Newsletter Term 3, Week 3 31 July 2020

Hopefully, those numbers will soon fall and we can stop looking at them each day, almost like one tracked the weather pre Covid when we actually went out, cared about what we wore and had waistlines. 

You have read a lot of words from the School in recent times (169 internal and external communications in total) about not very interesting or uplifting material, but necessary nonetheless.   

For this communication I have simply provided two articles one of my daughters drew to my attention a few days ago. I thought I would share them with you as I have no doubt that some of you are doing it very tough, and even those who are feeling pretty calm about it all and whose lives are less dramatically impacted, will be experiencing a sense of loss. Given that all of you are parenting children 18 and under, you probably put your kids first, and so this is for you. What do they say on flights (remember them)? Adults should put the oxygen mask on first so that they can tend to their children.

Coronavirus is changing our lives, and we're grieving because of it, experts say, ABC Health & Wellbeing, by health reporter Olivia Willis, posted Thu 2 Apr

With all our lives changing because of coronavirus, you could be experiencing disenfranchised grief, ABC News, by Jane Fisher, posted Mon 27 July

Take care of yourselves. 

Warm regards
Mrs Marise McConaghy

At the end of January, the staff community at Strathcona returned for another school year. As part of the welcome back from the School, all staff received a little gift. Amongst other things in this gift was a seedling packet and a card. The card read ‘2020! New Year! New Decade! New Opportunity for Growth!’. 2020 was going to be a year that Strathcona invested in supporting and creating stronger connections in our community and commit consciously to the wellbeing of our people. Little did we know what 2020 had in store for us. What started with an unprecedent bushfire crisis rolled very quickly into a global pandemic. A global pandemic. I am not sure if most of us in February could have accurately defined the word pandemic, yet now this word and others like social distancing, pivoting and remote learning have become part of our everyday conversation.

I can vividly remember packing my things in March after our School decided to close with 48 hours notice. The surreal feeling of knowing that we were about to go through something so unprecedented was initially met with a rush of adrenalin. The wonderful leaders at Strathcona had preempted our closure and prepared us as well as possible. I remember going live into my first class from home and feeling elated that I could do it, the girls could do it and collectively we could easily navigate a few weeks at home. Fast forward to July, it’s Term 3 in Melbourne and we are at home again. It is safe to say that the adrenalin has worn well and truly off, collectively we are fatigued and challenged again. Our staff have pivoted so many times we have whiplash!

All workplaces in 2020 have experienced challenges. Similar stress has been felt by all people trying to manage work from home, remote learning of their children and the worries surrounding the threat of COVID to our health. Yet, few professions have had to invite whole communities into their homes. Schools have been unique in this way. Those of us who have livestreamed classes each day have had to cross boundaries, merging our personal lives and classrooms in a way that we could never have anticipated. The virtual classroom doors are wide open, forcing not only a shift in pedagogy, but a change in relationship with our students and their families. Much of this has been positive for many of us and at Strathcona we have often found deeper connections and engagement with our parents. Yet it is a highly pressurised environment to provide online lessons that are engaging to all, that are differentiated for those who need it and lessons that live up to the expectations of ourselves and the families who are listening. A national survey of teachers conducted by the Melbourne Graduate School of Education at the height of the pandemic, reported significant increases in the hours teachers worked per week during remote learning. Whilst all teachers are used to out of hours work, a staggering 50% reported having worked an entire extra day per week during this time. The increased workload has been relatively visible; however, remote learning and working is a relentless state of being.  It takes so much of our time; it tests our stamina and it chips away quietly at the connection we have to our School and to each other.

The essence of school life revolves comprehensively around belonging to a community. Schools thrive on connection, not just for students but for staff as well. In Melbourne, where we seem to have been more offsite than on this year, many staff are feeling the loss of being physically distant from school unexpectedly. The comforts of staffrooms and shared workspace are critical to the connection we have with each other. It is here where daily incidental conversation supports our teaching practice, where successes are celebrated and loses are commiserated. More importantly, these shared spaces are intrinsically linked to the way we look after each other. Without these, many of us have lost our anchor point and this has impacted on staff wellbeing in a way none of us could have imagined.

