Dear families

On behalf of our college, I want to say a big thank you to all our students, parents and carers for your continued resilience and support throughout this year. I know remote and flexible learning was not always easy, but through our collective efforts, our students have continued to make valuable progress in their learning. You can be confident that our college staff will support any student who has fallen behind to catch up.

Term 4 is important for every student, and our teachers are striving 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. In general the return to onsite for all students over the past three weeks has been smooth and there is a notable improvement in student stamina as the days have passed.

Families will have received information from the Victorian Government in regards to mental health and wellbeing of students as they return from remote learning. Liz Zunica our College Chaplain is onsite on Tuesdays and Wednesday, and is available to engage with families and students in need. Families are able to call Liz directly on the days she is onsite whilst student access is via a signed permission form. Alternatively Liz can be contacted on elizabeth.zunica@education.vic.gov.au

The National School Chaplaincy Program (NSCP):

Supports the emotional wellbeing of students
Provides pastoral care services and strategies that support the emotional wellbeing of the school community.

Liz has provided some information for families in today’s newsletter.

Transitions

I wrote in the last newsletter that we will make every effort to ensure successful transitions for children moving from kindergarten into Prep, the Year 6s moving into Year 7, and the Year 10s and 11s moving into employment or further education and training.

To begin this process, we have had small groups of 2021 preps visit Ms Walker and Ms Paten onsite for a school tour and a brief literacy / numeracy session. The delight on the children’s faces when they met their teachers in person at the gate was evident and certainly reflective of a successful remote program to date. There were no tears and our future students separated easily from their parents / carers. The families have expressed their gratitude for the way in which our staff had engaged with their children remotely and this has ensured excitement about commencing school. Mat Kelly and I appreciated the opportunity to meet some incoming families and children personally. We are planning on a picnic early 2021, if restrictions lift, to enable the children and families to connect.

Wednesday evening Mr Guthridge facilitated our Year 7 Information Session remotely for current and incoming families. We hope this provided all families with an insight into our secondary education program. Some of our current students willingly participated in interviews to enable them to share their journey with the incoming students. Our year 7 team will connect with small groups of student’s onsite for a transition experience or through visits to their current primary school. Again we will plan a community event for students and families to meet in 2021, dependent on the lifting of restrictions.

VCE Exam – Psychology

This week we wrote another chapter in the history of our growing college with our first VCE exam as the new Altona College. We had 8 students nervously present for their first VCE examination on Thursday morning after completing Units 3 & 4 Psychology. I congratulate them on for their efforts throughout this unprecedented year for any VCE student and offer my sincere appreciation to their teacher Mrs Kylie O’Sullivan who has taught the class this year remotely.

Get Active Kids Voucher Program

To support community sport participation, families will be eligible for vouchers that help support their children get involved in organised activities as part of the Get Active Kids Voucher Program.

Under the program, up to 100,000 children will be eligible for $200 vouchers to help with the cost of sports equipment, uniforms or memberships.

Sport and Recreation Victoria will announce eligibility criteria and details on how families can apply for funding over the coming months.

Remembrance Day Commemoration

We held a brief commemorative ceremony remotely across the college to acknowledge Remembrance Day on the 11/11/2020. I pass on my appreciation to the primary leadership team who facilitated the service.

2021 Student Exits

If your child will not be returning to Altona College in 2021 please inform Racheal Puopolo in the administration office by the end of the week.

School Crossing Update

The College Council have been liaising with Hobson’s Bay Council in regards to the crossing on Civic Parade. This will be moved closer to the gymnasium in the future and we will then organise a small electronic gate on Civic Parade and a safe pathway into the college for our secondary students. The Sadie McCarthy Centre will be demolished following the capital works program making this possible.

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. Instead, schools will use teaching strategies that draw on the best evidence available to help 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, whether that is moving from kindergarten into Prep, or moving from Year 6 into Year 7 at secondary school, or students moving up any year level in between.

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.

I do hope our families have planned to reconnect with their loved ones now that restrictions are lifting. I have no doubt the roads will be busy heading down the coast or into regional Victoria this weekend.

Embrace the opportunities this weekend.

Julie, Mat and Nathan

Specialist