Student Learning From Home Newsletter

Welcome back, everyone!  We hope you have all been safe over the Easter break and feeling much more confident about your online and /or home learning. As Ms Graham explains in her messages we are beginning to prepare for the school to provide more at-school learning, within the recommendations of the government and DoE advice. This will be quite gradual but we will eventually all be back together at the 'school on the hill', soon enough.

As previous newsletters have mentioned, your health and wellbeing are priorities and we hope you have been doing some fun and enjoyable things after your home-learning - getting some fresh air, talking to friends, making artworks and keeping fit.

As well as checking the online learning material, make sure you check out the wellbeing and library modules as well and keep an eye out for some remote competitions we will be running.

Please make contact with the school if need any support, learning, advice or wellbeing. Take care guys and we look forward to catching up soon and getting things not just back to normal but BETTER. If that is possible.

All the best,

Ms Schatz, Ms Benton and Mr Lawson.

Hello Year 8 and Year 12 and welcome back to Term 2, 2020. I look forward to seeing you all over the coming weeks as you begin to attend some on-campus learning in line with recent government advice. In the meantime, it is important that you continue to apply yourself to your online learning and seek support if you need it. Mrs Graham has already outlined the range of ways you can access support in her previous Principal’s correspondence. If, however, you still aren’t sure of what help is available, please contact the school and we will arrange for you to receive the required support.

I hope that you are all managing with the restrictions associated with social isolation and are finding lots of ways to keep in touch with friends and family remotely. I know that TikTok has been getting a lot of airtime in my social media feeds as people find new ways to battle the boredom. Whilst I have not yet found the courage to make my own TikTok debut, I have spent more time than usual watching Netflix and Stan, as well as learning some new skills in relation to knitting and crocheting. My husband and son have also really appreciated that I created a YouTube karaoke playlist with 150 or so of MY favourite songs for us all to sing along to at our newly instituted family karaoke night each week. I look forward to hearing what you have all been up to, and the ingenious ways you found to keep yourselves amused, when we get a chance to catch up in person soon.

Year 8, I know you will no doubt be missing your friends more than you are missing us teachers but, rest assured, we are all missing you greatly. My office is so quiet without you all popping in to brighten my day, tell me a joke or share some news about what’s going on in your own life. I also want to remind you to make sure you get some exercise, have fun with your family and find ways to unwind to balance out the amount of time you are now required to spend in front of a screen as we all engage in remote learning.

Year 12, please keep in close contact with your teachers via Canvas, as they are best positioned to keep you informed of any NESA changes which may impact on your specific HSC subjects. Utilise the resources in our MHS Wellbeing Canvas course to help nurture your own emotional wellbeing and manage any additional stress or pressure you may be feeling due to unforeseen circumstances associated with Covid-19. Please also keep a watch on the MHS Facebook page for any updates in relation to the HSC, university applications process, return to school arrangements and resources aimed to enhance student wellbeing in these very trying times.

Stay safe, take care and keep smiling until we next meet, Mrs James-Cliff.

Being well-organised to Learn From Home is not as easy as  you probably first thought  - just like doing homework but for longer, huh?! Yeah, nah. There are all sorts of distractions (the 'fridge; the Xbox; your phone... even tidying your room might have seemed appealing! OK, so that didn't happen...)

We know that every one will have different things they need to accommodate working from home, so we have decided on using a 'Flexible Learning Log' model in the junior school so that you can engage in learning when it best suits your family routines. 

Please look at the Flexible Learning Log for Years 7 & 8 and Years 9 & 10 below and create your own to ensure you are doing your best- after all, you're worth it!

Vacuum the house for your parent? Wash the car?? Cook dinner for your Mum...??? Ok, so, they were MS James-Cliff's ideas... but taking quick energy boosting breaks of 10-15 minutes between your learning blocks is important! DO SOMETHING FUN and ACTIVE! i.e. not more screen time (but on a different screen e.g. your phone or Xbox!)