At Strathcona, we realised early on that staff wellbeing needed to be prioritised and that the pandemic necessitated specific and targeted strategies of support for our community. There have been some key responses over the last 6 months that have been pivotal to the wellbeing of our staff.  Honest and reassuring communication has been a feature of our School’s proactive response to this crisis. Our leaders have been transparent and realistic in their handling of COVID, responding to the staff with compassion and clear direction, and seeking feedback through staff surveys during both periods of remote learning. Early and effective structural changes were made to the timetable which has created more time for staff to focus on the quality of their online teaching. This decision continues to be critical to the sustainability of our remote classrooms during another challenging period of lockdown. As a School we have instituted a whole staff fortnightly check-in system to ensure that each person is having a regular opportunity to connect with one of our School leaders through a Microsoft Teams meeting. In its simplest form it has provided opportunities for individual concerns to be shared and additional support to be given. On a broader level, it has encouraged the psychological safety of our staff community, which is something that we always value and seems so important during this crisis.

A recent interview published by McKinsey and Company, highlighted opportunities the pandemic has created for increasing psychological safety in the workplace. Psychological safety has been described in this interview as an absence of interpersonal fear. The authors assert that during the COVID crisis, where there has been an explicit lack of physical safety, more open and honest dialogue has occurred between team members. The collective concern or fear around the pandemic has created a shared experience amongst colleagues that is potentially driving unintended collaboration and innovation. This is an unexpected positive and perhaps not one that is easily recognised as a driver of staff wellbeing. It does speak to COVID-19 providing opportunities for enhanced connection, albeit differently to what is comfortable and usual for school staff but opportunity all the same.

Keeping our community connected has been at the forefront of our staff wellbeing approach at Strathcona. Embracing the technology that was hurriedly thrust upon us, we have effectively used a Staff Wellbeing Microsoft Team to promote numerous health and wellbeing activities. This team has provided meaningful opportunities for our staff to practice self-care and has included access to various exercise classes, yoga, Pilates, meditation and mindfulness sessions. There have been regular times set for coffee catch ups, book club sessions and end of term celebrations. In this second period of remote learning we have instituted a daily quiz, live weekly small group training sessions and lunchtime walking groups. The team has been provided regular and important communication of resources ranging from information about our Employer Assistance Program, to advice on how to access to support for ourselves and our families. This platform has been another unexpected opportunity for staff wellbeing that we will look to continue in the future.

The pandemic has sharpened the focus for staff wellbeing, provided unexpected opportunities for development in this area and reaffirmed the notion that schools can and should explicitly promote the health and wellbeing of their people.  At some point this second lockdown will end in Melbourne and it is likely that we will return to a new normal. I am hopeful that this new normal brings us back on campus, to the comforts of our staffrooms and our friends and support networks. We need to be back together to ensure that the whole School community continues to thrive. We are all looking forward to a holiday, those of us in Victoria are hoping we can see you soon!

Ziebel, N. Acquaro, D. Seah, WT. Pearn, C.  July 2020, Being a Teacher During COVID-19, Pursuit online, University of Melbourne

McKinsey & Company, July 2020, Psychological safety, emotional intelligence and leadership in a time of flux, McKinsey Quarterly online

You are invited to a free seminar provided by Elevate Education. This is a wonderful organisation that we use with students and they really light the spark! Now you have the opportunity to have this presentation in your own home.

