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SACRED HEART COLLEGE KYNETON A Ministry of Mercy Education Ltd Main Office 54211200 ABN 69 154 531 870 Senior Office/Absences Years10-12 54211242 94 High Street, Kyneton Junior Office /Absences Year 7-9 54211223
NEWSLETTER 1 May 2020
Prayer
God help us To rise up from our struggle.
Like a tree rises up from the soil. Our roots reaching down to our trouble,
Our rich, dark dirt of existence. Finding nourishment deeply
And holding us firmly. Always connected.
Growing upwards and into the sun. Amen.
The newsletter this week begins with the wise and gentle words of Michael Leunig, with a reflection on the need to remain grounded in the current world of uncertainty. As I type this, there is a substantial debate occurring across the country on a possible broad-based return of children and young people to school. The College’s plans at this stage remain for students to return to school when announced by the Victorian Government and/or by the Catholic Education Commission Victoria. As of today, their advice has schools closed for the whole of Term Two. Special Arrangements for VCE Practical Classes and SACs Following my article, there are details from the Deputy Principal - Learning and Teaching, Ms Debra McNaughton, on special arrangements to allow a limited number of VCE practical classes to run onsite starting Monday 11 May. These arrangements reflect recent advice from the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) and will allow students to complete some tasks that cannot be done via remote learning. These new arrangements will also allow the completion of a limited number of Unit 3 SACs under appropriate social distancing guidelines. Remote Learning I want to thank all Sacred Heart parents, carers and extended family members who have supported our students remarkably well as the routines of remote learning were established in many households. Although the College’s staff have worked incredibly hard to facilitate the new learning platforms, the support of those at home has been critical. As a Year 7 Science teacher, this support was clearly evident through the number of parents, siblings and even grandparents who are a part of the current ‘Egg Lander Investigation’. Our Year Seven students have been challenged to bring their recent exploration of scientific methods and analysis to the age-old challenge of designing a container to protect an egg that is dropped from a height. I trust that our students have contributed to the clean up of the investigation with the same enthusiasm as was apparent in the testing phase!
PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE - Dr Darren Egberts
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Sacred Heart College Service Scheme With the current challenges of school closure, guidelines on social isolation plus financial pressures, the Sacred Heart College Service Scheme has been suspended for this term. 2021 and 2022 Student Enrolments As we approach the middle of the year, the College’s Enrolment program moves into high gear. Under normal circumstances, this would have been launched by the College’s Open Day this week, however, I am excited to announce that we will be running a series of virtual Conversations with the Principal, Students and Staff of SHC. These will provide fantastic opportunities for prospective students, parents and families to talk about what life at Sacred Heart looks like! The first Conversation will be held on Tuesday 12 May starting at 9.30am. Interested families are asked to book through the College website, www.shckyneton.catholic.edu.au. Under Enrolments - Open Days and Tours Reminders
Onsite supervision arrangements – A reminder to parents and carers to contact the Principal’s Secretary, Mrs Jan Bower [email protected], if you need to access the College’s onsite student supervision program. At this stage, it has had very limited use.
Financial support – We remain conscious of the challenges many parents and families are facing in the current economic downturn and encourage any families in financial hardship to contact the College’s Finance Office or complete an application for Covid-19 Fee Assistance. These forms are available on the College’s website or through the Parent Access Module.
Yours in Mercy, Dr Darren Egberts PRINCIPAL
DEPUTY PRINCIPAL - STUDENT WELLBEING - Julie Mortimer
This week has seen students and staff settling into the routine and dynamics of remote learning and how things may need to be approached differently. There are a few things that are important for students to remember and to take on board when learning online. 1. Students need to be on time to the start of the lesson. Most teachers are introducing their classes with a Zoom meet-
ing, in order to see the students and accurately mark the roll. Not taking technical issues into account, this is when they will give instructions, discuss and answer questions, or begin a class. If students are late to the Zoom, in the same way as if they are late to class, they can miss vital information which makes the task understandable.
2. If students are unwell, parents need to either contact the YLL, who will email the College for the absence to be noted on the rolls. Students cannot contact themselves to say they are sick, in the same way that they cannot contact school during normal times.
Each week I will provide some resources that parents and students may find useful. Here are some resources for today:
Helping Year 12 students get through a tough year
How students can use the time at home to surge ahead academically
Coping with mental health during the Coronavirus
Department of Education coronavirus resources
Reminder of the Procedure for Student Absences in Remote Schooling
If students are sick and unable to engage their remote lesson,
please make sure parents inform the Year Level Leader,
and Class Teacher via email.
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VCE Update We are greatly impressed with the way our senior students have managed the first few weeks of remote schooling. Gradually information is becoming available that is giving us more direction. There are VCAA briefings for Principals and VCE coordinators later this week. The VCAA is also going to be publishing revised Study Designs for VCE subjects soon. Both of these sources of information may influence how we go about ensuring that our VCE students are provided the best possible guidance and assistance as we enter unchartered waters. Please rest assured, however, that we are monitoring the VCAA and State Government information and requirements closely.
