Weekly Wrap

Dear all,

 

Welcome to week 5.

 

Congratulations to all on navigating another successful week of remote learning. Whilst the challenges are clear and apparent, so too is the sustained effort from many to maintain their effective learning behaviours. We now have over 15 students attending onsite daily, and we expect and support that number rising. Looking after yourself and ensuring you have the optimum conditions for learning, is part of doing well through these times.

 

This week we received a significant number of very grateful emails from families who are appreciative of the high-quality remote learning our staff are producing. This style of teaching and learning is still very challenging. The enthusiasm of our team to learn new skills and design quality online learning is something I am extremely proud of.

 

As we work through each day, much uncertainty surrounds us all about a return to onsite learning. I am aware this is very stressful for some. I am also reaching out to everyone to remain focused on your learning, and what you can control. If you are struggling to identify and implement strategies to help you maintain focus and energy, I encourage you to look at the work of Emma Murray. She has a program called High Performance Mindfulness and a range of new tutorials are available to access on Facebook. They are well worth looking at.

 

The habits Emma espouses are very useful and help you maintain focus and productivity. Her 21 day challenge available on Facebook, posted on January 1 this year, would be well worth starting to work through from home while we remain in lockdown. Last year we were adjusting to this style of teaching and learning and we have now been working this way for some time – we simply have to embrace it and learn how to do well in it.

 

I encourage any student who is feeling vulnerable in their learning and finding this style of teaching and learning too hard, to reach out and request some time onsite, if you believe that will benefit you. Students are supervised and supported, studying hard during remote lessons, as well as drawing social connection from those around.

 

We are still hopeful of a return to onsite learning next week and hoping we can run production next weekend. There are still some hurdles to get through obviously, but we will keep you informed as soon as we have any updates.

 

 

Stay Safe, Stay Strong

 

David Rogers

College Principal

 

 

Million Word Team Reading Challenge

 

The Million Word Team reading challenge was run during Term 2 for our Year 7 & 8 students.

 

The Year 7 & 8 Connect groups formed teams to compete to see which team could read the most words during Term 2.

 

The goals of the reading challenge were to:

• increase student recreational reading – studies show that the number of words that students read correlates with academic success
• enhance the Connect time experience by running a team-based challenge to foster a sense of community among the group.
• to help the school build a school-wide culture of reading

 

Students recorded what they had read and library staff collected this information and kept a tally of how many words were read by each student and each team.

 

The winning Teams were 7A & 8C

 

The winning Teams were to be treated to a morning tea in the library, but due to covid lockdown restrictions this has not been possible to arrange.  A big thank you to English teacher,  Emma Enticott for arranging a special presentation for the students, hosted by Project Gen Z.

Students were treated to inspiring stories of growth, determination, and imagination.  Jodie encouraged us to ‘Rip the lid off the box’.  To bravely pursue what makes you happy and work out the formula along the way, so your successes can be repeated over and over again.  Thai showed us how a ‘what if?’ moment can lead to something new and exciting.  He has proved that age is no barrier with the right mindset and some imagination.