Click here to download our Remote Learning Guide
Dear Parents/Carers,
As many of you are aware, Premier Andrews announced on Sunday 2 August 2020 that all Victorian students would be returning to remote learning for the remainder of Term 3 on Wednesday 5 August. Tuesday 4 August 2020 will be a student free day for schools to prepare for the transition.
We understand this may be an unsettling and anxious time for students and parents/carers. No one would have predicted that students would need to study remotely in their final years of school – let alone the need to do it twice in the one year.
However, all students across Victoria will be in remote learning, and no students will be disadvantaged.
While this situation is not ideal, the College learned many lessons in Term 2. We will be picking up from where we left off— scheduled virtual classes with regular screen-free breaks, independent learning time and a health and wellbeing afternoon.
All students who can learn at home must learn from home – with exceptions only in minimal circumstances. Students with limited or no access to a device or internet can contact the College to arrange an alternative solution.
The College has a professional team of staff working through the many questions students and parents/carers as we did in Term 2. We will continue to update the College community with new information as it becomes available. Graduate Program teachers, House Leaders, Wellbeing staff and the Careers Team, remain accessible via phone, email and Teams.
We have reviewed the Remote Learning Guide for Families and updated with relevant learning for this Term. Please call the College on 02 6043 7500 or email seniorcollege@www.wssc.vic.edu.au if you have any questions or concerns.
Thank you for working with our College at this time.
Regards,
Vern Hilditch
Executive Principal
See below for our revised Remote Learning timetable structure. You can read more about it here.
Wodonga Senior Secondary College will continue to provide on-site supervision for students whose health and safety would be at risk without access to a supervised environment. Given the age of students in Year 10 to 12 deems them able to remain at home, without supervision, only vulnerable students will be permitted to undertake their remote learning on-site.
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 WSSC:
- 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.
- Please note for health and safety reasons, students will be supervised in the library for the whole day, including recess and lunch breaks.
- Students will need to provide their own food and water bottle as the canteen and bubblers will not be in operation.
Staff will be continuing to contact your child and yourself regularly to:
- Support student Health & Wellbeing.
- Facilitate teaching & learning.
- Support individualised tuition.
- Support student pathway and career development.
To facilitate this, the College will continue to use official College accounts and tools below:
- Telephone.
- Emails.
- Parent Portal (including App).
- College Website.
- SMS.
- Mailed letters.
To assist in remote learning we have introduced Microsoft Office 365 Teams. Students and staff will be engaged online in a group setting to share information via document collaboration, team chat and video conferencing. Please see attached ‘Office 365 Information Pack for Parents’ which provides advice concerning the safe and responsible use of this platform. Microsoft Privacy Statement can be viewed at this website https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-ca/privacystatement#mainenterprisedeveloperproductsmodule.
Please direct any concerns to the College on 02 6043 7500 or ttrl@www.wssc.vic.edu.au.
During remote learning, the school will continue to operate remotely.
Reception staff can be called between the hours of 8.30 am and 4.00 pm. If you would like to contact a staff member, please call Reception on 02 6043 7500 and your calls will be forwarded as appropriate.
Teachers will be teaching their scheduled timetabled classes during remote learning and will endeavour to respond to phone call and email queries as soon as possible between 8.30 pm to 4.30 pm.
We understand at this time families may be under additional financial strain. We encourage those facing financial difficulties in relation to the facilitation of online learning to contact College Staff to discuss options available.
Our teaching staff will continue to deliver the scheduled timetabled classes online whilst working from home. There will only be a skeleton staff at school including the Leadership Team. Any eligible student who attends school will continue to do remote learning under supervision. To ensure fairness for all students, those who attend will not receive additional tuition to the remote learning program.
- Students are expected to be learning online from home as per their current timetable.
- All coursework is documented and accessible through our SiMs program.
- All timetabled classes will be delivered through Microsoft Teams;
- All students can expect their teachers to provide direct engagement at the start of each of their timetabled classes.
- The remainder of class time will generally be used by students to work on set tasks while teachers follow-up individually.
- We are still waiting on Department advice on successful completion for subjects with significant practical and placement requirements.
