By Mitchell Clarke
Independent schools within the Cardinia Shire are set to follow the recommendations of the State Government by providing remote learning from the beginning of Term 2.
St Francis Xavier College, along with all primary schools within the Diocese of Sale, will begin online learning from Wednesday 15 April.
“School staff are prepared to provide remote learning, and will employ a range of strategies to ensure that students can continue their education,”Catholic Education Director Maria Kirkwood said.
“Families are being asked to keep children at home, unless absolutely necessary to send them to school.”
Onsite learning will only be available to students who are unable to be supervised at home or whose parents aren’t able to work from home.
If families need extra support to manage remote schooling, or are experiencing financial hardship, they’re urged to contact their school for a confidential discussion.
“Let us continue to hold all who may be unwell at this time and all involved in responding to the COVID-19 situation in our thoughts and prayers,” Ms Kirkwood added.
Beaconhills College students previously completed three days of home learning in the last week of Term 1.
“We were pleased with the start of our home learning program … we gained some very positive feedback, the majority of families were very happy,” headmaster Tony Sheumack said.
“We are rolling out a whole program for our Prep classes to Year 12’s – making sure the kids are able to connect with us by using a Zoom platform.
“We’ll continue to regularly monitor with families as we go into Term 2 as to what’s working and what’s not working.”
Chairo Christian School will also continue to deliver online and remote learning at their Pakenham campus throughout the term.
“We were able to quickly adapt to online and remote learning in the final week of Term 1 and we are confident that we are well-placed to continue to successfully partner with families in this way when school resumes,” executive principal Simon Matthews said.
“Chairo will also be offering on-campus support and supervision for the online and remote learning of some students via a recently announced key worker program that seeks to enable parents employed in emergency services and healthcare to continue to work.”
Additionally, Mr Matthews expressed his appreciation of the State Government’s announcements in relation to Year 12, which have provided some assurance to VCE and VCAL students.
VCE students will still receive an ATAR score, but changes to the academic timetable include the GAT test being moved from June to October or November and end of year exams being postponed until at least December.
Universities will be asked to delay the start of the 2021 university year to account for impacts of coronavirus on senior secondary students.
