07 Apr 2020
Although we still have 4 days left of the term officially, I would like to express my deep gratitude to our teachers who have been working hard over the past few weeks to maintain a focus on student learning during this challenging time. Our school administration and support staff have been doing a fantastic job in supporting students and their families directly. To our students who have been engaging with their class work and assessments from home, you are building resiliency while strengthening your independency as learners. Our parents have been doing an amazing job in supporting their children’s learning at home and their emotional wellbeing, while managing their own work requirements and other responsibilities.
It’s fair to say that we have all been affected by the fallout of COVID-19 but we know there are many in the community who have been severely affected by this situation, resulting in financial uncertainty. All our staff are thinking of our families at this time and as has been stated previously, if families wish to apply for a refund on their subject fees and general contributions paid so far then please email the school for information on how to apply and which fees can be refunded.
All staff across the school miss our students and their daily interactions. As I write this letter, it’s about the time of day when we would be seeing and hearing over 900 students in the playground interacting with one another while having a break after the morning’s lessons. Not only has teaching and learning been interrupted, so too have all of the school activities and events that we take for granted. The work that our SRC have been undertaking in renewing our student leadership structures has been put on hold. Our sustainability projects, our dance, drama and band programs are in limbo. Our sports people are no doubt struggling without their usual weekly sporting activities and team events.
I have spoken to many parents over the phone and through emails over the past weeks and there have been numerous comments on our school Facebook page. There has been overwhelming positivity and understanding from our parents about the work that has been undertaken by the school. These have been balanced by the fact that there is undoubtedly high levels of stress and anxiety in all households about work load and expectations of our students regarding their school work. Again, we feel for all of our students as education is all about the relationships we form across all aspects of the school. But in particular, we are mindful of our Year 12 students who are only months away from completing their HSC and our Year 7 students who just completed their induction to high school but at least managed to go on camp before this all hit. No doubt 2020 will be a year we won’t forget and I sincerely hope that we do remember it because we all came through the other side and our lives got back to normal.
As of Friday 3 April, NESA has advised that there will definitely be an HSC for NSW students in 2020, however, there are still details being worked with regards to existing social distancing rules. Students are advised to keep working towards completing all school-based assessment as normal while there may be some adjustments to scheduled tasks to support working from home arrangements.
Where tasks are adjusted, there will be sufficient notification sent to students. Students are also reminded that Illness and Misadventure Procedures are outlined in all of student assessment booklets. All work placements for VET courses have been cancelled as too have group performance assessments and exams in courses such as Drama and Music. There are still decisions to be made for all other courses that require students to submit a major work as part of their HSC. Updates from NESA are available through NESA News and Year 12 students are encouraged to access their Students Online accounts regularly; so too their Department emails. Where there are individual questions or concerns then speak to your class teachers through Google Classrooms.
For all parents, you can stay updated on what our school is doing to support your children’s learning from home through updates such as this. Alternatively, you can contact the school directly by phone (9521 2805) or email us at jannali-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au . These updates are emailed to parents, posted on our school Facebook page, posted on our school website and sent out through the Skoolbag app. The NSW Department of Education has created a Learning at Home Hub page on their website that parents access for additional support material.
Our school’s Student Wellbeing Team, Learning Support Team and Students Services Team have created 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.
Our school is preparing for a continuation of learning from home for Term 2 and therefore our faculties are working on creating Continuation of Learning @ TJHS programs for Weeks 1 – 5 which will be communicated to families at the start of the term. We are taking a flexible approach to the commencement of these programs which will be dependent on the progress towards completing this terms programs. We are therefore reviewing our Assessment and Reporting Schedules meaning that formal exams will not go ahead and the format of our Semester 1 Reports will look different for Years 7-10.
I ask all students, staff and parents to endeavour to have a break from school work during the upcoming Easter holidays. Take time to relax and re-energise yourselves because going back into learning from home arrangements will require us all to be physically, emotionally and socially well.
Once again, I thank all of our staff, students and parents for their ongoing support and understanding during these uncertain times in our school.
Happy Easter to everyone and lest we forget those of our ancestors who have fallen in war on ANZAC Day.