Practical Classes Starting on 11 May, we will be allowing some practical classes to be run at the College under strict physical distancing processes. This is in line with the new guidelines from the VCAA and is only available for some Unit 3 subjects where the assessment relies on the practical aspect being completed under supervision. Peita Rocard (VCE Coordinator) and I are working with the Unit 3 VCE teachers to ensure that this occurs as safely as possible. Parents will be asked to give permission through Care Monkey. If students are unable to attend, teachers will have other means of getting the data or sighting work if necessary.
School Assessed Coursework tasks (SACs) We are currently working through guidelines to allow Unit 3 classes that require tasks to be completed under test conditions to be done at school. We are following advice from the VCAA and would, of course, be following strict social distancing at all times. If subjects can run legitimate assessments at home that can be authenticated, they must do this. School-assessed coursework marks create the rank that is required for the ATAR, and there are a number of ways in which teachers can arrive at the ranking. The VCAA has provided VCE teachers with lists of ways in which they can ensure authentication occurs, whether the tasks are completed at home or at school.
Google Classroom Further to my newsletter information last week, please don’t forget that parents can be invited in to the Google Classrooms. Please ask your son or daughter to do this and to show you how to access it.
DEPUTY PRINCIPAL - LEARNING & TEACHING - Debra McNaughton
Maths Tutorials Via Zoom! The Maths Department is trialling Maths tutorials via Zoom! These will run on Wednesdays between 3:40pm and 5:00pm. We are posting the links in a Google Classroom each week (depending on the number of students who come, and the staff who are available, we may run more than one meeting concurrently). We will have staff from the junior and senior school available to answer questions. If students have questions they are getting stuck on or if they would like a little bit more assistance, they are welcome to join the classroom. The Google Classroom code to use is w6xu5nn
MATHEMATICS TUTORIALS - Roger Dunn, Mathematics Learning Area Leader
SHC - FAMILY MATTERS SHC Family Matters is a new weekly resource page, that provides SHC families with a valuable resource to help create resilient families. From the everyday debate over pocket money, homework, and bedrooms to the serious issues of relationships, depression and youth suicide, these practical tips offer parents practical solutions to common problems of parenting teenagers. Each week a topic sheet, (based on Andrew Fuller’s popular book “Raising Real People”), will be provided in the newsletter and online (link here). Enjoy these resources, which are always informative and often humorous. As always, the School Counsellors at the Heart Wellbeing Centre, are always available should your young person be in need of further support.
WELLBEING TEAM NEWS
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MSP SCHOOL PHOTOS
The 2020 School Photos arrived at SHC on Friday 28 March, last day of Term 1. Due to the Coronavirus, we have been unable to get the photos to the students, however, as soon as school returns, the photos will be given to them to take home. If you have any queries, please contact Debbie Scarlett, Publications Officer at: [email protected]
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CSEF Applications (Camps, Sports & Excursions Fund) Families holding a valid means-tested concession card or temporary foster parents are eligible to apply. This applies to families who hold a Current Veterans Affairs Gold Card, a Health Care Card or a Pensioner Concession Card. The government will pay $225 directly to the College, and the College will match this amount. A total of $450 will be credited to your Family School Fee account for each student. This form is available on the College website under ‘Enrol with Us then Fees and Expenses’. https://www.shckyneton.catholic.edu.au/enrol-with-us/fees-expenses/ Alternatively you can contact the College Accounts Department for any queries relating to the CSEF.
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE - Ian Mills, Director of Business
NEWS FROM THE ‘REMOTE’ CLASSROOM
There are so many inspirational stories and work being performed by our students while doing
Remote Schooling. Here are just a few:
Year 8 Technology - Andrew Scarlett, Technology Teacher
Over the weekend, the Year 8 Technology students received a delivery of the components to a practical project that they can do at home. With the intention of keep the students engaged and being creative, they will now be working on creating a ‘Motorised Vibrating Bug’. Students are required to piece together their components and then design the ‘bug’ of their choice. The picture shows a butterfly, but the students can choose any design they like. Along the production process they will also be photographing their ‘bug’, and then they videoing the final working product. All instructions will be available to them on Google Classroom. Enjoy!
Aiden taking delivery of his ‘Bug’ kit.
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Food Technology at Sacred Heart Over the school holidays I spent a lot of time thinking about how to make Food Technology interesting online. How do you have a practical based subject online? Would it all be theory? Could students cook at home with their families? How could we share our overall cooking experiences such as our successes and failures, the sensory properties of our dishes such as the tastes, textures and appearances? Over the next few days, the answers came to me through the students. I had a surprise written assessment task (not submitted due to early school closure Term 1) placed in my letterbox with some homemade biscuits by a Year 7 student (Lachlan Hall), an unexpected email from a Year 9 student (Hunter Carson) ”Hey Ms Kime, I made the risotto from the school cook book tonight and the family loved it. Thanks for the recipe. I also made a carrot cake with lemon frosting and it looks great” and then another email from Ryan Kinkade (Year 7) “Hi Mrs Kime, I was wondering if I could cook dinner for my family as food tech?” Then the lightbulb moment came. Give the students the option to cook if they can.
