Principal's Report 30th July, 2021

Return to school

It was great to see the students return to school on Wednesday of this week with the end of Lockdown 5.0.

Once again, I am so proud of how our staff have been able to reorganise on very short notice and provide full on Webex classes for Years 10-12 and the majority of Year 7 to 9 classes.While we should not compare, many Secondary Colleges did not provide any instruction over Webex and had as little as one lesson per day for a welfare check.  Thanks also to the students for demonstrating their resilience with our attendance rates in most of our Webex classes, as good as when we are face to face at school.

Webex Intrusions

On Friday of last week, I was visited by the local St. Arnaud Police who informed me that the person responsible for the intrusions into our Webex Classes during Lockdown 4.0 had been identified and located.  It turns out to be a minor from Wonthaggi whose parents had no idea he was involved in such activities.  The person will now be fronting police for a statement, and they will then decide what fate or consequences will be put in place.  It does come back to us all to remember that you are not anonymous on-line.  I will keep you informed of any future developments.

Parent Teacher Interviews

Parent Teacher Interviews were scheduled for this week but obviously had to be postponed due to the lockdown.  We are looking at a date later this Term in week 7 – Monday 23 August.  Please mark this date in your calendars/diaries.

School Upgrade

On Thursday we held second round interviews for our candidates for the architect position for our school upgrade.  This has been a very enlightening experience and it is great to see how architectural firms differ in their ideas, philosophies and ways of communicating their thoughts on a large-scale project.  We are fortunate to be in a position to have such a good field to choose from.  

Year 10-11 Snow Camp

The lockdown has ended just in time for our students to be able to attend the snow fields after missing out on going to the snow last year due to the pandemic.  However, we did have a curve ball thrown at us this week, with the compulsory COVID testing required for anyone entering the Alpine Region.  Following an exceptionally tumultuous day, receiving conflicting advice and making and changing arrangements several times, we received an offer to hold the testing at school, on Sunday, meaning that travel out of St. Arnaud will not be required.  Many thanks is extended to Tracy Edwards and Veronica Wilson for offering their time and skills to save our staff and students a great deal of time and hassle.

We have also received official notification that our students or staff are not required to quarantine following this COVID Test unless they are experiencing symptoms, are a close contact, have been to an exposure site or advised by the Department of Health, which means they are able to continue with normal activity, including work commitments on Sunday and schooling on Monday.

New L to P Car

On Wednesday, we took possession of our new L to P car – a Mitsubishi Outlander - which, thankfully for me, is much easier for me to get in and out of.  We have not had a strong take up of this opportunity for our students, and it would be very disappointing for us to lose the service through lack of use.  I encourage all of our L-plate drivers to consider signing up to get free driving lessons and experience.

 

Tony Hand

Principal

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