ASPIRE NEWS -July Edition

Learning From Home

I write to you again in the midst of another COVID-19 lockdown. Obviously this is not where any of us would like to be at the moment, but it’s vital for our students (your children’s) sake that we work together to provide consistency during the Learning From Home period.
Hopefully we’ll be returning to on-site school next Wednesday 28 July.
This extension of time places an even greater need for every student to be following their timetable, attending every single Google Meet session and actively engaging in their learning. 
A powerful help for children and teenagers when there is disruption in their life is to provide certainty wherever possible. It can be helpful to not only students learning, but to improving mood and reducing anxiety to provide certainty and routine wherever possible. As well as your child’s Learning From Home timetable, you can provide routine by setting regular sleep times, encouraging regular exercise and outside time, getting your child to help with housework etc. 
Parental self care can be really hard at times like this, but I would encourage parents where possible to find ways to care for themselves in this period. 
As always, please reach out to the school for support.

Semester 1 Reflection

Semester 2 Regular Subject Changes

All families should be aware that in Year 7 and 8 – Arts and Technology subjects changed at the semester break. This means that all students in 7 and 8 will have two new subjects and teachers in the Arts and Technology areas. As a result there will also be changes to timetables for every student.

All students will be given a hard copy of their timetable in Mentor Group on Monday 12 July. Compass has been updated with the new timetable.

Greenvale Bus Route Changes

The ongoing School Special service for Elevation Secondary College will commence on Monday 12 July 2021.This is the service that was funded in last year’s state budget and begun (in an interim form) this year.

This service will replace the temporary service that was put in place earlier this year, providing one trip in the morning from Greenvale North and a return trip in the afternoon.

Also, the route has been expanded to include Destination Drive in Greenvale. As a result, there will be changes to the current timetable.

The bus stop at Elevation Secondary College is complete.

This is great news for the school community.

Supporting And Being Supported

I write this on the eve of another extended lock down. I have witnessed a lot of emotions from staff, parents and students – anger, frustration, resignation and anxiety. I have also seen amazing behaviour – self-care, consideration, preparation, adaptability and resilience. A community of people coming together to support each other through hard times. Look out for family and touch base with friends.

Every Minute Matters.

Attendance is one of the key major indicators for success at school and later in adulthood. Studies have strongly shown that young people who attend school more frequently have better outcomes after school – they earn more money, have better job prospects, are less likely to misuse drugs and alcohol and are generally healthier.

Small amounts of missing periods or days can add up very quickly. Missing one day a fortnight is the same as missing four whole week of school a year. From Foundation to Year 12 that adds up to 1.5 years of missed school. Or the equivalent of only receiving mid-Year 10 worth of education.

Students are building habits that they will take into adulthood through attending school regularly. They come to school to learn more than numeracy and literacy – they are learning all sorts of skills like working in teams, meeting deadlines, strengthening work habits that will help them when they are an adult.

So, what does good attendance look like? Ideally 100%. However, we know that sometimes young people are ill, attending events such as funerals, or that there are appointments that cannot be scheduled after hours, weekends or during the holidays. Attendance should be above 90%.

How can you check what your attendance is? The first way to check is via Compass. Clicking on the ‘Profile’ and then the ‘Attendance Tab’.

When you scroll down you can see each subject. The important place to look is at the last three columns

Class %: This is in class percentage. This is the most important percentage to check. This is how much a student has been in the class, in front of the teacher and learning.

Ac’td %: This is accounted for percentage. This percentage reflects how much a student’s time is accounted for. This includes time spent at school, as well as absences from school that parents have informed the school about.

Schl %: This is school attendance percentage. This is the second most important percentage to check. This is how much a student has attended school. This includes attendance to class as well as attendance to events and excursions during school time.

What can I do if attendance is falling below 90%?

• Have a conversation with the school and see what support are available. If there is an issue that is affected your young person in wanting to come to school, let the school know as soon as possible by contacting the Mentor Group Teacher as they are your first point of call.
• Ensure your young person attends school and place a large family value of importance on attendance
• Make sure your young person has a good sleep routine and hygiene: such as set time to bed and being disciplined with technology
• Contact Parentline on 13 22 89. This is a confidential service that supplies support for all Victorian parents and carers of children ages from 0-18 years.

*Much information cited is from Attendance Is Important from DET

**Images and instruction are for Compass with a PC. Access via mobile phone may be slightly different.

Remote Learning Extended

The Victorian government has announced a 7 day extension of our lockdown.
This means we will continue our remote learning until next Tuesday 27 July, hopefully returning to on-site school next Wednesday 28 July.
This extension of time places an even greater need for everyone to be following their timetable, attending every single google meet session and actively engaging in their learning.
The announcement of this extension may also cause frustration, anxiety, tiredness, loneliness amongst other feelings to you, your family and your friends. These are normal responses, especially after so much time over the past year or so living with restrictions. Please look out for people around you at this time, including yourself. Routines, sleep, exercise, connection with friends, getting some fresh air and time away from screens are all really important.
Help out around the house, touch base with your friends remotely and remember to follow all the rules when it comes to lockdown. If we all stick to the rules, we’ll be out of this on time.

