Weekly Wrap
I hope you had a restful break, and are ready for a great term of work. Obviously the return to school this term has again been unusual to say the least. In an environment where there is such uncertainty in Victoria, we have been thrilled with the responsible nature our VCE and VCAL students have attended school. We are aware this is a time a great anxiety for many, and have appreciated the way in which our community has accepted and supported the measures we have put in place to make sure everyone’s health and wellbeing is paramount as we settle back into Term 3.
We are working hard to maintain of a safe and orderly environment in the school. The State is in a State of Emergency and it is mandated that all students will undergo temperature checks on arrival, without exception. We have additional staff on duty for the supervision of drop-off and pick-up times, and we have increased the supervision of students at breaks, opened the gym and library in week 2 at recess as well as lunch
We need to get our physical distancing right, maintain high standards of personal hygiene, especially the sanitising and washing of hands. Students are encouraged to bring their own hand sanitiser to use, in addition to that provided in every classroom. We support the individual choice around the wearing of masks or not, at this stage.
Our aim is to get these things right so we can ensure
- provision of a consistent high-quality classroom teaching for Year 11 and 12 students, and Year 10 students enrolled in Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) or Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) programs
- provision of supervision programs for children with a disability, vulnerable children and children of parents who cannot work from home
- high-quality delivery of remote and flexible learning (if required) through a safe and secure digital environment
Last time during remote and flexible learning we cancelled classes every second Friday. At this stage, as we have reduced period length and cancelled Home Group, we are optimistic these initiatives will be sufficient to reduce “screen fatigue.”
Periods have been shortened to 60 minutes in duration and bell times will remain the same. We have made the decision to maintain the existing bell times, despite shortening periods and cancelling Home Group. This will allow us flexibility into the future, should we move to stage 4 restrictions or experience a school closure in the event of a positive test in our community. Informing this decision we also considered feedback from the first manifestation of remote learning, when everyone was at home, that screen fatigue is best reduced by allowing for a period of time between periods, where students and staff can walk around and get a cup of tea/ and or have a stretch, prior to the commencement of the next class. At this stage the majority of students are at home, and catering for them is very important to us.
We are anticipating many more students will attend the College across this period of remote and flexible learning, increasing in number as the weeks progress. We will continue to review the structures we put in place each week as our numbers change and as the conditions evolve throughout the efforts to contain the virus.
Applications for onsite learning will be posted on Compass each Monday and are due back to d.rogers@fhc.vic.edu.au by 4pm each Thursday, to allow us time to plan for the week ahead.
The students accessing onsite remote learning, will be based in MY8, and will be asked to enter the College via the General Office to be temperature tested. Please ensure your child, if attending, has a fully charged device and is wearing full school uniform.
As we now have to operate in such challenging times, it is worth remembering when we were able to run a school when physical distancing and remote learning etc were not part of what we did. We look forward to getting back to these days and have included in the weekly wrap, a video we made back when things were different, to remind us of these times that we hope you will enjoy. Please click here.
For now take care stay safe and stay strong