By Gabriella Payne
For the second time this year, schools across Victoria were forced to return to remote learning as the entire state was plunged into another ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown on Thursday 27 May.
Although difficult, it seems our dedicated teachers at both primary and secondary schools were more prepared this time around and quickly sprang into action.
While the Covid-19 outbreak in Melbourne continues to develop, local school principals said that they are trying to look on the bright side of things, and ensure that staff and student wellbeing remains a top priority.
The acting principal at Pakenham Springs Primary School, Jane King, said that although remote learning wasn’t ideal, she believed the school community were working hard to make the most out of the situation and keep the students’ learning on track.
“It’s not ideal at all, but we’ve got three values at the school and one is resilience,” Ms King said.
“[The Covid outbreak] is out of our control, but we’re trying to model resilience and make the most out of the situation.”
Ms King said that in comparison to previous lockdowns, there were less organisational barriers to overcome when transitioning to online learning, as they had been here before, and she wanted to thank all her staff and the entire school community for adjusting to the situation so smoothly.
“We’ve been quite fortunate at Pakenham Springs as all the staff jumped into action quite quickly.
One difference is that last time learning was done through the website, whereas this time we made a printed hardpack for students,” she said, adding that the parent feedback had been very positive so far.
“This time around, we are right in the midst of our end of semester reporting, so we’re just trying to make the best use of this time,” Ms King said.
“So we’re just trying to keep in touch, make sure learning and wellbeing are a top priority and we are using this time wisely to have the information we need to do our reporting.”
Beaconhills College headmaster, Tony Sheumack, echoed many of Ms King’s statements and said that although the lockdown news was disheartening, the school community had really pulled together to make the transition to online learning a smooth one.
“Like all Victorians, the Beaconhills College community was disappointed at news of the recent outbreak of Covid-19 and the prospect of another lockdown,” Mr Sheumack said.
“However, the College has a comprehensive online learning program which swung into action immediately, with remote learning starting the following day.
As per previous lockdowns, the College is offering a blended learning program at each campus for children of authorised workers and vulnerable children who qualify for this program,” he said.
“Our student and staff well-being remains top of mind, and we will continue to support all members of our community in every way we can during this time.”
Ms King said that she and her teaching staff would remain “optimistic” and despite the extension to the lockdown, Pakenham Springs Primary School would “be prepared” for anything.
“We will be prepared and we’ll cope, manage and look after one another,” she said.
