Senior School - Learn@Home

St Catherine’s School 17 Heyington Place Toorak VIC 3142 Telephone +61 3 9822 1285 Email info@stcatherines.net.au www.stcatherines.net.au

Senior School Term 2 Learn@Home

CRICOS 00574F ABN 90 004 251 816

HANDBOOK

Learn@Home Program Our Senior School students will return to their Learn@Home program from Wednesday, 15 April with their usual subject teachers for every lesson, as if they were on campus. As per the Learn @Home Trial Days conducted last term, Microsoft Teams will be used to create the virtual classes. We believe these plans will best position our students to continue their learning journey and assist the girls in developing a routine at home.

The School is committed to ensuring that we provide a high quality and dynamic learning program while sustaining the mental and physical wellness of all students. With this in mind, we have altered the weekly schedule to provide the girls and staff with a ‘change of pace’ every Wednesday afternoon. This has been created by swapping our Monday and Wednesday timetables and rescheduling the Assembly and Wellbeing lessons on Wednesday afternoon.

During our Wednesday afternoon program, we hope to engage the girls with a range of activities that will enable a connection with peers beyond the academic environment, to provide some away time away from screens and to ensure the ‘spirit’ of school life is upheld.

I encourage the girls to look forward to participating in activities led by our School Captains that will enable our House and Cocurricular programs to flourish. All students will be emailed a new Term 2 timetable next week.

We believe it is important that the School operates on a full-time basis and ensures that students have opportunity to continue engaging in School with regular routines, familiar teachers and structures to support their learning. This is also largely driven by the VCE requirements, with supporting the Year 12 cohort a significant priority this year. With this in mind, the existing lesson duration of 80 minutes will continue, yet how the 80 minutes is utilised by individual Faculties and teachers is open to some flexibility. To enable sustainability of the Learn@Home program, lessons will be a combination of two types of learning: • •

Synchronous Learning:  direct instruction  checking-in with students when a lesson has been flipped or blended Asynchronous Learning  completing the coursework set by the teacher – this could be online or offline  checking-in with the teacher in this time – tutorial style lesson

Girls can expect teachers to deliver lessons that can be adapted with rest breaks in addition to adopting a variety of instructional modes, such as utilising a Flipped Class Model with prefilmed instructional components of a lesson to be viewed for homework. Some learning will be off screen and completed with paper and pen. No one is expecting younger students to endure 80 minutes lectures all day but teacher availability for students during their scheduled lessons will be consistent.

Assessment@Home The development of assessment instruments that can be completed in the home environment will continue to be the work of all teachers. The assessment tasks will need to be redeveloped so they are both google proof and not reliant on the recall of content. Each week, our Heads of Year will provide parents with a Weekly Assessment Schedule for your daughter. This open school-parent partnership is intended to draw on the assistance and cooperation of parents by ensuring the girls have a quiet space to complete the assessment tasks, free from the disruptions of siblings, family pets and mobile phones. All students will be required to complete an Authentication Declaration of Work Submitted.

Undoubtedly, the Learn@Home program provides a great opportunity for St Catherine’s girls. Our teachers are well equipped and trained with wonderful access to technology and the benefit of teaching the smaller class sizes at St Catherine’s are certainly significant. Our teachers have the distinct advantage of not juggling 25-27 students in the classroom, like many independent and public schools. Our girls will continue to be heard in the online environment and our teachers aim to create wonderful and engaging learning spaces online.

Wellbeing@St Catherine’s The role of the House Tutor is first and foremost one of providing care, support and a point of contact for every girl. During the Academic Advisory lesson on Tuesday and the Year Level Assembly on Friday, House Tutors will facilitate small group conversations on MS Teams to enable a wellbeing check-in with each girl.

The Head of Year remains a key point of contact for parents. In the first three weeks of Term 2, the Heads of Year or a member of the Wellbeing team will endeavour to phone parents in recognition of the vital partnership between home and school in guiding the girls through this tumultuous period.

Our School Counsellor, Amelia King and Deputy Principal, Merran O’Connor, also provide strength in experience and expertise in working with adolescent girls and their parents.

Please do not hesitate to contact either person for some guidance and help. moconnor@stcatherines.net.au counselling@stcatherines.net.au

VCE Information Please find attached the most recent statement for the Victorian Government issued on Tuesday, April 7, 2020. This statement provides some initial information pertaining to our VCE students, most importantly: VCE students will still receive an ATAR score, but there will be a number of changes to the academic timetable for VCE and VCAL students: • The GAT test will move from June to October or November • End of year exams will be postponed until at least December • School based assessment tasks will be reduced where possible to relieve some pressure on students as they move to remote and flexible learning arrangements • Universities will be asked to delay the start of the 2021 university year to account for impacts of coronavirus on senior secondary students.

