This newsletter is one that celebrates the strength, adaptability and self-discipline of our community.
For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. 2 Timothy Chapter 1 Verse 7
Welcome to our last newsletter of Term 1. This newsletter is one that celebrates the strength, adaptability and self-discipline of our community.
Among the uncertainty of our current social context, I have been particularly proud of our community. The teaching staff have adapted quickly to develop online classrooms that have endeavoured to maintain our teaching and learning philosophy. Teachers continue to provide a curriculum that is much more than set tasks. It is communicative, socially engaging and challenging.
STAGE 1 (Kindy, Years 1 and 2)
The morning check in with students, class videos produced by staff, students and parents, and work packs have been successfully implemented across Stage 1.
The in-class work has continued as well with teachers working in teams to teach students who have been attending class this fortnight while other members of the team have been working on producing the next online unit. Seesaw has allowed teachers to set activities for students in line with class learning intentions and provide real-time feedback.
STAGE 2 (Years 3 and 4)
Additional digital learning platforms and online resources have been added in Stage 2. These include Google Classroom and Maths Essentials.
Google Classroom is useful to set tasks and provide real-time feedback. Seesaw is continuing to be utilised. Maths Essential Assessment has been used as a platform for teachers to deliver content learning modules within Mathematics and gain real-time feedback on how students are tracking. Teachers are continuing to provide engaging lessons whether that is in-class or at home.
STAGE 3 (Years 5 and 6)
Our Stage 3 students are working with Maths Pathways together with Google Classroom and Seesaw. Maths Pathways, introduced earlier this year, has been a wonderful addition in the context of the pandemic. I am excited to see the Term 1 classroom data from this specific platform.
STAGE 4 (Years 7 and 8)
Google Classroom is the key platform for the secondary classes. It has been complemented with Education Perfect (all key learning areas), Maths Pathways, Keyboard Evolution (music), and Textivate and Quizlet (Languages). Teachers are working with their individual classes as normal with regular check-ins and hangout chats and Q&A sessions. The students have been quite adaptive with positive comments coming in through the student survey.
STAGE 5 (Years 9 and 10)
Google Classroom is the main platform again in Stage 5. Education Perfect, MathsOnline, MusicEDU, and Pearson Places have featured widely. The Year 9s and 10s are quite confident with these platforms, however they are missing their friends.
STAGE 6 (Years 11 and 12)
Many of our Stage 6 students and teachers were already using a variety of online learning materials to support their learning. This has been supplemented with google hangouts or Zoom across most classes.
A few key statistics collected last week from our secondary students and teachers:
- 90.4% of our students feel they were moving forward with online learning
- 92% of teachers felt confident they were supporting their students effectively with online learning
- While our students were missing each other, they noted that the majority of students (75.4%) enjoyed the opportunity to connect virtually during the online classes.
COVID-19 Advice and Updates
Bishop Druitt College is following the advice from the Premier’s Office that NSW schools will remain open, based on health advice, which has not changed.
From Tuesday 24 March, parents have been encouraged to keep their children at home.
However, if there are no other suitable care arrangements then no child will be turned away from our school.
As always, we have the welfare of our students at the centre of all we do.
Staff, students, children and families should:
practice good hand and sneeze/cough hygiene
stay home if they have travelled overseas in the last 14 days, are unwell or have been in contact with a person with a confirmed COVID-19 case.
To keep up to date with college advice regarding COVID-19 please use our new webpage as a resource to support your family and our community.
https://www.bdc.nsw.edu.au/our-community/covid-19-information-and-advice
Perspectives: Your school in focus survey
Initially I was going to postpone the school survey due to the unusual nature of Term 1 but after I have spoken to a number of staff who highlighted the pastoral nature of our community we decided to continue as planned.
I am excited to invite you to participate in the Perspectives: Your School in Focus survey. This is a school-wide survey for staff, parents/guardians, leaders and board members to assist in the growth and development of our whole school community.
The purpose of the survey is to gather your insights and perspectives on how our school community can continue to lead improvement, innovation and change. Your input and contribution are important as we review and reflect on current practices.
The survey focuses on five important domains: School Environment, Teaching and Learning, Student Wellbeing, Leadership and Community. Collecting information about these areas from our school community members ensures we continue to meet your needs.
We will ask you, and the school community to participate in this confidential and anonymous survey. The online survey will take approximately 20 minutes to complete on any internet-connected device and will be available from Monday 30 March through to Friday 17 April 2020.
Only one parent/guardian from each household/family should complete the survey. If you have more than one child currently at the school, please respond considering the child with the next birthday.
You will be emailed details about how to access the survey shortly. Should you have any questions regarding the survey, please contact hheather@bdc.nsw.edu.au or sueoconnor@bdc.nsw.edu.au
As a valued member of the BDC community, I thank you in advance for engaging with the survey and sharing your feedback and thoughts.
Scholarship Opportunities - 2021 applications close next Thursday
Applications for scholarships with a special focus are open until Thursday 9 April 2020. Scholarships are available to new and existing students. Preference is given to those applicants who would greatly benefit from a BDC education but who, without financial assistance, would be unable to attend.
Scholarships are awarded at a rate of full (100%) or partial (25% - 50%) tuition fee depending on the pool of applicants and the scholarships available. The number of scholarships presented each year is at the discretion of the Principal. Application fee, enrolment fee and sundry items such as subject levies, elective excursions, subject-related costs and uniform purchases are the responsibility of the family.
Scholarships are generally awarded for a three-year period, provided all conditions upon which the scholarship was awarded are met. This includes general conditions applying to all scholarships and specific conditions applying to individual scholarships.
Apply here
https://www.bdc.nsw.edu.au/join-our-school/specific-focus-scholarships
Nick Johnstone
Principal