Event Title:  Elevate Education – Motivation  

Date: Tuesday 4 August  

Time:  6pm AEST 

Duration: 1 hour

Cost: Free

CLICK HERE TO RESERVE YOUR SEAT

This week's careers newsletter, contains the following information on: 

• Dates to Diarise in Term 3
• News from Federation University
  • Guaranteed ATARs 
  • New Courses on Offer
  • Fed Future Webinars
• CASPer Entry Requirements for Teacher Qualifications
• New Courses at RMIT in 2021
• Civil Engineering Degrees in Victoria in 2020 
• Electrical Engineering Degrees in Victoria in 2020  
• Mechanical Engineering Degrees in Victoria in 2020   
• Snapshot of Deakin – Waurn Ponds Campus in 2020
• New Education Courses at Deakin in 2021
• What does a Dermatologist do?
• Bachelor of Biomedicine to Master of Physiotherapy at LaTrobe

Please click here for this week's Career News. To visit the the Careers page or view previous versions of Careers News click here.

Each evening I always ask myself the question — should the news be on or off? At the moment, watching the 6pm bulletin is an exercise in dreary statistics and sad stories. In this round of remote learning my children have asked for it to be off. It’s not that they want to remain ignorant (I hope) it’s more that they have had enough of the relentless media reporting and commentary on this pandemic, which has overtaken their lives.

For the Year 9 students, we are going to continue with incursions and “Pop Up” Days interspersed throughout the term — to add a bit of (hopefully) excitement, a break from online class routine and to ensure that we still are giving the girls a broader Tay Creggan-like experience. Any effort to counteract negative feelings at the moment must surely be worthwhile! We will have our next “Pop Up Day” on Friday 14 August.

On Monday, the Year 9 students were shown a presentation by Danielle Miller who runs the company ‘Enlighten Education’. Her topic concerned gratitude and finding ways to be appreciative of what we have in our lives. The girls were emailed a list of 21 gratitude challenges that they may like to do. Dani used the analogy of a bus to discuss the role emotions play in regulating our thoughts and actions: ‘Think of your heart as a bus, and your emotions as the passengers. Allow the whole spectrum of emotions on your bus — that is, don’t kick anyone off — but don’t let anger or anxiety hop in the driver’s seat.

Tuesday was another change of pace as we welcomed the charismatic Mrs Claire Johns and our two fabulous TC English teachers to our screens for Shakespeare Day. You will find a report about the day below this message.

Our Envision business development is charging ahead – the online marketplace development team (think TC Ebay) will be introducing us to their shopping portal next week. We will also be selecting three teams to represent Strathcona in the Wade Institute Pitch Panel later this term. We hope to ‘go live’ around Monday 10August, so there is much to do. 

Parent’s as Shareholders:

Several of you may be asked to become a “Shareholder” in your daughter’s business in the next few days. This will involve you lending an agreed upon amount of money for the business to start-up and with the funds being returned as the business sells products. A “Memorandum of Understanding” will need to be signed by both parties — the Business and the Shareholder.

Not all businesses will start-up in this manner. Some will be very lean and will buy consumables through our Business Office. We are also looking at our distribution networks and will have further information over the coming week or two.

Many businesses are also in the Competitor Discovery/Customer Survey phase where they are critically examining their product and whether it is viable. The team from Glow – Talea, Summer, Emily S and Sophie P are going to be selling customisable bead bracelets.  Below is their Competitor Discovery and a couple of prototypes.

We will be keen for the whole community's support when all products are launched.

Karyn

Being a specialist Year 9 English teacher does not command the professional jealousy that it ought.

Those of us on the inside know its special joy: the precious window of opportunity between the self-doubting, oft-misdirected energies of the junior secondary years and the aspirational anxiety of VCE. Every ancient culture knew that this is the time for initiation into adulthood and, indeed, this is also our lived experience in the classroom.

Students explored approaches to complex text, techniques actors use when developing characters and worked in small groups to direct, perform and record scenes. In the afternoon, students developed production concepts, considering ways that stagecraft can be applied to communicate themes, ideas and key moments in the script. Their energy, enthusiasm and willingness to participate in the online workshops was impressive and the results of their efforts will be compiled in a digital gallery available next week.

