MARCH/APRIL

As the end of term draws to a close today it is important that we reflect that we are operating in absolute unprecedented times which all of us are affected, both collectively and individually at the moment, and we all have competing priorities.

I have been really pleased with how our school community has responded in a really tricky scenario. Anxiety is a highly contagious thing (we only have to look at our toilet paper shortage in Australia as an example of this) so it is important that as adults we don’t let our kids catch this fear from us. Our focus as a community has distinctively been don’t be scared, be prepared and I am confident that we are doing as much as we can to be as organised as we can in a totally unpredictable and rapidly changing landscape.

While our community normally functions at a high level, with high-quality relationships and results, it is in challenging times, times like this, that I am most impressed by our collective willingness to focus on what is important - that is, both people and student learning progress.

Our staff are going above and beyond to meet, plan and collaborate to ensure that in the eventuality of a continued school closure, our students can continue the learning in a way that is clear, supportive and responsive, and they are doing this in a context where they are managing their own families and fears. Together our staff are, moment by moment, showing leadership by remaining calm, sending consistent messages, looking out for and after our students, families and colleagues, and by continuing to provide daily quality learning.

At the same time our students are adapting and adjusting to the changing needs in helpful and positive ways, and they are being conscious of how to support each of us to be as safe as possible.

As previously communicated, continued school closures will only be on the advice of the Department of Education, following advice from the Chief Health Officer. Term 2 learning will continue at this stage on Wednesday 15th April. This learning will either be as normal or in a remote/flexible way. Please keep an eye on your emails, compass and school communications re: confirmation of this in the week prior to Easter (week 2 of the school holidays).

VCE/VCAL

As the situation stands today, we are confident that students will be able to complete their VCE or VCAL. However, we will be taking a flexible and agile approach to meeting emerging issues as are VCAA. WHC will work together with VCAA to ensure continuity of learning and delivery of assessment for all our students.

Camps and excursions

All camps and trips have been cancelled or postponed. We are seeking dates towards the end of the year (term 4) for the Year 8 camp and will provide more information when we are able too.
All excursions until the end of Week 2, Term 2 have been cancelled. Further cancellations may go ahead depending on the advice closer to the time. This applies to inter-school sport, debating etc.

Please, however, be patient with our teachers at this time. We are currently working hard to prepare contingency measures in the event of continued school closure. Teachers also have family and other commitments that they are trying to juggle whilst ensuring that learning continues for their classes. As are many caring professions, we are asking more of our staff at this time, and they are responding as best and as quickly as possible during normal school hours between 9 am - 4 pm.

We have developed a plan for Continuous Learning in the event of a temporary school closure. The exact details of that plan and step-by-step instructions will be shared with families if a closure is announced, as some details may depend on the circumstances of the closure and on conditions that we cannot foresee at this stage. This will be communicated via the Compass Newsfeed.

We are confident that we have the resources required to provide meaningful remote learning if necessary. Our teachers have been planning to prepare for this eventuality throughout this week. We will continue to keep you updated as the situation develops.

Every day our community lives our values of courage, integrity and community and it is in times like this that I most feel it is a privilege to be the Principal of Western Heights College. It has been a really busy time with a number of successes to celebrate. Some of these highlights and things I wanted to mention include; -

150 new students and families joining our school community
Student leadership engagement programs
Successful Introduction of our Specialist Basketball Program
Re-invigoration of our Performing Arts Program
An extremely successful open night with large turn-out of families (best in 6 years)
Terrific swimming sports and a whole school athletics day
A great start to the VCE/VCAL learning year in our College
Introduction of a new school uniform and brand

Our learning and programs will go on and continue to grow and I encourage you all to have a safe break with hopefully some time where possible with family and loved ones.

Take care,

Fiona Taylor | Principal

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