Parent Student Teacher Conferences

Next week we are excited to ramp up student voice and ownership in discussions regarding their learning during our semesterly Parent Student Teacher Conferences. The deliberate intent is for parents, students and teachers to continue their work together to determine the best ways forward to progress in learning.  The focus of these meetings is learning and having the students in attendance is critical for the meeting to have any impact.  Of note, this is a conference rather than a teacher report. It’s a great chance for parents and students to have the time to ask questions and give feedback.

Technology Woes

Recently there have been some considerable issues that have arisen which cause us great concern in regards to technology use at the College. Please see below and consider what you can do in your home to support your child in developing healthy technology habits.

Student Laptops: It is evident from checks on the College laptops that many students are using devices in a very inappropriate manner when they are at home or away from the College’s network. You see, the limitations to what a student can access on the internet is controlled by the network they are connected to.  So at school we have a variety of measures in place to ensure that students cannot access inappropriate material, and instead, focus their energy on learning.  At home, their access is limited by the controls you have on your network.  If you do not have any controls on your network, or are unsure of this, it is likely that your child can access whatever they wish.  Over the holidays we will work with some providers to see what support we can offer families with this, such as the continuity of Family Zone.  We will continue individual laptop checks and inform parents of any inappropriate searches or content that is discovered on student devices.

Tik Tok: Over the past 48 hours there has been considerable concern regarding content on TikTok after a critical incident was live streamed, captured, and redistributed many times over across the world.  This is just another example of why families need to carefully consider the technology they allow their children to access.  At OLSCC we will not send out bulk communication every time an incident such as this occurs because we actively discourage any use of apps such as TikTok.

The summation of this is that the internet holds a pandora’s box of diverse information, much of it exploitive, secret and vile. Children will naturally (as with any behaviour) test boundaries until they find an acceptable limit. The issue with technology is that students use apps to keep information secret and therefore never find the boundaries that should be there. 

Getting the Basics Right

Last Friday we spent time working on our teaching practice at OLSCC as part of CTJ Day. We reviewed our work from earlier in the year, looked over our learning data and focussed on the work of Lyn Sharrat regarding clarity in learning for students.  Through our work we came to focus on “Good First Teaching and Classroom Practice”.  There many aspects of this which we see enacted in our College every day.  Most importantly, for this to take place we need classrooms that have limited interruptions to learning and are predictable in their nature, an ongoing area of aspiration for our College. 

One issue I raised with the staff was the volume of traffic we have out of classes to go to the toilet and/or get a drink.  I know this topic causes great conjecture whenever raised, though the reality is that far too many students are avoiding their work, missing core concepts, require reteaching and often lose continuity in their learning due to the amount of time they spend away from learning. As such you may have heard a much firmer stance on leaving the classroom is in place this week which has led to some considerable changes in the classroom.  The classes are more settled, more work is being done, learning is improving and task completion is much higher.  There is also far less disruption to the learning of other students and the general presence of students has significantly increased.  Contrary to some rumours, no rule has been enforced that students cannot go to the toilet during learning time.  No child will be denied the opportunity to use the toilet when required.  It is likely, however, that the student will be required to make up the missed learning time in their break time.  Additionally, students are being advised that they are to use their break and transition times better to minimise disruptions to their learning.  What is remarkable about the whole conversation is that students in Prep have been doing it for years!!

Pupil Free Days

It seems that there is a pupil free day every second week at the moment, though please be aware that the last day of this term, Friday 18 September, is the last pupil free day of 2020.

Peter Cuskelly

Principal