Ave Maria College

Supporting your child in the Online Learning Environment

Parents and Carers have an important part to play in supporting their children when they are learning at home. Learning online can be challenging for everyone and supporting your child in this environment can be made easier by following these tips: 

Set up a good space for learning: 

Ensure your child has a table or desk to work on, that is clutter-free and can allow all learning resources to be easily accommodated and accessible. Make sure this space and has some natural light and is well ventilated. 

Reduce distractions: 

Remove mobile phones, turn off TVs – try to mirror the school environment as much as possible. These devices/pastimes can be a reward at the end of the school day. 

Brain Breaks – Get up and move! 

Ensure your daughter is getting up from her workstation every 25-30 minutes. Standing up, stretching and regular ‘brain breaks’ are very important. Teachers will also be using these in their lessons. 30-40 minutes of outdoor exercise is also essential every day, to support physical and mental wellbeing. 

Encourage participation:  

The more students ‘get involved’ in the lesson, the more rewarding it will be! Encourage your daughter to speak up to ask/answer a question or post it in the chat. Connecting with the teacher and her fellow peers will help to make online lessons more enjoyable and feel more like face-to-face learning. 

Provide positive feedback: 

Positive reinforcement and finding opportunities to give praise to your daughter is vital and it works! Acknowledge the challenges of working remotely but also congratulate them on persevering with a task or simply completing another day of online learning.  A treat at the end of the day a few times a week - such as watching a favourite movie together, starting a family jigsaw or sharing favourite meal works well too! 

Finally, be assured that we are always here to support you and your daughters in their learning and wellbeing. Please make contact with your daughter’s Mentor Teacher or Subject Teacher if you need any extra support during periods of remote learning.  

Working together we can achieve great things! 

Michelle Robertson

Safety Online

It is a mark of our student’s ability when they can pivot in and out of online learning. Students are able to access Ave Learning for tasks, they are able to join MS Teams online with their peers and teachers, and they are able to submit assessments online. The College puts much resourcing into ensuring students are safe on our school sites.

What is difficult for many parents as students grow in their independence through the teenage years, is that in some cases they do not want to share what social media platforms they are on. Whilst young people may seem in control of their social media, at times, it is evident from a school perspective that students are entering into unsafe platforms such as Tik Tok. It is advisable to continue to have open and honest conversations with young people and within those conversations continue to encourage safe site usage by not identifying where they live or the uniform they wear. Tik Tok has been known to be hacked and the images of young people have been very inappropriately altered.

The e-Safety Commissioner invites parents and carers of 8-13 year olds to a free webinar to continue to educate parents in how to have those conversations regarding being safe online.

Leonie Rushbrook

Feast of the Assumption

Sunday, 15 August 2021 is the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the College Feast Day. We are reminded of Mary’s example of faith and love. Mary’s example is a timely reminder during these challenging times for each of us to be God’s heart and hands in our lives. 

 Social Justice Focus at Ave Maria College

Each sub-school has a social justice focus. The focus for the Junior School is refugees. In late Term 2, there was a collection of items which were donated to the Brigidine Asylum Seekers Project. One of the co-ordinators of the project, Sr Brigid Arthur spoke to the  Year 7 cohort on their Faith Formation Day.
The focus for the Middle School is the St Vincent de Paul Society and their work for people in need in our society. There will be a collection by Year 9 and 10 students towards the end of August for St Vincent de Paul. 
The Senior School focus is human trafficking. Year 11 and 12 students are working towards fund and awareness raising activities later this term. 

Patrick Jurd

2021 Subject Selection 

Thank you to the parents/carers and students who attended the recent Subject Selection Evening online via Microsoft Teams. A big thank you also goes out to the College staff who prepared resources for students and parents, as well as answered questions on the evening. From all accounts, the night was a great success. If you have any feedback about the evening, please do not hesitate to contact me via email (james.vella@avemaria.vic.edu.au). 

The Web Preferences Portal has now closed for students in Years 8 – 11. Students may be contacted via email or Microsoft Teams over the coming weeks to discuss their preferences; mainly in relation to applications for acceleration, those intending to undertake external studies and instances where a subject will not be running in 2022 due to low student interest. 

Students in Year 7 will be required to choose which language they would like to continue with for the next two years in the coming weeks. 

