Teaching through a pandemic

Yasmine McCafferty

Head of Instructional Teaching & Learning, Years 7 to 12

This year started with challenges, but we had no reason to expect it would be any different to other years. We were still coming to terms with the devastation of the bushfires, but we had started to discuss how the School might support our rural communities. We were excited about our new Principal and curious about the changes he might bring. We were ready to launch our new Learning Management System, Canvas, and we had started planning how we were going to use this platform to engage our students in new and exciting ways. We were ready to go. Or so we thought.

By March, everything had changed, and we launched into a teaching and learning approach most of us had never experienced before. As the first school in Victoria to close its doors due to COVID-19, we had to find strategies for our students to continue their learning at home while ensuring we were meeting their academic, social, emotional and wellbeing needs. We also looked at how other schools around the world had transitioned into the remote learning space, and we quickly came up with an approach that seemed to strike a good balance between wellbeing and learning. We have always been committed to the two going hand-inhand, but in the uncertainty and anxiety of a worldwide pandemic, we knew that this was paramount for our students.

We were certain that it wasn’t in the best of interests of our students to have them sitting in front of a computer at home, pretending they were in a classroom for six lessons a day with their teachers speaking at them from a screen. Instead, we came up with a model of learning that encompassed two lesson types: Conferences and Study. This mix of direct class learning and independent study time gave students the flexibility to work with their teachers, peers and on their own. This approach was embraced and supported by parents, teachers and students alike.

This year has also given them a new kind of independence and maturity. We have all learnt so much from 2020 and are committed to ensuring that we continue to grow.

As teachers, we also began using Canvas in ways we had never thought possible. We quickly discovered the most effective tools to use in a remote learning setting, as well as the best ways to communicate and support our students online. We have never learnt so much so quickly. It was challenging, but it was also exciting, creative and fun.

Every teacher jumped in to address the moral imperative of how to best support their students. As always, students were at the centre of everything: maintaining our relationships with them and their relationships with each other was essential. Not knowing when we would be back at school, staff and students made staying connected a priority.

Performing Arts, Art and Design, Science and Health and PE, which all have important practical components, creatively adapted to being online, using instructional videos, guest presenters, kits sent home and virtual simulations.

All Learning Areas presented engaging materials, experimented with new ways to deliver their programs and give feedback, while creating spaces for student questions and support. Maths kept running their homework club, Languages developed new approaches to their oral work, English teachers entertained students with online readings of their novels, and Humanities, CARE and Business Studies delivered content in new and creative ways.

Our Interdisciplinary team ran weeklong online immersion programs, like Year 7 Enterprise Week and the Year 8 Human Rights Convention. They had exciting guest speakers, online tours and workshops, and students were still able to work collaboratively with others, despite not being in the same room. Our House system also created spaces for wellbeing programs, including ongoing communication with students about their physical and mental health.

Of course, at the core of each decision we made was a deliberate and conscious awareness of the needs of every student. We all would rather be at school with the students than teaching remotely, and we loved seeing them return this term and reconnect with each other. They needed that. However, this year has also given them a new kind of independence and maturity. We have all learnt so much from 2020 and are committed to ensuring that we continue to grow.

None of this would have been possible without the dedication of our teachers and the tireless support of the parents. This year was not easy for anyone, but we all did the best we could, and it was pretty impressive.