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The Jannali High School

The Jannali High School

CONNECT I THRIVE I ACHIEVE

Telephone02 9521 2805

Emailjannali-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Continuation of Learning - Update 1/04/2020

Continuation of Learning update

In line with the many restrictions that are being put into place in our community regarding people being encouraged to work from home, our school will be moving to a reduced staffing roster on school site from Thursday, 2 April until the end of term.  As has always been the case, our staff remain on duty and will continue to plan and deliver online learning activities through their respective Google Classrooms. Each day there will be myself, a Deputy Principal, some teaching staff and, administration and support staff at school.  Students who need to be at school will be provided with adequate care and supervision.

Teachers of Year 12 students will still work to provide additional time to support their progress as well as providing opportunities to utilise school facilities and equipment in the completion of their major projects and performances.

While student, staff and parent routines should be in place by now around working and learning from home, there is still plenty to do to improve our work as we look towards planning for a continuation of this model into Term 2.  We all need to be mindful of the increased workload this situation has brought into our homes and the workplace.  Our school appreciates that many of our parents are working from home and are therefore balancing their own work requirements while supporting their children in continuing their online learning.  A reminder that as a school we need to take a flexible approach to the completion and submission of classwork as directed by our teachers.  Maintaining high levels of engagement of our students towards their learning is our paramount objective. We are working on a set of procedures and protocols for our teachers to achieve a consistent approach to these ongoing issues. We are still working towards our Semester 1 Assessment and Reporting Schedules and timelines, although they may need to be refined.

While teachers won’t be running lessons as per their timetable, we will be encouraging them to arrange a formal check-in at a time when their classes do normally run.  This will allow students to ask questions and get clarity around certain tasks.  It’s also an informal way for the teacher to track student engagement in learning.  These check-ins will be dependent on the year level and frequency of timetabled classes in a cycle.  Students, however, are encouraged to use their timetable and student diary as a way to manage their own time effectively and spread their hours of learning proportionately across their subjects.

Clear communication between home and school is more important than ever.  Students and their teachers will communicate through Google Classrooms by posting learning activities as required and using the Stream function to provide answers to questions so that the whole class can see the information.  We will be encouraging our teachers not to use the private chat function except for when providing individual feedback on tasks. Therefore, we ask that students don’t contact their teacher through this forum.  Parents can ring the school on 9521 2805 or email the school at jannali-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au and they will be directed to the most appropriate person to assist with their inquiry. If teachers feel they need to email information to parents, I am encouraging them to do so through the school’s email address. Teachers will still call parents if they feel there is a need to do so.

Our school’s Student Wellbeing Team, Learning Support Team and Students Services Team have been working on creating a Student Services Hotline for parents, carers, and students. The service will provide extra assistance for students who are finding their workload challenging or are unable to contact their mainstream teacher via the Google Classroom platform. The phone service will allow you to contact a Learning and Support Team member who will assist with any concerns relating to the online learning process. To access this service simply ring the school number 9521 2805 and enter the extension number 125 when prompted.

Once again, I thank all of our staff, students and parents for their ongoing support and understanding during these uncertain times in our school.

A personal thank you to Joe Fazio from Tony’s Pizza and Pasta in Jannali for his generous donation of pizzas for our staff at lunchtime in recognition and support of the great work they are doing during these difficult times.