Remember to touch base with someone if you or someone close to you is finding this tough.

• Kids Help Line – 1800 55 1800 or http://webchat https://kidshelpline.com.au/get-help/webchat-counselling
• eHeadspace – Headspace web chat – https://headspace.org.au/eheadspace/

Your teachers and coordination staff are also here to assist as best we can.
See you all online.

Hume Mental Health Summit

On 17 June a number of our students represented Elevation Secondary College in the Hume Mental Health Summit. Our students did an amazing job, joining in with discussions, providing feedback to services and assisted with presentations. We’re so proud of the students involved and definitely see some future leaders amongst them.

HeadSpace Incursion

Unfortunately, due to COVID restrictions, the incursion that was due to occur on 16 June had to be rescheduled to early Term 3. Students will learn about healthy relationships, setting boundaries, rights and responsibilities and how to communicate with peers and friends in a positive way. HeadSpace has also offered to set up a lunchtime stall where students will be able to ask any questions they may have as well as participate in giant Jenga and other fun activities. We look forward to welcoming HeadSpace into our school community.

End of Semester Awards

On the last day of Term 2 we celebrated the success of our students in our awards ceremonies for Year 7 and 8. All these students demonstrated the school’s behavioural expectations of Aim High, Work Hard and Be Good. We would like to congratulate all award recipients.

Year 8 Science and Chinese

Year 8 Science Students have been exploring the physics of light and sound recently.  In Art, students are taught that the primary colours are yellow, blue and red as these colours can be mixed together to make others. However, in Science students discover that the primary colours are green, blue and red and the secondary colours of cyan, yellow and magenta can be made using the additive method.

Year 8 Academic Awards

English – Shannon Kaur 8A

Mathematics – Shannon Kaur 8A

Science – Santhos Varatharajah 8E

Humanities – Manpreet Singh 8D

Music – Ria Yagya Sharma 8A

Visual Arts – Indiana Shears 8G

Design Technology – Shannon Kaur 8E

Digital Technologies – Terry Birkahn 8E

Health and PE – Thejashree Shivakumar 8A

Chinese – Hannah Dawood 8G

Winter Uniform Items

As we head into the colder months in Term 3, families should check they have enough winter uniform, specifically Jumpers and Blazers.

State Schools Relief is available for family’s needing support in purchasing their items. To inquirer about Sate Schools Relief support please contact the College front office. https://stateschoolsrelief.org.au/

The Uniform shop operates from the College every Thursday from 1pm-4pm. No appointment is necessary.

https://www.elevationsc.vic.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/ESC_Uniform_Policy-2020.pdf

Sustainable Schools

The College is conscious of the need to provide an efficient process for families to be able to buy and sell their second- hand textbooks, uniforms and other student resources.

That is why we are delighted to be able to provide parents with the ability to buy and sell their second-hand items via the Sustainable Schools website: http://www.sustainableschoolshop.com.au

So far the results have been very good and we encourage families to take advantage of this method of buying and selling second-hand items.

Bicycle Helmets

It has come to our attention that a number of students that ride to and from school each day have not been wearing their helmets.

All bike and scooter riders are required to wear a bike helmet in Victoria.

Mandatory bicycle helmet laws were introduced in July 1990. This applies when riding:

• on roads and road-related areas
• on bike and shared paths
• in bike lanes
• in recreational parks
• in car parks 
• on footpaths. 

Police can stop bike and scooter riders and issue a fine or a warning for not wearing an approved bicycle helmet.

For more information and about bicycle helmet laws in Victoria and exemptions please see the website below:

https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/safety-and-road-rules/cyclist-safety/wearing-a-bicycle-helmet

Our School is Becoming ResourceSmart

This year our school is taking action to become more environmentally sustainable through a Victorian Government initiative called ResourceSmart Schools.

ResourceSmart Schools is a program that helps our school embed sustainability in everything we do. We are aiming to reduce our resource use (like electricity, waste water) plus support indigenous plants and animals. This will also help us to save money. We also want to involve students, families and other members of our school and local community.

We are working with Ms. Kelsey Smith from CERES Community Environment Park on the actions of the Core and Waste Modules.

This year, we are aiming to create a strong foundation for our sustainability program, continue to build on our sustainability achievements, monitor our resource use by using a free website called ResourceSmart Online, get our community involved, participate in exciting events, supporting our students, including sustainability in our curriculum.  

We can’t wait to… share our achievements with you, reduce our school’s impact, help make the Earth a better place for all, contribute to a sustainable future for all.

Read more about ResourceSmart Schools at https://www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/schools