6 minute read
Student wellbeing during online learning
Learning from home felt different for every girl – some really loved it and others could not wait to get back on campus. Overwhelmingly students felt supported and were able to stay connected with their teachers and friends.
Lamia Rockwell
Deputy Principal Students (K-12)
From a wellbeing perspective, what impact did online learning have on the girls?
There are girls who loved it and there are girls who didn't enjoy it. Some girls like to be in their own space and their own comfort. Also not having to get up early to travel to school... From that perspective there are girls who really enjoyed it, however girls who are more social and love being around people missed school tremendously and missed their friends. The impact was also about forgoing their rights of passage. For example, for girls in Year 12 who were not able to be on campus, I was hearing a lot of, “Oh my goodness this is my last year at the College,
this is normally when I would go and take a photo at the Chapel or at the Ag Plot....” All those rights of passage and opportunities that they would have had, their Valedictory for one. Luckily, we did the formals early in the year for Years 11 and 12 and they felt grateful for that.
Holding the Trials online was also challenging for the Year 12 students as they’ve never done exams online before. Similarly for Years 10 and 11. Girls are already nervous about exams and to add that extra factor to it would have increased their anxiety around it. They also missed their teachers and that oneon-one connection, so we kept that going through Compass. Our Compass teachers were checking in on the girls daily in the Preparatory and Junior Schools. In the Secondary School, we checked in one-on-one Monday, Wednesday and Friday and then on Tuesdays and Thursdays we checked in on them as a group. The Compass teachers did a group activity, whether that was some Icebreaker games or just asking the girls to “tell me a story, what’s been exciting for you?”.
From a different perspective, girls actually loved being at home with their families. It gave them an opportunity to spend time with mum and dad and their pets and that had a positive impact. It actually gave them a better understanding of the value of a family and understanding who they are as part of their family. How did you keep the girls engaged?
We kept them engaged with lots of different activities including the Pymlympics. To celebrate the excitement of returning to campus, we also developed Countdown2Campus, which was a daily challenge for each of the girls around the Mind Body Spirit Framework. There were three different challenges, one around Mind, one around Body and one around Spirit. It was like the Christmas Advent Calendar. It also built House spirit, because everything the girls did was linked back to the House and as part of our strategy under the ‘Empowered to be courageous’ pillar, we’re trying to raise the profile of House and that gave us the opportunity.
The girls grew so much during Pymble Online, what changes will they be taking with them into the future?
I think there’s definitely an appreciation of their families, which is part of what we’re trying to do. For example, for the Year 7 Outdoor Education Program, we invited parents as it’s about engaging the community, not only with our programs but also with their own daughter, and really learning about her as a young person, how she’s growing and what are the values she’s developing through her journey at Pymble? We know we have our own College values but within that we know that the girls build their own values based on the experiences that they have.
Lamia
They’ve also become a little bit more vulnerable. They have become a little bit more aware of what’s around them. I think that self-awareness is so important. Knowing themselves. Knowing what they can do. Knowing that they can stretch themselves. So that self-awareness has really surfaced and that support for each other. They have become very good at looking out for each other and coming forward and saying, “my friend's not feeling great”. Mental health has never been so important...
The pandemic has impacted on the mental health of young people in schools around the world. That uncertainty, that fear of, ‘oh is this going to happen again?’ But there’s been lots of positives in terms of family, in terms of learning about themselves and taking time to reflect. And looking after their own wellbeing. In one activity, we sent each girl some sunflower seeds and recently one student sent me a photo to say, “Look at my sunflower, look how much it has grown”. I think it gives them more meaning and purpose to say ‘Ok, there’s bigger things in life than my laptop, my phone and social media’. That was a real positive.
Greg Meagher
Director of Sport
Tell us about Pymble Sport Online?
Online Sport at Pymble consisted of live and pre-recorded sports sessions for students covering 14 different sports. Students could tune in to participate in live sessions such as ‘Online Fitness with Jack and Jules’ or specific sport sessions, which focused on skill development and sport-specific fitness.
Alternatively, pre-recorded training sessions were developed to allow students the flexibility to participate at times that suited them. In addition to this, coaches held regular team and small group meetings, which focused on goal setting and student wellbeing. Several online team development meetings were held across many sports, including trivia contests, dress-ups and other fun activities.
Greg
Why was it so important to maintain the sport programs during Pymble Online?
Online Sport at Pymble was fundamentally about connection and wellbeing, by providing the opportunity for students to remain physically active, stay in touch with their friends and have some fun.
Teaching and participating in online sport is no easy feat, what were the challenges you faced?
It was challenging maintaining student interest in sport in an online environment after the girls had spent their day online learning. However, coaches were able to use video and online technology to help deliver engaging and meaningful sessions. During Term 3, over 400 hours of online live or pre-recorded sessions were developed and delivered by the Pymble Sports team.
There were more than 1,800 viewers in total who participated in the daily Jack and Jules Online Fitness classes.
Post-Tokyo Olympics, we held Live Q&A with:
Athletics: Australian Olympic Track and Field Co-Captain, Steven Solomon
Swimming: Olympic Gold Medallist, Bronte Campbell and Pymble ex-student and Olympic Backstroke swimmer, Abbey Harkin (2015)
Rowing: Olympic Women’s Eight rower and Pymble ex-student, Genevieve Horton (2012)
Diving: Olympic Bronze Medallist, Melissa Wu
Hockey: Hockeyroo and Pymble Hockey Coach (2020), Kate Jenner provided a video piece for our Pymble Hockey players
