Friday 10th April 2020
Dear Parent/Guardian,
We once again thank you for your patience at what has been an incredibly challenging time for families. We look forward to continuing to work with and support all families into Term 2. Your active support will be essential in the success of this new way of learning for your child. Never before has the importance of the three-way partnership of Parents/Guardians, Students and Teachers been more important than now.
To increase physical distancing across the population and slow the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), children in Victorian government schools will move to remote and flexible learning at the commencement of Term 2.
As announced by the Victorian Government on Tuesday 7th April students will be engaging in remote learning from the beginning of Term 2 to slow the spread of COVID-19. This means that from the start of term two all students who can learn from home must learn at home – with the exceptions only in extremely limited circumstances. This is a very clear directive by the Victorian Government based on the advice of the Chief Health Officer.
Wodonga Middle Years College will continue to provide on-site supervision for students whose health and safety would be at risk without access to a supervised environment. Parents and carers who require their child to attend on-site learning will need to complete an On-Site Attendance Form in the week prior to their child attending on-site (this form needs to be completed weekly).
Process for Student Attendance Onsite at WMYC
- BY 3PM THURSDAY: Parents or carers to provide application form and evidence for required days/times the following week.
- School determines the request meets the threshold of the student being on-site.
- BY CLOSE OF BUSINESS FRIDAY: School to confirm arrangements with parents/carers.
Please note:
- To ensure fairness for all students, those who attend will not receive additional tuition to the remote learning program.
- Students will need to provide their own food and water bottle as the canteen will not be open.
If you fit into these extremely limited circumstances and have any questions, please ring Gary Hodge (AP Felltimber), Tim Bridgeman (AP Huon) or Marg Leddin (Coordinator FFFCS) on Tuesday 14th April on 60579000.
Most of our teachers will also be working from home. All of them have been working hard to put curriculum plans in place to ensure continuity of learning and to support the wellbeing of all our students.
WMYC teaching staff will provide meaningful work for all students to engage with the Victorian Curriculum. Classroom teachers are directly responsible for developing online content within D2L and work packs for all students in their class who don’t have access to a device or home internet. Considerations will be made in line with each student’s current learning data. This work can take the form of online learning, hard copy or a mixture of both.
The classroom teacher is responsible for providing the appropriate resources based on communication with home and having a clear understanding as negotiated with the parent/carer of what will best support students when they are at home.
Wodonga Middle Years College has partnered with leading cyber safety experts from ySafe to provide vital and practical information to our parents/carers via the Online Learning Induction for remote learning.
Our students will be completing their version of an Online Learning Induction. In the parent/carer version, the four video modules cover:
- Setting up devices to be safe for children and teenagers
- Tips for managing class schedules at home
- Supporting kid’s wellbeing and promoting healthy screen habits
- Where to access help if eSafety issues occur
The induction videos are accessible online via the ySafe Parents Portal, click here or visit https://www.ysafeparentsportal.com.au/ This is an exclusive portal available to our College, where there is an abundance of information on cyber safety at home, including step-by-step instructions for setting up devices, and reporting tools for managing issues such as cyberbullying.
As part of the Online Learning Induction, all Parents/Carers will also have access to the free Family Zone Insights App. This will help you stay up to date on current cyber safety risks. In partnership with Family Zone, this app allows ySafe’s experts to send parents/carers direct updates when their child has accessed something risky online, allowing ease of monitoring and current information on cyber safety issues. Access to the app is on an opt-in basis, with instructions for activating Insights available on the portal.
How effectively we communicate during this process will be critical to ensure student success. The majority of our teaching staff will be working remotely and will share email addresses and Microsoft Teams numbers with families when the term resumes.
Staff will be continuing to contact your child and yourself to facilitate teaching and learning, support student health and wellbeing and support student pathways and transitions.
The school will continue to operate between the hours of 8.30am-4.30pm, the physical office will not be open. If you would like to contact a teacher, please do so on 0260579000 or call their direct number.
Student to Teacher – During timetabled classes via D2L in the Activity Feed.
Teacher to Student – During timetabled classes between the hours of 8:45am 4:45pm Monday – Wednesday, via the Activity Feed in D2L and until 8.45am – 3.40pm Thursday-Friday.
Parent to Teacher – During the hours of 8:45am – 4:45pm Monday-Wednesday and 8.45am – 3.45pm Thursday-Friday via phone call or email.
Teacher to Parent – Between the hours of 8:45am-4:45pm Monday-Wednesday and 8.45am – 3.45pm Thursday-Friday unless arranged otherwise.
We understand that many families will be under additional financial strain. We encourage those facing financial difficulties to contact the College to discuss options available.
Making this transition is understandably going to be challenging for us all. Our staff have put in a huge amount of work to ensure we are as ready as we can possibly be. There is a lot we are going to learn over the coming weeks, some of it learnt through things that go well, others through things that don’t work quite the way we intended. Both will be important sources of learning.
We look forward to working with you as we prepare for, and commence, a different way of supporting the wellbeing and learning of every one of our students.
We have included the Remote Learning guide for students, and it is important they are aware of what is expected of them next term.
Attachments:
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Headspace Fact Sheet
- On-Site Attendance Form
- Remote Learning Carer Pack
- Remote Learning Student Guide
- Student Acceptable Use Agreement
Thank you for your support during this time.
Yours faithfully,
Vern Hilditch Maree Cribbes
Executive Principal Campus Principal
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