From the Principal - Mr Chris Caldow Vol 11

Term 3 Welcome
The term has begun and I hope that the holiday period was relaxing and that you were able to spend some quality time together as a family. In particular, I would like to welcome a number of new students and their families: Jacob Hanna Year 7, Michelle Triulcio Year 7, Ethan Godino Year 7, Dalla Petros Year 8, Tia Nabbout Year 8, John Nabbout Year 10, Isabelle Valiamplackal Year 10, Jayden Joji Year 10 and Krista Polykandritis Year 10. We hope that your time with us is both productive and rewarding.

Lockdown Extended
As most of you are aware, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, announced an extension of the lockdown of Victoria for a further 7 days from midnight Tuesday, 20 July to midnight Tuesday, 27 July. Thank you for all your support during this past 3 days of remote and flexible learning.

He also announced that if students can learn from home, they must learn from home for the remaining days, that is from Tuesday, 20 July until Tuesday, 27 July. We will continue the process of remote learning for the remaining school days through a combination of Microsoft Teams meetings and information on class pages on MyPenola.

There are a significant number of events that were planned for these days which will largely be rescheduled. I have listed these below:

  • College Production – Rescheduled to early August (Dates to be confirmed)
  • Year 12 English Oral presentations – Friday, 23 July (Rescheduled to Friday, 20 August)
  • Senior Programs Evening – Tuesday, 27 July (Rescheduled to Tuesday, 3 August during the day)
  • VCAL Information Night – Tuesday, 27 July Rescheduled (Dates to be confirmed)
  • Year 11 Reflection Day – Wednesday, 28 July Rescheduled (Dates to be confirmed)

2021 General Achievement Test
No announcements have been made regarding the 2021 General Achievement Test (GAT) scheduled for next Thursday, 29 July 2021 but we will communicate with you as soon as possible once known.

Congratulations to Ms. Erin Bonavia – Deputy Principal Head of Broadmeadows Campus
Ms. Erin Bonavia has been appointed as the Deputy Principal – Head of the Broadmeadows Campus for the next 5 years commencing in 2022. She will replace Mr Ernie Pisani who has indicated that he will retire at the end of the 2021 school year after 20 years of fantastic service as Deputy Principal here at Penola and over 42 years in Catholic Education.

Erin is currently on maternity leave after the birth of her first child, Toby Steven Forde, on 23 June. It has certainly been a busy and productive month for Erin! Erin has held the roles of Year 12 Coordinator, Instructional Coach and Acting Head of the Glenroy Campus in Term 2 2019 as well as working the Family Centre in News South Wales as Coordinator of Relationship Education and Life Skills (2012-15) and in Community Health positions prior to this. She has completed a Bachelor of Applied Science at Deakin University, a Graduate Diploma in Education at the University of Melbourne and most recently a Masters of Education (leadership and Management) at the University of Melbourne. Erin is a former student of Penola Catholic College and was one of the College Captains in 2001. I am confident that Erin will be an outstanding replacement for Mr Ernie Pisani.

Josephite Exchange postponed
Our Annual Josephite Exchange with Mt Carmel College in Rosewater, Port Adelaide was due to take place on Thursday, 19 August and Friday, 20 August. Due to the uncertainty with our current COVID situation we have made the decision to postpone this event until early Term 4. We are currently liaising with Mt Carmel College to determine the rescheduled date and advise of dates once known.

Year 10 Work Experience
In more positive news we have rescheduled Year 10 Work Experience into the first week of Term 4 namely Monday, 4 October – Friday, 8 October. We are conscious of the fact that our last PTSPM for the year is scheduled on Thursday, 7 October but don’t believe that this will have a major impact upon these meetings.

Professional Practice Day Cancelled – Friday, 27 August
After looking at the 2021 Calendar we have made the decision to cancel the Professional Practice Day that was schedule for Friday, 27 August in an attempt to catch up on face to face teaching that has been lost. We will replace it with a Professional Practice Day for both campuses on Monday, 22 November to allow preparation time for Broadmeadows staff prior to the commencement of Headstart and for Glenroy staff to mark exams, finalise assessment and prepare for Headstart the following week.

Upcoming Parent Webinar
On the 4 August we would like to invite all parents and guardians to attend an evening parent webinar titled ‘Parenting in the 21st Century’. The webinar will be led by Dr Justin Coulson and will begin at 7.00pm. The major themes that will be discussed at the webinar include, what is active parenting, dealing with children and conflict, establishing positive relationships with your children and recognising and dealing with screen issues. This webinar is being provided to parents within our AJASS schools in Melbourne, Swan Hill, Leongatha, Canberra and Tasmania.

The term ahead
As ever we have our ongoing teaching and learning- our core business. Term 3 means planning for 2022: subject selection, information evenings, Year 8-10 subject selection interviews, determining staff intentions for 2022 and staff reviews. I thank you in anticipation for your support of these ventures so that once again, we may be off to a smooth start for 2022.

Term Three within secondary schools is an essential time of preparation. For Year 12 students, it is their last full school term in their lives - which can sometimes be a scary thought! It is undoubtedly a time for Year 12 students to consolidate their knowledge, continue to revise and prepare for the end of year exams. For all other students the focus of Term Three is upon subject selections for 2022 and, with this, a focus upon future career choices.

