCE or VCAL program attend the college for onsite learning.
  • On-site supervision for children of permitted workers and vulnerable students continues in line with existing guidelines.

Remote Learning 

  • All students from Year 7 to Year 10 will continue with remote and flexible learning. A date for the return of these year levels to on-site learning will be subject to further health advice, but will occur as soon as they are safely able to do so.

 

Health and safety measures

 

The Term 3 remote and flexible learning arrangements were put in place to significantly reduce the movement of more than one million students and their families across Victoria, to help slow the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). Thanks to you and your family for contributing to this on behalf of our school community.

 

As on-site schooling resumes in Term 4, we will continue to have in place strong measures to protect the health and safety of students, staff, families and the community. This includes staggering start and finish times, restricting parent access to school grounds, mask wearing and continued emphasis on hand hygiene and physical distancing where possible. 

 

Whether your child is, or children are, returning to face-to-face learning or will be continuing with remote learning, please be assured we will be focused on three key priorities in Term 4:

 

Mental health and wellbeing 

Our highest priority will be the wellbeing, particularly the mental health, of every student and member of staff. This means effectively using all available resources to support our students in need and helping staff access the relevant support services where required.

 

Learning and excellence

Some of our students have thrived in the remote and flexible learning environment, others have maintained their learning progress, and some have fallen behind, despite their best efforts and those of their families and teachers. Our priority will be supporting both those who need it to catch up and those who have progressed to continue to extend their learning.

 

Transitions

We will make every effort to ensure successful transitions for all students moving from one year level to the next, the Year 12s moving into employment or further education and training and our new Year 7 students who will join us in 2021.

 

We know some families are worried that their child may have to repeat a year due to the disruptions of coronavirus (COVID-19). There is little evidence to support the benefits of repeating a year to catch up. Our school uses teaching strategies that draw on the best evidence available and we will work hard to help our students meet their learning needs.  Parents, families and carers can be confident that the best option for almost every child is to stay with their peer group.

 

Our school, working with you, has shown it can be flexible and adaptable in responding to the challenges of coronavirus (COVID-19) and will continue to meet student needs as we look towards the end of the 2020 school year and ahead to 2021. 

 

Kind regards

 

David Reynolds

College Principal