The Way Weekly Update I 1 August 2021

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From the Principal
Principal Ross Whelan

The Olympics are a lovely distraction from the COVID event aren’t they, as we celebrate the achievements of very talented athletes from around the world. 

It’s a tribute to the organisers that this extravaganza has been able to be held at all, given the spread of the virus.  There is a dedication from the leaders and supporters that is admirable.

In our local region, every effort is being made to both contain the spread of the virus and work to manage daily routines as best as possible, and we all are committed to the best outcomes I’m sure.

At the College, the Blended Learning Online will continue across the next 4 weeks in line with the plans of the NSW Government and Health Department, and our thanks are due to both students and teachers for continuing to make every effort towards the success of these programs.  Where there are issues or difficulties or opportunities for change or explanation, please continue to contact the class teacher in the first instance or the Year or Stage Coordinator to assist.

Both Mr Butler in Senior School and Mr Sale in Junior School will bring a video update to families on Monday regarding phase 2 of remote learning now that we are in lockdown for the additional 4 weeks, until August 29 at this stage.

Year 12 students are having to contend with a moving schedule for their HSC commitments, and a special webinar session will be held with students and parents on Tuesday evening to talk about the next few weeks ahead of the HSC exams scheduled for October. No doubt there will be lots of questions raised and we are looking forward to that time.  They are a great group of students in their final year of school, and we all want the best outcomes for them ahead of a bright future beyond their College years.

Thanks for your involvement in the Green and Gold activities on Friday.  We have lots of colourful photos to share in this edition and on our Facebook page.  Let’s continue to find new ways to engage as a College community over the next month.

Thank you also for your ongoing support.  Please bring your concerns to us regarding any issue related to COVID or your family’s wellbeing at this time.  The College Council meets again early next week and I will bring you an update following that meeting.

‘Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we have – yet he did not sin.  Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need’.  Hebrews 4:14-16

Best regards

Mr Ross Whelan
Principal
From the Deputy Principal - Senior School Learning
David Butler

Finding New Ways to make Progress

I am encouraged to hear about (and experience) the creative ways our staff are navigating their circumstances to try to find the best outcomes for students and families of the College.

It was incredible to be part of the Subject Selection Webinar last Thursday night, where our Year 8 and 10 students asked questions from their lounge rooms to members of the Senior Staff logging in from their homes scattered throughout the region. It was well supported with more than 140 families taking part. In combination with our first ever online subject selection platform and the virtual Parent Teacher Night, I really hope the Webinar has been a great help to students and families trying to make important decisions about which subjects to study in 2022.

I have also been heartened by the ingenuity of staff members like our Head of Visual Arts, Genelle Griffin, who had the foresight to put together provisions for Year 7 students to be able to paint and complete artistic endeavours at their homes, and also the resourcefulness to find a Covid friendly way to arrange a pick up opportunity for students whose art kits were at school in their lockers. It was a beautiful encouragement to all of our team here when as I packed an Art Kit into a family car, there was a printed message taped inside the boot which read ‘Thank You THAC, you are doing an amazing job!’ The ongoing and prayerful support of the families of the College for each other and for the staff has been such a blessing.

Art delivery

I have heard of some inventive ways that PC teachers have been remaining connected with their PC groups. Regular zooms to check in on the wellbeing of the students they are used to seeing every single school day have been such a nice way to remain in touch. Mr McCormack’s group get to enjoy the Wheel of Names to see who will be sharing their story or answering the next question and a number of other staff have found equally engaging ways to brighten the spirits of their classes. I particularly enjoyed having one of my students, Mia, host our classes daily zoom tutorial today. What a fine job she did checking in with the group about their day and their maths homework. Even presenting a perfectly worked solution to a trigonometry question for the class in real time on her virtual whiteboard!

wheelofnames

I want to commend Year 12 Student Leader, Tristan Moledo, for acquitting himself so well on television this morning on the Today show. Tristan was able to articulate the challenging situation Year 12’s in the hotspot LGAs are facing and conducted himself so calmly and confidently. What a credit to our community he is!

I will bring a message to the Senior Students on Monday in an attempt to maintain momentum for the Blended Learning program for the duration of the extended lockdown. I hope this will be of benefit to you and your children. Let's get ready for another week. The weeks seem longer in lockdown, don’t they!

Mr David Butler
Deputy Principal - Senior School Learning
From the Director of Junior School Teaching & Learning

What are we learning during COVID lockdown?

