What a difference a week makes – back out of lock down

This means that all students in regional schools are back to face to face teaching from today.  We should, however, continue to be mindful and vigilant in terms of our current practices to ensure that not only individually, but as a community, we are keeping as safe as possible.  Students and staff are required to carry face masks with them at all times.  Face masks are required for all of our bus travellers and, at times, when 1.5 metre distancing is not possible.  Hand sanitiser will again be available at the school, and students are also welcome to bring their own from home.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the staff for the massive effort in switching lanes so quickly and professionally between On Site and Remote Learning.  This is not just as simple as flicking a switch, so I thank them for their efforts and dedication to our students.  I would also like to thank our students who did well to adapt to our change in circumstance.  We were notified of issues early and were able to sort out most the connectivity and normal teething issues by lunchtime Monday.

Year 9-11 exams

Prior to the lockdown, students were clearly told that exams for Year 9 to 11 students would be going ahead in week 8 (next week).  They were also reminded that a one week lockdown should have a very minor impact (if any at all) on exam performance.  Students have been able to maintain contact with their teachers for the past four days.  If this current lockdown was going to be extended, like it has been in metropolitan schools, we were considering moving the exams back a week; however we do not need to worry about that now – thank goodness.

The exam timetable, which has been published previously, will be included in this newsletter for all students. 

Webex Classes, Students On Site and Webex Intrusions

Just getting back to this last week, attendance at Webex classes has been good – maintaining our normal attendance rate.  Due to vulnerability, our Year 12 VCE and Senior VCAL students have also been on site, along with a handful of students who were unable to work from home.  Again, I thank these students for their attitude and application to their work over the four days of Remote and Flexible Learning.

We did have one issue during the week with an intruder coming into some classes and using some exceptionally poor language that was abusive, threatening and crude.  While this ‘person’ was ejected from the classroom as soon as possible, there was still time for them to make their presence known and say some highly inappropriate things.  We have contacted those parents whose students were subjected to this and have offered support if they need it.  We have also spoken with police and the Department of Education who are confident that they will be able to track down the perpetrator and bring them to justice.

LMR Cross Country

We have been notified that the Loddon Mallee Cross Country, which was due to be held on Tuesday has been postponed to Friday June 18.  This does create some logistical issues for us as all of our Year 9 students are expected to be in Charlton for the 'Try a Vet Day' on that day, and our Year 8 students will (hopefully) be on camp at Rubicon. If any of these arrangements are to change, we will notify you as soon as possible.

Tony Hand

Principal

This will enable students to collectively work on future programs together in a defined learning space. The project was student led where they were able to construct, plan and resource the materials needed for their own learning space. The project mainly relied on the generous donations of recycled materials from families in the Community.

Students have upskilled in wall construction by building, plastering and painting of an interior and exterior wall. They relocated a kitchen, learning how to carefully dismantle and reassemble the entire kitchen unit. There were a range of other skills students have developed, that have led to the successful construction of a wonderful learning space.

This work could not have been completed without the hard work of the Hands-on Learning students and the guidance from their artesian teachers Jason Burke, Michelle Watts, India Griffith and Russell Marland.