- Graduate Program teachers will make regular contact with students to check on their wellbeing and engagement during remote learning. Substitute programs will be put in place during the scheduled GP time e.g. Assemblies, Year 12 careers, Information sessions. Students will be invited to these events as appropriate.
- Business-like Environment; Students must be working from an appropriate space (i.e. desk/table and chair) and in appropriate clothing.
- All students will be expected to complete an Online Learning Induction provided by ySafe to support their safe use of technologies in remote learning via bit.ly/wshxysafe.
- It is an expectation that students attend all timetabled classes. If a student is too sick to attend online classes, please inform the school via the School Portal. Attendance in online classes will be taken daily by teachers and unexplained absences will be sent as an SMS to parents/carers as per normal process.
- The expectation is that all students should have taken their learning materials home on Monday 3rd August. If your child was unable to do this, please contact Reception on 02 6043 7500 to arrange a suitable time to collect materials.
For various reasons, teachers may be unavailable to deliver a remote learning session. Daily (at 8.40 am) the College will email all students a list of any teachers who are unavailable to deliver a session. In this instance, students are required to continue self-directed learning for the timetabled class. Where extended absences are known, the College will ensure alternative arrangements are put into place.
The Department of Education has reminded schools that the parent/carer is responsible for students’ general safety at home or elsewhere. To support you, Wodonga Senior Secondary 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.
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 kids 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 we have purchased to make available to our College community, 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 to the portal.
Please note that while your child is away from the College the internet content filters that are applied on the school networked are not applicable.
- For class and curriculum related queries, please contact the class teacher.
- For wellbeing concerns, please contact the Graduate Program teacher or relevant House Leader.
You can access relevant teacher names and email addresses through the School Portal. Alternatively, please email seniorcollege@www.wssc.vic.edu.au if you are unsure.
The College’s student wellbeing services will continue to operate during school hours. Students can access wellbeing advice for students and families via SiMs – Health & Wellbeing tab https://sims.wssc.vic.edu.au/SiMs/Site/719.
Parents/Carers who are worried about their child’s wellbeing can still contact Graduate Program teachers or House Leaders to discuss their concerns, by phoning the school on 02 6043 7500.
Students who are already engaged with wellbeing can communicate with their allocated worker during school hours by email, text or phone call.
Included in this pack is “Headspace: How To Cope With Stress Related to COVID-19”. This document includes:
- Tips to maintain a healthy headspace during this time.
- Common reactions.
- Where else students can get help.
The Doctors in Schools program will continue to operate for students of Wodonga Senior Secondary College. However, appointments will be either by phone or at the Federation Clinic with Dr Jess. To make an appointment with Dr Jess text 0401 264 256 for an appointment, leaving your name, phone number and school.
Always call 000 in an emergency.
The College is in the process of contacting students and families who are identified as not having access to the internet or a computer at home. If this is an issue for your child, please contact the College on 02 6043 7500 or servicedesk@www.wssc.vic.edu.au.
We understand that there will be an increased reliance on ICT during this period. Please be assured that the Senior College’s Information Communication and Technology (ICT) Team will be accessible during this time to support student ICT issues. They can be contacted directly on 02 6043 7550 or servicedesk@www.wssc.vic.edu.au.
In the event there is an interruption to an ICT service, notification will be communicated to the school community via all available communication platforms.
The College would like to celebrate publicly some of the achievements and activities that occur during remote learning. To do that, the College will need written permission from parents/carers to publish images and recordings of students in remote learning. Unfortunately, our normal photo and video permission forms do not cover this situation.
A written permission form is included in this pack. It can be completed, scanned (or photo) and emailed to ttrl@www.wssc.vic.edu.au.
- On-Site Attendance Form.
- Remote Learning Tips
- Headspace: How to Cope With Stress Related to COVID-19
- Student’s Acceptable Use of Information Communication and Technology
- Remote Learning Expectations – The Wodonga Way
- Permission to Publish Photos and Recordings During Remote Learning
- Setup Email on iOS
- Setup Email on Android
- Microsoft Office 365
- Student Guide to Accessing Your Remote Classroom Through MS Teams
- Accessing School Portal Instruction
Click here to download our Remote Learning Guide
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