Last week in a Zoom meeting with colleagues, we were naming all the skills teachers have had to develop in the last eighteen months and the terminology of teaching that has grown around COVID – Zoom, online learning, uploading, mute button, assessing online, backgrounds – and the list grew and grew. I am so thankful to the Junior School staff for working so hard to keep on top of all this learning at the same time as planning and delivering engaging lessons each day of this lockdown.

What have we learnt about our students, and what have our parents learnt about their children?

The time during Blended Learning Online has been an ideal opportunity for our students to develop their Learning Behaviours. Consider how your child is coping with learning at home. Are they managing distractions and able to sit and work through tasks? Are they trying to use various strategies to understand a question or activity before they ask for help? Are they persevering with a more challenging task before giving up and going to the next question?

When at College our classrooms are filled with rich discussions, small group work and constant feedback. The classroom environment is a place where students learn from each other and the teacher. At home, they need to be more self-reliant. What a challenge for them to remember the Learning Behaviours that are taught at College and to practise them at home.

As we get read to begin the fourth week of our lockdown, praise your child for the positive Learning Behaviours they have displayed. Keep a chart of the times they show persistence or sit through a task without being distracted. If you want to encourage these behaviours even more, consider asking your child questions before you provide the answer – “What is another way to work out the answer?”, “What strategies have you already tried to work out what that word says?” and “What have you done already to solve that problem?”

The Junior School staff want to thank our parents for the wonderful support you are offering your children. We know it is not easy as many of you are working yourselves as you encourage your children to complete work. May God continue to support you and keep you safe over the coming weeks.

Ms Lisa Hansford
Junior School Director of Teaching and Learning
From the College Chaplain
Denis Oliver

Lockdown has been extended.

This news has left many worried about the future - I can understand why. But is worrying the best response when life seems out of control?

Jesus has some great teaching about worry and says it plainly.

27 'Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?'

He is so right. Worrying achieves nothing and undermines everything. The worries of tomorrow spoil today. What solution does Jesus offer?

He says replace your worry with faith.

31 'Don’t worry and ask yourselves, “Will we have anything to eat? Will we have anything to drink? Will we have any clothes to wear?” 32 Only people who don’t know God are always worrying about such things. Your Father in heaven knows that you need all of these.'

Why not find a quiet spot, get on your knees and download to the one who loves you?  When out of control, why not give your worries to the one who is in control?

Jesus also says replace your worry with a different focus.  Don’t worry about what you don’t have and cant do for yourself. Rather focus on what you do have and can do for God.

33' But more than anything else, put God’s work first and do what he wants. Then the other things will be yours as well.'

Finally, Jesus says don’t worry rather do one day at a time.

34 'Don’t worry about tomorrow. It will take care of itself. You have enough to worry about today.'

COVID and lockdown will pass. Let us model faith and not worry to our children.

Reverend Denis Oliver
College Chaplain
From the Senior School Director of Wellbeing

Taking Care of Your Wellbeing

Last week I wrote a short piece about looking after our wellbeing during this lockdown season. Do you remember the 5 areas we can focus one? They were:

Wellbeing Infographic

How are you going at making some daily habits for each one? I’d really appreciate hearing from any College family who have proactively taken some steps in this area.

Could you let me know? It’s great if we can share some positive stories with each other ---> [email protected]

Let’s be Kind (and safe) Online!

So, we are online for schooling for the next little while and our children are spending significantly more time on those screens, but it doesn’t mean that they have free reign! When talking with your teenager about their time online, try always to be positive and be open. Frame the conversation around their health and their habits.

What healthy boundaries might you need to introduce right now?

It is important to know and understand that many of the same behaviours that keep children safe offline can help keep children safe online. Here are a just few suggestions – especially for the next 4 weeks or so:

⇒ Today is a great opportunity to talk to your kids about what they are doing online, safe and age-appropriate platforms, and the steps they take to stay safe online. Make sure they can tell you without fear of being banned from their devices if anything happens online that makes them feel upset in any way or they see something confronting. Be available to chat it through with them, they may not show it – but they need your wisdom.

⇒ Agree on how much time your children spend online beyond their online learning. Include how long they can play games, what group chats they are allowed to use, and how long they spend on them. Discuss this with them…we know that our teenagers really value agency – being included in the decision making process!