Year 7 and 8 Food Technology Last week students in Year 7 and 8 had a theory based component finishing a food safety assessment task or watching videos on food safety. Those who could cook were given an Easter egg muffin recipe and also ideas on how to modify it (just in case they had no Easter Eggs left). We had lots of variations including jam donut muffins, choc chip and Cherry Ripe. Then the lovely photos and comments started coming in. Wing Ki Hider (Year 7) “I put in home-grown blackberries in my muffins and they were delicious! Anthony Freestone (Year 7) “it was good fun and tasted delicious” Eva Raco (Year 8) “I really enjoyed making the Muffins, it was something different to do. It was also using things that we already had at home. Mikayla Corner (Year 8) “Hey Mrs Kime! I have finished the muffins, I didn't have Easter eggs (my 7 year old brother decided to eat them all), Natasha and I worked together (over the phone) to make white chocolate and raspberry muffins.” Flynn Farrell (Year 7) “I really thought that my muffins were good because my mum said that they looked outstanding, and when I tasted them they were amazing. It was also a very fun process making them.” Lucy Foster (Year 7) “I made Cherry Ripe muffins, I thought that it was a great recipe and I’ll definitely make them again. They were really easy to make, and they were super fluffy making them the perfect muffin, my family loved them.” Lily Paine (Year 8) “The muffin recipes were amazing. I am going to make them again, if I can.” Last week we looked at the history of ANZAC biscuits and students were given a recipe to try with their family.
NEWS FROM THE ‘REMOTE’ CLASSROOM
Remote Cooking - Belinda Kime, Food Technology Teacher
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Year 9 Food Technology Students will be investigating the pantry staples that we commonly have at home such as rice, pasta, flour (biscuits, cakes, bread) and the variety of dishes can be made with these basic ingredients. Each week students will be given a topic and will investigate recipes, justify their selection, consider the safety and hygiene aspect for their choice and complete an evaluation. This week the topic was smoothies. We had discussions on Zoom about what ingredients went into our smoothie choice, who in our family tried it and their review. We also have a collaborative Google Slide where we have shared our individual smoothie type and images. Todd Penning “I really like the idea of cooking at home. It makes me less bored and gives me stuff to do.” Georgia Harvey-Courts “I believe that cooking from home is an ideal way to continue the cooking skills practised at school.” Hunter Carson “I love cooking from home with no school because it gives us time to learn new recipes we wouldn't normally have time for” It really makes me so happy to see the students engaging in this important life skill and sharing their experiences with both their families and fellow class members.
Cooking for the Family
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CAREERS NEWS - Karina Wheeler
Career Tools Website For our latest Careers Newsletter please head to our new Careers Tools website at www.shckynetoncareers.com and go to IMPORTANT INFO then careers newsletter!
Click here to Access the new
Career Tool Website
Dear Students and Parents We would like to remind you that all of our careers information is now on our SHC careertools website and we encourage you to click on the link to keep informed with all the careers information. There are a number of Universities and TAFEs that are providing virtual tours/webinars packed full of important and useful information. You can contact them either directly via the web or through the careertools website. Year 12 Students: Please remember that Julie, Karen and I (Karina) are continuing with our Year 12 guidance/pathway/careers interviews via Google meet. For those of you that have already taken part in your interview, either via Google meet or at school, please remember that we are still here for you all and can answer any questions you may have. We will also be offering second round interviews in September. For those students that we have yet to meet, we encourage you to email us to book an appointment soon. Please note this needs to be during study time in the first instance. We will need to Google meet you for the whole period. Remember to check your emails for your Google meet invitation link.
Please note that we are looking after different homerooms and Karen C will be looking after VCAL students:
Julie Matricardi-Old -12D and 12E- days of work Monday/Tuesday/Thursday and Friday Day 5
Karen Challis -VCAL - days of work Tuesday P3 and P4 and Thursday P3 and P4
Karina Wheeler -12A 12B and 12C- days of work Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday
"Dreams are extremely important. You can't do it unless you imagine it" George Lucas
"The best way to predict the future is to create it" Abraham Lincoln
Best Wishes from the Careers team.
MOCK INTERVIEWS 2020
In the hope that our Year 10 Mock Interview program will still be able to run this year, we are in the process of finalising the Employer Database and Mock Positions. These positions will be advertised to the Year 10 students in the coming weeks. In the unfortunate situation that the interviews cannot take place, the students will still benefit greatly from the process of writing an application and creating a resume. The feedback they receive from their Mock employer is invaluable. If you would like to know more about the program and would consider being an interviewer, please contact Julie Matricardi-Old on [email protected] for more information. Specifically, we are seeking the services of the following professional service providers: Engineers, Health Professionals, Web designers, Social Media Consultants, Horticulturists, Hairdressers and Beauty ther-apists, Architects and Scientists to add to our database. Please get in touch if you can help out with our fantastic Mock Interview Program. Julie Matricardi-Old - Careers Projects Coordinator
