From the Principal

Resilience in challenging times

Welcome to the first edition of the Newsletter for this strange and challenging Term 2.

Schooling is very much a human enterprise – it is about relationships, communication and responsiveness. The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly made us think deeply about how we can bring these essential qualities to the work that we do with young people without a physical presence.

Our staff, and in particular the leadership team, have done a fabulous job of that work, preparing for the start of Term 2. They are being positive and resilient and incredibly supportive of each other, and of course they are demonstrating what exceptional teachers and support staff they are by embracing learning (many) new things.

I thank the members of our community who have taken the time to send messages of support and admiration for the work of our staff. 

I feel the great sense of the loss and longing our students must be experiencing - craving contact with their friends, their sports, musical and other passion areas. In particular I feel for our Year 12s, who are still largely awaiting the decisions of the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) and the Department of Education to know what the remainder of the year has in store. I know all students will also be missing the connection with their teachers and other school staff. Who would have thought that they would miss school so much?

I know that there are many families who have the added burden of uncertain or non-existent employment prospects in the foreseeable futures. Our finance team, Sarah Burns and Rebecca Priest, are ready to provide assistance.  Please don’t hesitate to contact them.

Rest assured, we will do all that we can to maintain and strengthen the connections we have, communicate clearly and in a timely manner, and support everyone to the other side of this in the best shape possible.

Unfortunately, Wednesday’s start to remote learning was less than auspicious across the state, and we were not immune. As stated in my recent Compass Newsfeed, even in the best of circumstances things will fail. I hope students and families have availed themselves of the tips to help navigate when things inevitably (at some point) go down again. I applaud students and parents/carers for showing initiative and problem solving as we transition across this first week.

Today we had a trial of the video conferencing platform we will be utilising to add to the already extensive tool kit in our remote learning plan. We wanted to test Webex Meetings platform with the maximum number of users on at the one time, so that we can plan and problem solve our way through it’s introduction across the next few weeks. It was largely successful with the majority of users connecting with their Connect group. I also have a Daily Connect group and it was a real thrill to see everyone. This trial will inform our practice and protocols moving forward.

In this edition, you will find out how to book your appointments for Parent Student Teacher Conversations. Please avail yourselves (parents/carers and students) of the opportunity to speak with staff about the learning so far, and the next steps.

Over the course of the next fortnight, we will all learn so much: teachers will become more skilled at remote teaching, students will become more effective at learning from home, families will learn how to manage the many balls they are juggling as they try to work from home, care, provide supervision, motivation and support to their children and troubleshooting IT issues.

I predict we will be surprised at how far we advance in the time between now and the next Newsletter. We will do it if we all demonstrate our values: achievement, curiosity, humanity and fairness, along with a good dose of patience and empathy. We will do it together by supporting each other. I have every confidence that by then we will be well along the better path.

My best wishes to one and all, stay safe, stay connected, and stay well.

Sue Harrap