⇒ No devices at dinner for the whole family…parents included! No devices after a particular time. I hear some excellent stories of parents using a box or a container where they can place devices, on silent or aeroplane mode for meal times or even overnight. Could you try this in your home? Also, what devices are in the teenage bedroom overnight? Might be good to check that one too! We really want our children to have a healthy, restful night of sleep…and not the buzzing of notifications at 1.30am!

⇒ Encourage and constantly reinforce positive social values – this is a very important one. We all need to be kind, respectful, and responsible online at all times. Understanding why this is so important can help keep our teenagers safe online. The Wellbeing Team here at the College often has conversations with students about a message they sent, or a post they uploaded… that they regret.

We ask them...and this is definitely one you can use at home:

‘Did you THINK before posting or sending that message/photo etc.?’ And we know that our teenagers aren’t great at thinking things through! Maybe u can use an image or poster like this one at home?

Social Media

⇒ It’s a good time to check and re-check your Safe Search options that most browsers and standard search engines have (usually under the 'Settings' menu) and parental controls on devices, especially for younger children.

I wish all the best for the coming week and again, reach out and connect with the Wellbeing Team here at the College. We’d love to hear from you.

Mr Stuart McCormack 
Director of Student Wellbeing - Senior School
Promoting Hope during Lockdown

How do we respond to the latest changes?

The uncertainty surrounding the Covid pandemic creates challenges for the wellbeing of families.

Now that the lockdown has been extended and the restrictions have been increased in many of the LGAs our student families live, I suspect many of you may still be processing how to respond to the latest changes.

We are all affected by the lockdown, but our experiences vary. Teachers have reported that, most of our students are thriving during this Blended Learning period and they love their Zoom sessions with their teachers. They are engaged in their learning and enjoy seeing their peers on Zoom. These students are motivated, disciplined, organised and log on every morning and afternoon. They are independent learners and learning is not too challenging for them.

Some of our students are motivated but challenged by Zoom and may struggle with their organisation, time management and problem solving. Getting out of their warm and comfortable beds in the morning may be more challenging for them. Parents intervene and remind their children of the expectations. Learning is often more challenging for these students.

When we look closer at this pandemic and the lockdown, we can find unique opportunities ranging from gaining more insight into our children’s skill levels and how they respond to tasks. Most parents will be pleased by their children’s responses during this unprecedented situation but some parents, may feel confronted when they observe the level of struggle their children experience with formal learning. It is also an opportunity to remind them that adverse events are temporary, and we will get through this.

If your child is one of those children who really struggle with formal learning, I want to encourage you to separate the student from the child. Take a closer look at your child and identify what they are good at and praise them for that. Recognise that learning is broader than formal learning and could even include play. Play will certainly support you to enhance your relationship with your child. This is an opportunity to model optimistic thinking and encourage our children to be optimistic.

If you wish to know more about how to encourage your child to be optimistic click on link below:

Optimistic Parenting

https://mountainkidslouisville.com/blog/look-bright-side-important-optimistic-parenting/

If your child is in Junior School and you want to know more about the value of play, click on the link:

Types of Play

https://www.verywellfamily.com/types-of-play-2764587

If your child is in Senior School and you want to know more about the value of play, click on the link:

Play and Teenagers

https://www.lgspeechtherapy.com/blog/2018/7/30/why-play-is-important-for-teenagers-too

Let’s make the best of this lockdown situation. Be kind to yourself and reach out to us if we can support you or your children during this period.

https://www.thac.nsw.edu.au/blended-learning

Mrs Jacoline Petersen
Director of Student Counselling
Abide Lunchtime Group

Abide, our high school Christian lunchtime group is running online!

Join us via Zoom on Fridays at 12.20pm to 12.40pm.

It was wonderful to have almost 50 students attend last week as we played a game, heard from Rev. Oliver from the Bible and spent time praying in small groups together.

All high school students are welcome to join us – access is via the “Abide” page on Canvas.

For more information, please contact Mr Mills ([email protected]), Mrs Howard ([email protected]) or Rev. Oliver ([email protected]).

 

 
Cook with MRK

Our MRK staff are back for another week of Cook with MRK! 

This week's recipe is a Potato and Rice Croquette.



Read the full recipe on our website
Senior Stage Band

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hassle street

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Senior Band

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Senior Band

Senior Stage Band Triple J Competition

Over the past 2 weeks, the Senior Stage Band have been working together online to write, compose and record a song from scratch for the upcoming TRIPLE J UNEARTHED HIGH radio competition. This competition is open to high-school students all around Australia, and is a great initiative to encourage up and coming artists to share their music with industry professionals.