Term 3 is traditionally a very busy time of year for students, staff and parents as planning for the next year begins in earnest. As a school we are attempting to provide as much information as we can to ensure that all our students are making informed choices with regards to their subject selections. I understand the anxieties experienced by both parents and students in trying to determine which subjects to do in the subsequent years. At 14, 15 or 16 years of age it is difficult to determine a future career path or even direction. Many students are in exactly the same position of not knowing what it is that they may do in the future.

There are some broad principles in terms of subject selections that apply to all students:

Choose subjects that you enjoy.
This makes sense to me, as students will put more effort into subjects that they enjoy and where there is an increased chance of receiving good grades.

Choose subjects that are required for your future career path
Provided you know your future career path, you should choose any prerequisite subjects that may be required. Generally, this means choosing the highest level of mathematics that you are capable of, continuing with a language if possible or investigating/researching the subjects that are required for tertiary study. Where a future career path is unknown, it is best to keep your options open by choosing a broad course or researching the consequences of not choosing a subject.

Choose subjects that you are good at.
Students may not necessarily like a particular subject, but they are very talented in the area, or have always found the subject easier than most.

I ask all families to allocate time to discuss subject selections over the next few weeks. Take advantage of the information sessions available here at the school, organise interviews with relevant staff members and complete your own research regarding what is best for your child. As long as the decisions that are made are informed decisions, then we are all doing the best that we possibly can! The College will also lead students in Years 8, 9 & 10 through the process of subject selection and important information will be distributed to students and parents over the next 4 weeks. Later in the term we will go through the process of electing student leaders for the 2022 school year, another important aspect of third term.

Ten Tips for Remote Learning
As the lockdown has been extended, I have included 10 tips for parents for remote learning.

This week, almost 700,000 Victorian students learned that they will continue learning from home as of 15 July. Under the arrangements, announced by Premier Daniel Andrews last Thursday, school students from Prep to Year 12 will undergo remote and flexible learning until midnight 27 July.

This has put the spotlight back on parents who, until a week ago, were breathing a collective sigh of relief as their children returned to face-to-face teaching at school.

Dr Matthew Zbaracki, Australian Catholic University, Head of School of Education, Victoria, and Jane Plunkett, an ACU-qualified teacher turned education consultant, have two school-aged children. They say teachers did not expect parents to run their home like a classroom.

“It’s a very stressful time for everyone. But there is a misunderstanding about teaching at home,” Dr Zbaracki said. “To home school in the ‘purest’ sense means the parent takes on the role of being the educator, (teacher) and provides the actual curriculum and assignments and activities”. Dr Zbaracki said what most Victorian parents are doing now is ‘home learning’. “The tasks are provided by the school, and the parent may assist as a guide with accomplishing them,” he said. “Home learning provides more guidance and structure for families than true home schooling”.

Dr Zbaracki said the main goal of home learning was to keep children connected with their schoolwork and engaged in age-appropriate learning activities. “These are unprecedented times for all of us, and Victoria is trying to cope with dramatic changes to its day-to-day existence,” he said. “It’s important that we recognise that parents will facilitate learning in very different ways and that’s OK. When teaching children at home, parents must take the pressure off themselves.”

Below, Dr Zbaracki and Plunkett share ten ways parents can ‘home learn’ with their children:

1. Set up a negotiated learning space and routine/structure.

“One of the key things that children need in these uncertain times is structure, by setting this up in the beginning, children will be better able to focus and learn and everyone involved will know the expectations,” Dr Zbaracki said.

“Make sure the children take regular breaks depending on their age.”

Plunkett added, “During the school holidays parents can use this time to become familiar with the various learning platforms that schools may require.”

2. Understand the required learning tasks.

Speak to the school and identify priority tasks. Print out the learning tasks, highlight key words, and add the due dates to your calendar.

3. Check in with your child to see how they’re doing and what they may need help with.

Parents know their child, so a common-sense approach is best. Give both yourself and your child a break from lessons when the child is showing signs of being off-task, tired or irritable.

4. Integrate movement/active time in the day (working from home parents will need this for themselves too)

“We all need to learn how to work from home and take frequent breaks,” Dr Zbaracki said. “When you take a break, get up and move around with your child, do 50 star jumps or run in place for a minute. Just like your child has a need to move and let out some energy, adults do as well.”

5. Older children also need to take ownership of their learning.

Upper primary and secondary children, who have specific projects/assignments, should know the due dates and the expectations of their teachers,” Plunkett said. “Older children need to be aware of when and how to meet these deadlines. Parents can ask prompting questions to check the child understands what is required of them.”

6. Read every day! Read with them, to them, and have them read to you!

7. Think creatively

Cooking or baking together (or with grandma or grandpa via Facetime). Make an iMovie together for an assignment for school.

8. Maintain connections with others (family, friends, classmates) by sharing books, recommending books, sharing writing.

Do this through Zoom or FaceTime so they are still able to ‘see’ their friends and family and have social interaction.

9. Never teach under a mood of frustration (yours or theirs) wait for calm and then work together.

“When the child is calm, ‘share the pen’ or ‘share the reading’ which means work collaboratively,” Plunkett said.

10. Be flexible

With the many distractions at home, parents need to be flexible with their expectations of their child’s behaviour. Children are not working with their regular classroom teacher or with their classmates, how they work will be different at home. Assignment outcomes will look different as well, but the goal is to keep children connected and engaged through learning.

Plunkett added, “Being flexible with your children at home is very important. Home learning can be a fun way to be more involved in what your child is learning.”

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