The Wellbeing staff are still available to support you during this unprecedented time.

The following staff are available for contact via the Canvas inbox tab from Monday - Friday between 9am - 3:10pm.  Any messages sent outside of these hours will be checked the following day. 

  Head Teacher Wellbeing - Mrs Gambrill (Years 7, 9 & 11) 

  Head Teacher Wellbeing - Mr Eaton (Year 8, 10, 12) 

  Student Support Officer - Amanda Morgan (All year groups) 

  Learning and Support Teacher - Mrs Wells (All year groups)

Accessing the School Counsellors:

The Maitland High School Counselling Service is still actively providing support within our school and are available for contact and are committed to the wellbeing of our students. The Wellbeing CANVAS page continues to provide up to date resources on managing stress, anxiety and social isolation during this period of uncertainty and change.

For students already accessing the counselling service, ongoing support can be provided by arrangement through the Wellbeing Team, via phone within the school’s normal hours of operation. Students who have not accessed counselling at school before should contact the Head Teacher Wellbeing, Mrs Gambrill or Mr Eaton. If they are not available you can leave a message with the office staff to call back when available.

Some face-to-face appointments will be available and parents/carers are welcome to bring their child to school for an appointment provided they are not unwell or have been in contact recently with persons exposed to COVID-19. Social distancing measures will be adhered to during these appointments.

Check out the Wellbeing Page on Canvas:

This page acts like a ‘Virtual Wellbeing Centre’. It has activities for you to engage in (voluntarily) to help keep your mind and body well through what is a very isolating time (literally) for many of us.

Under the ‘Wellbeing Supports’ link, there is great advice on where you can access support online through organises like HeadSpace, Kids Helpline and Reach Out.

This is our ‘Virtual Wellbeing Centre’. It has activities for students to engage in (voluntarily) to help keep their mind and body well through what is a very isolating time (literally) for many of us.

Under the ‘Wellbeing Supports’ link, there is great advice on where our young people can access support online through external agencies such as HeadSpace, Kids Helpline, Reach Out etc. Please feel free to explore this page if you feel your young person would benefit. 

Senior students study an individual timetable, generally made up of 12 units of study in Year 11 and 10-12 units of study in Year 11. Senior students should aim to devote 6 hours a week to each course they study. Your learning program is much like a full-time job i.e. 36-40 hours a week. This involves continuing to complete assessment tasks and submit by the due date, plus all course work set in CANVAS. 

School-based assessment will be very important for your HSC mark.

While the NESA is working on definitive information around the 2020 HSC, it is still occurring and all students who complete their assessment tasks and course work will gain the HSC credential. Do not worry. Continue to work through course work with your teachers online, complete your assessment tasks and continue to study. If you do not engage in learning and the school has limited evidence of your achievement, your HSC result will be poor or you may be N-Determined and not receive an HSC. However, if you submit your work and engage in all learning tasks, an HSC credential which is reflective of your ability and achievement is assured. We will make sure that you aren't disadvantaged.

The submission of coursework, in addition to your assessment tasks, will be critical in providing the evidence we need to submit your marks to NESA.

Assessment task schedules should be adhered to wherever possible, and some teachers are altering some of the due dates. However, we understand the impact of COVID-19 on tasks that are currently due and your Misadventure Appeal will be supported, so do not worry if you are a few days late. Talk to your teachers about this so that they know and can advise you.

You can access a Misadventure Appeal form from: your class teacher, CANVAS, or the school (via email at maitland-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au, with the subject line 'Misadventure Appeal Form'). You then need to submit your form, with your completed Assessment Task to your class teacher. Your teacher will add their recommendation, as will the head teacher of the subject, before it is then sent to the MHS Appeals Committee - that's the principal and deputy principals. 