Our Senior Stage Band were very excited to participate in this event, and have produced a very impressive Pop song in just 2 weeks. Students attended many Zoom sessions with Mr Mark, where they would share ideas and discuss the journey of the song. Once demo recordings were submitted of draft parts, Pierson Ford put it all together using music software of his own at home, and shared his screen during the Zoom sessions to develop the song with his band mates. Once the song structure and all parts were set, students recorded their final parts at home using their individual home-studio setups or just an iPhone! After 2 weeks of zooming, composing, writing, recording, arranging, producing, mixing, thinking, scoring, and laughing (lots of laughing!)…..the song is complete, and the song ‘Without You’ was born. The students have called themselves HASSLE STREET, and Mr Fisher kindly put together a photo of the students to form part of their submission.

HASSLE STREET is: Nicola M & Holly F (vocals); Joshua C (guitars); Tinashe M (keyboards); Pierson F (bass); Tomas S (drums); Petar L (saxophones); & Tahlia K (clarinet & saxophone). Huge congratulations to all of these students for achieving a great song, and the learning opportunities and experience of this process alone has been invaluable for these students. We can’t wait to find out the results and share the song with you all soon.

Mr Byron Mark
Director of Ensembles
Ensemble Zoom Rehearsals

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Zoom Ensemble

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Zoom Ensemble

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Zoom Ensemble

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Zoom Ensemble

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Zoom Ensemble

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Zoom Ensemble

Rehearsals go on!

Even during lockdown, our College ensembles are keeping the music alive at home!

During their normal after College rehearsal times, students are jumping onto a Zoom session at home together with their other band members and conductor to participate in an online rehearsal. Although they cannot hear each other, the conductor of the ensemble facilitates rehearsal plans and goals for students to achieve, and students are divided into various breakout rooms so they can support each other in their practice. The conductor then moves between the breakout rooms providing students with feedback on their playing and singing.

This initiative has been greatly received so far, and we hope to keep the momentum going forward so that our student musicians continue their music journey and performing with others, and are then ready to jump straight into live music-making upon returning to school. Hope you enjoy the photos from the Zoom rehearsals with our Senior Vocal Group, Intermediate Stage Band, and the Senior Concert Band.

Mr Byron Mark
Director of Ensembles
WhatsApp Groups for Grades

Many parents would like to connect with each other during this time, a great way to do that is through parent led WhatsApp groups.

Parents of the younger year groups have created WhatsApp groups that they are apart of, many have stated how useful they have been.

Parent administrators have asked to extend the opportunity to parents who may not be aware of these groups. Please note that these groups are not run or administered by the College, rather are parent run. If you would like to be added to your child's grade WhatsApp group, please fill in the form and your details will be passed on to the admins.

If you are an administrator of any other groups and are interested in reaching your year groups parents, please email [email protected]

Mrs Carmen Pasapera
Marketing & Community Relations Manager
Thomas Hassall students turn Green and Gold !

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi ...

What has been your favourite moment of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics?

It's hard to choose just one! 

I've loved watching Ariarne Titmus winning 2 gold medals in the pool and cheering on our Aussie swimmers as they dominate in the water.  How good was it to see Emma McKeon win her first individual gold medal in the women's 100m freestyle event today!

What about Jessica Fox winning gold in the women's C1 canoe slalom!

Our Men's Four and Women's Four winning gold in Rowing too.

Hopefully you are getting to watch and cheer on your favourite team or athlete.

On Friday as a College, we supported our Olympic athletes by wearing green and gold!

Thanks Thomas Hassall Junior and Senior school for sending through your photos to celebrate the Australian Olympic team.

#TokyoTogether

Mrs Sharon Evans
P-6 Sports Coordinator 
Commonwealth School Data Collection Notice

The Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment (the department) would like to advise all parents and guardians that it collects certain information about your child’s school, its staff, and student body.

Follow the link for more information PDF iconParent Privacy Notice.pdf
Term 3 Fees

We are aware that the extension of the lockdown will have a significant impact on some of our families businesses or on individuals ability to earn their normal income.

If your family has any concerns regarding the payment of Term 3 fees due to the impact of COVID-19, you are encouraged to contact Mr Angelo Dinjar on 9608 0033 or [email protected]. There are a number of options that we can discuss with you and be assured that your financial situation is kept confidential at all times.

We were able to work together on this matter with our affected families in our previous lockdown last year and are confident we can do so again.

Mrs Rebecca Clarke
Business Manager