Assistant Principals' Update

Learning and Teaching

Remote Learning

Term Two has certainly started with some challenges. We find ourselves living very different lives to the ones we were in a mere six weeks ago. Throughout this last month and a half, many of us have been consumed by the news and vast amounts of literature about coping, surviving and thriving during this period. In our development of 'Kilbreda Connect', we were relentless in our pursuit of a remote learning model that would ensure the wellbeing of our College community. The two factors that were at the forefront of our thinking and planning was to provide for both continuity of community and continuity of learning. It is these two facets that combine to make Kilbreda what it is - a College that has a solid reputation for providing wonderful and varied learning opportunities and a place where all are welcomed.

Continuity of Community

Kilbreda College is a place where all people feel a sense of belonging. All are accepted for who they are and challenged to make the most of the opportunities afforded to them. Committed to the core values and beliefs of a Brigidine education, we wanted to remain connected as a community and continue to provide opportunities to engage in learning that would strengthen the girls' understanding of faith, compassion, courage and hope. Continuity of community is created through daily contact with Homeroom teachers and peers. Kilbreda girls will engage in wellbeing activities throughout the duration of remote learning to recharge their mind, body and spirit. These wellbeing challenges will provide opportunity to live out the Kilbreda motto of Strength and Kindliness.

Continuity of Learning

Research indicates that a combination of synchronous learning (where students are involved in the same activity at the same time) and asynchronous learning (where students develop their own schedule to work on individual areas of priority and need) is best suited to remote learning. 'Kilbreda Connect' provides for continuity of learning by utilising the strengths of both synchronous and asynchronous learning and teaching. Kilbreda girls maintain connection with their subject teachers throughout the week for real-time classes. Asynchronous opportunities allow students to organise their own schedule and utilise the multi-modal resources provided via the LMS.

Internet Safety

Learning remotely means that our girls are spending more time online than ever before. At school devices are protected by our network filtering system. When the girls are working remotely from home, the College filtering system does not apply. It is important that each family takes into account the needs of their children and considers if they should install a filtering system that is effective in the home.

We have organised for all families to have access to FREE internet filtering via Family Zone, which is the same organisation that we use onsite. Earlier in the year, information regarding Family Zone and the optional package for parents to use at home was communicated via an email to all families. A separate email from Family Zone was sent to all families, with the exception of those who opted out of the program. If you are having trouble locating your email from Family Zone, please check your Inbox and Junk email. If you find this information in your Junk email box, please mark Family Zone as a ‘safe’ sender so that any further communication will be delivered straight to your Inbox. If you cannot locate this email, but wish to install Family Zone on your devices at home, simply visit the Family Zone Parent Hub at www.familyzone.com/kilbreda-vic Click on the ‘My Account’ tab on the top right of the screen and sign up for your account. You must use the email address that you have registered with the school to create your account.

In addition to installing Family Zone on your devices at home, you can also add an extension through the Chrome webstore that will block pop-up ads. There are a number of extensions available that will perform this function and many of them are free or available for a low cost.

For additional IT support, please contact help@kilbreda.vic.edu.au

We’re Social!

Now more than ever, staying connected is incredibly important! We love sharing stories with our College community and have a number of ways in addition to this Newsletter and our school correspondence, where you can find out the latest information.

Facebook - If you have a Facebook account we encourage you and your daughter/s to ‘Like and Follow’ our official page. You can do this by finding on Facebook us at https://www.facebook.com/kilbredacollege/

This page is updated almost daily and gives a wonderful overview of life at the College, learning in the classroom (and remote learning currently), college events and much more.

If you are a past pupil, we also have a dedicated page where we celebrate achievements of our wonderful past pupils, take trips down memory lane with archival news and remain connected to our community with events and reunions. Once a Kilbreda girl, always a Kilbreda girl. You can find this page at https://www.facebook.com/kilbreda.pupils/

Linkedin - We also maintain a presence on Linkedin and again, we encourage you to ‘Follow’ our page at https://www.linkedin.com/school/kilbreda. Here, we often post content that is different to Facebook and celebrate business achievements, leadership news and employment opportunities.

In addition, if you are a past pupil, then we encourage you to add this official College page to your Linkedin school profile and join our ‘Alumni’ section.

Should you have further enquiries, please contact marketing@kilbreda.vic.edu.au

Jane Ward

Assistant Principal:

Learning and Teaching

Wellbeing and Engagement

“Our humanity is at the heart of what we are doing so we need to take good care of it individually and together.”

With so much uncertainty of what tomorrow will bring, it is important that we navigate these challenges together to bring out the best in each other and to understand the value of what we are trying to achieve.

Some days are fantastic and some days it is difficult to turn up. 'Wellbeing Wednesdays' are designed to promote a culture of community and connection, with activities that focus on how we can care for ourselves and each other. There is a real focus on collective care as we unpack the elements of Martin Seligman’s PERMA framework – Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and Accomplishment, to enable us to flourish together.

Over the first two weeks of the program we have focused on evaluating our wellbeing and explored positive emotions, the hygiene factors of our wellbeing. Professor Barbara Fredrickson asserts that ‘positive emotions open our hearts and our minds, making us more receptive, creative and connected’. Neurologically positive emotions create more happy chemicals in our brain. This makes us feel safer and think more about ‘we’ and less about ‘me’. They have also been found to increase thought processes, creativity and strengthen immunity. We know that emotions are contagious, and the magic connections provide. Thus, students were challenged to adopt the mamba mentality and invest energy in establishing a wellbeing hope. They were encouraged to reflect on a time when they had experienced a range of positive emotions, as such moments have the power to shape our perspective and our sense of purpose. Students explored the idea behind bucket-filling and that we are each born with an invisible ‘bucket’ that is constantly filled or emptied based on what we say and do to others and what they say and do to us. As Kilbreda people, they were reminded that they are called to fill other people’s buckets with strength and kindliness, as other people matter.

This was sent to me last week and it lifted my spirits, I hope it does the same for you:

What if instead of ‘behind’, this group of kids is ‘advanced’ because of this pandemic? Hear me out.

What if they have more empathy, they enjoy family connection, they can be more creative and entertain themselves, they love to read, they love to express themselves in writing?
What if they enjoy the #simple things, like their own backyard and sitting near a window in the quiet. What if they notice the birds and the dates that the different flowers emerge, and the calming renewal of a gentle rain shower?
What if this generation is the one to learn to cook, organise their space, do their laundry, and keep a well-run home? What if they learn to stretch a dollar and to live with less? What if they learn to plan shopping trips and meals at home?
What if they learn the value of eating together as a family and finding the good to share in the small delights of the everyday?
What if they are the ones to place great value on our teachers and educational professionals, librarians, public servants and the previously invisible essential support workers like truck drivers, grocers, cashiers, custodians, logistics, and health care workers and their supporting staff?
What if among these children, a great leader emerges who had the benefit of a slower pace and a simpler life. What if she truly learns what really matters in this life?
What if they are ahead?

https://www.altogethermostly.com/what-if-instead-of-behind-these-kids-are-ahead/?

Parent Resources

https://www.actmindfully.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/FACE-COVID-eBook-by-Russ-Harris-March-2020.pdf

Beyond Blue Coronavirus Wellbeing resource:

https://coronavirus.beyondblue.org.au

"Our goal is to be intelligent and active stewards in shaping our wellbeing."

Dr Peggy Kern

Stephanie Smyth

Assistant Principal:

Wellbeing and Engagement