Please click on the link below for the latest extensive changes to HSC exam projects, submitted works and performances:

https://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/about/news/novel-coronavirus

However, do not worry unduly, your class teachers will keep you well-informed via CANVAS. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cF3DJ-TPSBI

Creative Arts performances and Projects

• Dance
• Drama
• Music

The mandatory group performance exam in Drama and the mandatory ensemble performance exam in Music Extension have been cancelled for 2020.

Practical exams

The due dates have been extended and teachers will provide the final mark for the following components of the 2020 HSC practical exams:

• Industrial Technology: Major Project (Product)
  
• Visual Arts: Body of Work.
  

Detailed advice about practical examinations is now available.

Students are no longer required to undertake NESA-mandated VET work placements.

Learn more about VET work placement in 2020.

For students unable to complete their work, or whose work has been disrupted due to the impact of COVID-19, the teacher may estimate a mark. The estimated mark will be based on their teacher's professional judgement about what a student is likely to have achieved if 2020 had proceeded without COVID-19. NESA will provide advice to teachers on accurately estimating a mark. NESA will monitor marks provided by teachers to ensure fairness and integrity. Schools may be required to provide NESA with work samples.

The following practical examinations will be externally marked and the due dates are unchanged: Dance, Drama, English Extension 2 and Society and Culture.

• Dance Major Study – Dance and Technology Option 1: Choreographing the Virtual Body
• Drama Individual Projects
• English Extension 2 Major Works
• Music submitted works
• Society and Culture Personal Interest Projects

Detailed advice about these components is now available.

Schools still need to provide reasonable adjustments to learning and assessment activities for students with disability who are learning from home. A substitute task assessing the same outcomes may be set if adjustments are not possible due to the student learning from home.

NESA advises schools to continue submitting disability provisions applications for the 2020 HSC exams. The coronavirus outbreak might make it difficult to collect evidence in some cases. To fast track the process, schools should apply for the provisions for which they can get evidence, with a view to updating the application when more evidence is available. Disability provisions for school-based assessments and exams remain school decisions.

If you have any questions about HSC Disability Provisions, please contact Student Support by calling 9367 8117.

Email studentsupport@nesa.nsw.edu.au

I appreciate that the complexities facing families are very different, so we are not imposing a 'remote classroom' where students in each year and class are all expected to be working simultaneously in the same CANVAS lesson, at the same time. Additionally, I have wanted to provide students and families time to organise laptop collection, make their way around our CANVAS Learning Management System, and catch up on individual pieces of work - including assessment tasks - which are different depending on where each student was up to B.C. or 'Before COVID', before suggesting a Learning at Home routine. However, now is the time to establish a routine at home, as it is highly likely that social distancing and therefore, learning remotely, will continue for Term 2. Maitland High School is using a 'Daily' model, which is explained below.

Young people have been externally structured by bells signalling the end of a lesson and a timetable which tells them what to study next their entire school learning lives, so to be suddenly without a learning structure can be a large and difficult step for some young people. Therefore, the following daily learning structures are suggested.  I also appreciate that some families might need to vary the times their child engages in learning, so please look at the daily study time suggestions and feel comfortable changing when those learning blocks occur, based on your family circumstances and dynamics.  Continuing to engage in sustained meaningful learning on a daily basis is the most important thing.

Additionally, in learning 'flow' is also important, so if your child is engrossed in an assessment task or has found their rhythm in algebra and wants to continue to consolidate or complete a task, this is also OK. 

Keeping a Learning Log of learning hours completed each week in each Key Learning Area is another important way of ensuring adequate time is devoted to each subject. 

Don't forget that the Library can still help you access the most appropriate online resources to support your learning. Make sure that you have the Library tile on your CANVAS dashboard and contact Ms Denton for her assistance.

Additionally, reading has never been more important or rewarding! If you would like to borrow some fiction, please use CANVAS first, or call the school if you have difficulties.  We can bundle up books for you to collect from the Front Office.