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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 4/5/2020

Update

We might not be in the home straight but the completion of this event seems to be in our sights.  The message to schools and their communities was always that managing COVID-19 was going to be like running a marathon, not a sprint.  With all that has been happening over the past week or so, it is apparent that we have changed tact and we are now running a middle distance race.  Stamina is still required but the pace has stepped up and we need to ensure we are continuing to support the educational wellbeing for all of our students.  This is important as we prepare to transition students back to school from May 11.  Critical to this plan is that we ensure our staff will be able to endure the hectic pace so that their own wellbeing is maintained well after COVID-19.

I believe The Jannali High School has been well-prepared to provide a continuation of learning during the COVID-19 pandemic through our BYODiPad program and associated digital learning platform using Google Classrooms.  We have also been well-placed because of the quality of our teaching staff which has been a strong focus on our current school plan.  Our school administrative and support are extremely dedicated to ensuring the learning needs of all students are supported regardless of their ability.  Our school’s leadership team including; Ms Waser, Mr Stewart, Ms Flower, Ms MacKay, Ms MacPherson, Mr Cavallaro, Ms Peard, Ms Smith, Mr Edgar, Ms Mulheron, Ms Graham, Mr Carpenter, Ms Van Luyt and Ms Shah has been outstanding in leading teams across all areas of the school throughout this situation.

We’re all very proud of our students for the way they have engaged with their learning from home and recognise there are still many challenges with managing this work across all of their subjects.  We are extremely thankful to our parent community for their patience and understanding of the challenges faced by our school while also directly supporting their children’s learning from home.  Reports suggest that parents will have a new-found respect for teachers as a result of COVID-19 and while this might be true, I would suggest our staff continue to respect the fact that we have a very supportive parent community.

Please refer to the documents that support the following information which will all be made available to parents and students through our various communication channels.

Week 2 – Phase 0

Students continue with learning from home through Google Classrooms.  The Jannali High School remains open for students who need to attend, with supervision provided.

Week 3 – Phase 1

From Monday 11 May students will return to The Jannali High School one day per week for Years 7-11 while Year 12 will return two days per week.  Phase 1 was promoted to continue for the majority of the term before moving into Phase 2 which will see students attending more days.  This, in fact, could occur sooner.

Mondays – Year 11 and Year 12 are at school

Tuesdays – Year 8 are at school

Wednesday – Year 10 and Year 12 are at school

Thursdays – Year 9 are at school

Fridays – Year 7 are at school

Years 7-11 will be organised into 4 groups and will rotate around the Hall, Gym and Library (2 groups) over the course of the day.  Students will follow the timetable below as a guide so that they can keep on track with the learning activities for each of their subjects.  Teachers will supervise this learning and where possible subject-specific staff will be rostered on to provide assistance to students.

At this stage, social distancing requirements are to be adhered to for adults and therefore arrangements have been made to reduce the number of staff onsite during Phase 1.  We also still have a number of teachers working from home because they are vulnerable.

Year 12 will work on a separate timetable to the other year groups on their days so that can be supervised by their subject teacher.  We’re lucky that the majority of our Year 12 classes are small enough to allow this to work within the social distancing requirements.  Larger classes can be split amongst similar course level classes.

For Phase 1 to work effectively we need all students to attend school each week on their rostered day while also knowing that there will be other students who need to attend school as they are doing currently.  Schools have been provided additional casual staff to support this need.

Year 12 students are encouraged to speak with their teachers and, where possible, make arrangements to use school facilities for the completion of their work especially for those students who are working on their externally marked major projects.

Schools have been provided with additional hours under the Advanced Cleaning strategy.  This has therefore been taken into account when planning for how and when our students will be transitioned back to school to ensure learning spaces, staffrooms, toilets and the playground are able to be cleaned effectively and efficiently in order to maintain the health and safety for our staff and students.

Continuation of Learning @ THJS Programs

All faculties have completed their learning programs for Weeks 1-5. Follow the links below to access these programs. These programs are designed to help parents work with their children on understanding the various units of work and weekly topics that will be studied.  Google Classrooms will have the relevant information and learning activities posted for students.

We are well aware of the stress and anxiety felt by students in the initial stages of the learning from home programs and the message to faculties was to concentrate on the essential learning outcomes in various subjects.  This too is a challenge for any classroom teacher as they will always endeavour to ensure students have all relevant information to be successful in their courses.  This particularly difficult for teachers of Stage 6 course which are inherently content heavy.

Semester 1 Assessment and Reporting

Years 11 and 12 will continue with their published assessment schedules.  Given that there were no half yearly exams scheduled as per the Stronger HSC Standards, for the most part these schedules remain unaffected.  Therefore, the Semester 1 Reports process and timelines remain the same.

As has been previously communicated, there are no formal assessments to be issued to Years 7-10 in Term 2 as per the attached revised assessment schedules.  Formal assessments conducted in Term 1 will be used to inform students’ Semester 1 Reports.  Teachers will also make professional judgements on how well students have achieved course outcomes throughout the Continuation of Learning @ TJHS programs based on the quality of work submitted through Google Classrooms.

The Year 10 Assessment Schedule reflects assessments that would be conducted over the course of 2020, similar to the Year 11 and Year 12 Assessment Schedules.  Because of the changes, parents and students will see that Term 1 assessments completed will have a percentage weighting, while for the Continuation of Learning @ TJHS does not.  The remaining assessments schedule for Semester 2 will have their weightings re-organised once school returns to normal operations hence why they are list as TBC.

Phase 1 will provide students with the opportunity to catch up on any work that hasn’t been completed to date in order to receive a Semester 1 Report that is reflective of their ability and application in their respective subjects.  Teachers will already have made contact with students who are not engaging with their work as expected along with providing feedback on work completed.  Parents may also have been contacted where there have been serious concerns about a lack of engagements.  Similarly, a letter of concern may also be sent to parents in these instances.  We are still bound by the course requirements of NESA, particularly for Years 10-12 so in some cases their could be a formal warning letter sent to students for failing to complete  course work with due diligence

Advice from the Department and NESA allows for schools to be flexible on what they assess and report on regarding  student achievement for Years 7-10 in Semester 1.  At this stage, there isn’t any definitive advice  for schools on how the reports should look in terms of grades.

2020 HSC

The latest news from NESA is that the 2020 HSC exams are going ahead and they plan to release the timetable for HSC written exams on Friday, 15 May.  HSC results will then be made available mid-December.  NESA, the Universities Admission Centre (UAC) and universities are still working on a plan to ensure a university pathway for our 2020 Year 12 students.

Despite the message that our senior students will be following their published assessment schedules, NESA has given schools the authority to adjust those schedules, the design of tasks and their associated weightings, if necessary.

Some performance exams have either been cancelled or modified if they breach social distancing rules.  In our school the only course this affects is our HSC Dance class.

Students study VET courses either at school or through TAFE/other providers no longer have to complete their mandatory work placement. This is the same for Preliminary courses, however, it is likely that Year 11 students will be able to undertake their 35 hours of work placement in their HSC year which will satisfy NESA’s requirements to complete the course.

Courses with practical exams which are commonly known as major works or externally marked projects have been given a 2 week extension.  These projects will now be marked by the class teacher under the guidance of NESA.  Thankfully in our school, many of our Year 12 teachers and certainly our Head Teachers have done HSC marking previously which will help dramatically for this process so our students won’t be disadvantaged in 2020.

This and other information can be found on the NESA website -  NESA News

For all parents, you can stay updated on what our school is doing to support your child’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.

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