Ms Claire Johns, Director of Productions

and wow, did they come up with some great dance routines together online. We loved seeing some of their starting poses and the joy they found in doing something simple together.

To watch the video of the dance routine, please click here.

The Year 9 Library team has been hard at work, putting together some recommended reading for those looking for something to do at home. How many have you seen or read?

Books:

1. To Kill A Mockingbird
2. The Great Gatsby
3. Lord Of The Flies
4. The Book Thief
5. Harry Potter

Movies:

1. High School Musical
2. The Breakfast Club
3. Mean Girls
4. Clueless
5. Grown Ups

TV Shows:

1. Glee
2. Switched At Birth
3. Gossip Girl
4. Pretty Little Liars
5. Outer Banks

Everything from rhythm practice on kitchen drum kits, fast-motion captured trampolining to demonstrating a topic on tempo, to singing and playing together in Online Choir, Band and Strings, in all its time-delayed, echoing glory — the Junior girls haven’t missed a beat. The online world also has a lot to offer; Google Creatability, among many other sites, allows new kinds of composition and exploration to take place. When I set a task, or provide a link, I always look forward to seeing what will come back — something fascinating, giggle-worthy, or beautiful, in a way I hadn’t imagined when I set the task. Well done, Junior girls, on your unstoppable-ness, in your online Music and Performing Arts.

Mrs Anna Miller, Director of Junior School Music

We appreciate your well wishes and how quickly you have eased back and adapted into continuous learning online, highlighting your creative and flexible attributes and making use of resources from home to complement our program. The start of the term saw many interesting research projects begin and we will endeavour to keep the momentum, albeit offered a little differently, whilst learning online. Thank you for keeping us posted and sharing the learning happening at home, PE outdoors, art and the popular construction challenge.

Mrs Jo Dowling 

Last night, they made us all so proud, delivering well-researched and beautifully constructed arguments with skill and passion. Both Strathcona teams put up a magnificent fight, all achieving excellent individual speaking scores. Maya Pillay, Mathilde Stolz and Emily Osborn took out the title, while Elizabeth Little, Emilia Bowers and Georgia Snadden came a very close second. They were ably assisted by speech writers and coaches: Bethany Moore, Milla O'Brien, Milla Pitkanen, Madeline Couttie, Leah Curnow and Bridget Diviny. This kind of camaraderie and cooperation is what teachers' dreams are made of. Go Strathy and congratulations girls!

Ms Katrina Renard and Ms Cathie Waldron, Year 9 English Teachers

Our Enrolments Team are still taking applications for 2021, 2022 and 2023. If you are wanting to enrol your daughter for these years please contact us on 8779 7606 or enrol now at https://www.strathcona.vic.edu.au/how-to-enrol/

Over the past weeks you may have seen Strathcona in the media. Some recent highlights of publicity include:

• Young children learn most through the research and exploration of play, writes Peter Hanlon, The Age, 26 July, 2020
• Kids want more fun in financial literacy – survey, The Educator, 17 July, 2020
• Schools interrupted, have learnt valuable lessons, The Age, Sydney Morning Herald, WA Today and Brisbane Times, 1 July, 2020, ISV

These are just some of In the Media highlights, to read more please click here.

Due to the current COVID-19 Lockdown Advice, the Uniform Shop will be temporarily closed. The decision to re-open will be reviewed on a weekly basis. Apologies for any inconvenience this causes.

If you urgently require second hand uniforms please contact Fiona White by email fwhite@strathcona.vic.edu.au for an alternative arrangement.

Please note that there are currently no second hand V-neck Jumpers, Hoodies or White Winter Shirts in stock.

Our next parent seminar will now be held as a webinar and will focus on how skills on each of the four branches of emotional intelligence directly relate to our ability to deal with stress, which is very relevant currently. In this discussion, they will include practical suggestions of how parents can support their children (primary and secondary school aged) to manage stress more effectively.

More details will be provided soon.