Return to Online Learning 

With remote and flexible (online) learning continuing, it is timely for me to remind parents of the following arrangements: 

·       Attendance in online classes is key. Students should have their cameras on for the duration of lessons to help facilitate connection with their teachers and peers. 

·       Parents should be encouraging students to utilise the rest breaks between periods, as well as recess and lunchtime, as “brain breaks”. Getting up to stretch, get some fresh air, go for a short walk, have a snack and glass of water are great examples of brain breaks and can be used to help maintain focus and concentration, as well as give them a break from their screens during the day.  

·       Year 7 – 10 and VCE Unit 2 (Year 11) students will still complete assessments in the online learning environment. These will be recorded on Ave Learning, with feedback indicative of the student’s level of performance as well as highlighting areas for growth and improvement. 

·       Students studying VCE Unit 4 (Year 12) subjects will continue completion of SACs online. These will be used for the purposes of scored assessment and will contribute to their study scores. This is in line with current VCAA administrative requirements. Parents/carers are requested to provide an acknowledgement via PAM for their daughter for each task they are required to complete. 

Further to this, all scored VCE Unit 4 students are still required to complete the General Achievement Test (GAT). This was to take place on Wednesday 12 August, however is yet to be rescheduled by the VCAA. Further details about this will follow for relevant students.    

James Vella

Checking in with your Teen 

One of the biggest challenges presented by lockdowns and remote learning is the physical barriers between teachers and students. Visible Wellbeing is about being able to see, hear and feel the indicators of the wellbeing of each of our students. We are used to watching out for our students in the corridor to see if they are comfortable with a group of friends, or watching the dynamics of groups in the classroom to see if we need to make adjustments. We are looking for signs of tired, or low mood to see if we need to check in or for signs of perseverance and energy so that we know what to harness. We can see this in the faces or body language of our students. We notice when they are sitting a little bit apart from the group or talking less than usual. We notice when they struggle to muster a smile or when they are avoiding their work. We also listen for the tone of their voices, for the bubble of energy in the classroom and for the chatter of on-task classroom discussion. In person, we can feel the energy of the room and we can sense the energy of individuals. This allows us to adjust our own energy so that we can make the classroom a dynamic and positive place to be.  

We also know that teenagers are spending more time isolated in their rooms, which makes it difficult for parents to be able to see, hear and feel where their teen is at. It is important to take ‘pulse check’ on your teen each day to see how they are travelling. You can do this by:  

• Sharing a meal together without devices 

• Going for a walk together – young people often prefer side-by-side communication 

• Play a game together – this can be less confronting than a direct conversation 

• Watch a show together and notice your child’s ability to pay attention or the way they react 

• Cook a meal of bake something together 

• Do a crossword or puzzle together 

Look for signs that they are doing well and showing signs of positive wellbeing. Comment on their strengths and explicitly acknowledge their hard work in managing difficult situations. Often our teens appear to dismiss acknowledgements of their strengths, but they do take notice and it does make a difference to the way they see themselves. Repeated affirmation builds the foundations to a stronger belief in that strength.  

We also take ‘pulse checks’ during remote learning. It’s different but it is possible. We do this through the use of breakout rooms, or individual catch ups. Mentor Teachers monitor attendance, and we check on the submission of work. We notice when students repeatedly drop out of the chats or are struggling to engage in online discussions. We also use Pulse, an app that explicitly asks students each week how they are going. This allows us to track their mood and it also allows them to ask for help if they need it. They can seek help from their Sub-School Leader, Mrs Meddis, Mrs Rushbrook or a member of the Counselling Services Team. If you are concerned about your child as they manage the ongoing challenge of lockdowns and returning to school, please contact the Mentor Teacher or the Sub-School Leader.  

Natalie Meddis

Ave Maria College is proud to introduce Simon Everywhere, a smartphone app, designed to streamline the communication process for our families.

Simon Everywhere allows you to conveniently access your daughter’s reports, grades and attendance, update medical information, notify student absences, give consent for excursions and communicate directly with teachers. Essentially it is your Parent Access Module (PAM) account in the convenience of an app.
To utilise this facility simply download the Simon Everywhere app from your devices App Store, select Ave Maria College from the schools dropdown list and enter your previously supplied PAM account credentials.