VCE study scores will continue to be a combination of school-based assessment and external exams. VCAL students will have more time to complete their courses and this will be consistent with the revised dates for the VCE. The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) is also examining a compressed end-of-year exam schedule – including slightly shortening each exam – in recognition of the disruption caused by the pandemic.

A small number of students undertaking VET may have the award of their VCE or VCAL delayed until the beginning of 2021 so they can complete mandatory practical or workplace learning requirements – ensuring that they are not disadvantaged by the lack of hands on practice while we fight this pandemic.

I appreciate the information circulated by the Victorian Government may have caused considerable upset at such a challenging period for our Year 12 girls. Their nervousness around the forthcoming term is palpable, and fully understood by our teaching staff. I wish to assure all parents that the Year 12 girls remain our focus. Pease note, the following key staff members form part of the VCE Team: • • • • • •

Head of Year 12, Mr James Brown Head of Year 11, Mrs Tracey McCallum Dean of Academics, Mrs Kirsten Wiley Academic Mentor, Ms Anna Curnow Careers Practitioner, Mrs Pauline van der Poel School Counsellor, Ms Amelia King

jbrown@stcatherines.net.au tmccallum@stcatherines.net.au kwiley@stcatherines.net.au acurnow@stcatherines.net.au pvanderpoel@stcatherines.net.au counselling@stcatherines.net.au

As Year 12 parents your conversations at home are essential in encouraging your daughter to reach out for assistance when she is feeling overwhelmed or just requires a reassuring conversation.

We also understand that the Victorian Government is determined to continue with the VCE with ample flexibility around the way some of the internal coursework can be assessed. A dedicated SAC time will occur on Monday afternoon (previously Wednesday lessons 4a and 4b). For this reason, it is imperative therefore that the School and all VCE students make a full commitment to the virtual classroom program. We are determined to ensure that our students face minimal interruption from their core education.

Over the course of the term break, our VCE teachers have worked tirelessly to ensure their lessons can be delivered effectively in this new medium, and many students have continued to liaise closely over the holidays with their teachers about their homework tasks and revision of Term 1 course work. At this time, so much can lead us to feel unable to control things but we can always control our reaction and response.

Senior School Co-curricular Programs The co-curricular programs at St Catherine’s School provide opportunities and experiences to enhance the development of the whole child, complementing skills learned in the classroom and nurturing lifelong learners. Each program provides a different environment for our girls to thrive, by empowering and nurturing independent globally responsive students who approach all endeavours with empathy, integrity, commitment and determination.

During the COVID-19 period, our Learn@Home program at St Catherine’s School Co-curricular Program will continue using MS Teams and with the ongoing energy and enthusiasm of our girls and staff, we hope to continue to provide a fulfilling and fun experience.

An updated Co-curricular Schedule will be available in Week 1 or Term 2.

Sport • • •

The GSV Sports Fixtures and Carnivals have unfortunately been cancelled for Term 2 but we encourage the girls to remain fit and active by participating in the GSV Weekly Sport training programs and to log their participation; Cross Country Running Programs will be provided to students to complete during the Learn@Home program, including a virtual Running Club; Further information will be provided through the Learn@Home hub on the School Portal.

Debating • • •

St Catherine’s Debating Training will continue using MS Teams; DAV Debating will not be held at Scotch College, although an online internal and/or external competition with other schools is being developed; Further information will be provided through the Learn@Home Hub on the School Portal.

Public Speaking • • • •

Public Speaking coaching and skill development will continue during Term 2, using MS Teams; Further information relating to Public Speaking Competitions will be available in the coming weeks, we hope an online competition can be facilitated; St Catherine’s School will hold a virtual internal competition, if external Public Speaking Opportunities are no longer available; Further information will be provided through the Learn@Home Hub on the School Portal.

Performing Arts • •

Rehearsals for the Musical will continue in small groups on Friday afternoons via MS Teams; A rehearsal schedule and further information will be provided through the Learn@Home Hub on the School Portal

Music • • • •

Music Ensembles, Choirs and Large Ensembles will continue using MS Teams; Rehearsals will continue in smaller sectional groups with our Instrumental Music Staff; Private Music lessons will continue to be scheduled using MS Teams; Further information will be provided through the Learn@Home Hub on the School Portal

Senior School Clubs • • •

• • • • •

Senior School Clubs will continue using MS Teams in Term 2; Information will be provided via the News Items on the Portal from the staff member leading each Club The co-curricular timetable may reflect some adjustments to the day and time of the clubs being offered.

Gina Peele Director of Student Programs gpeele@stcatherines.net.au Nick Racina, Head of Sport nracina@stcatherines.net.au Tim Collins, Head of Music tcollins@stcatherines.net.au James Brown, Head of Performing Arts jbrown@stcatherines.net.au Mary-Anne Keratiotis, Debating and Public Speaking Co-ordinator mkeratiotis@stcatherines.net.au