From the Leader of Learning Wellbeing Year 11
Over the last few weeks, the students of St Andrews College have taken their classes in the comfort of their own homes. Quarantining during this time was vital for the health and safety of our students. With the help of “Zoom” students were able to interact with their teachers and peers during their lessons.
The global pandemic did not stop the students from learning and participating in class how they usually would in a normal school. Students were able to access Google Classroom, an application that allowed them to access resources given by their teachers and submit any work that was assigned for them. The use of Google Classroom helped explain the tasks that needed to be done and when they needed to be done.
As we all know, technology played a big part in learning during quarantine. But although there were many benefits, along came the downsides of it all. One of the downsides of the COVID-19 pandemic was that it was difficult for students to get used to a different learning environment, as face to face learning quickly turned into online learning very unexpectedly. Another downside of online schooling was that it was unhealthy to the students' social side. Students were unable to see their friends during this time, so there is no denying that they missed the face to face interactions before quarantine.
Starting from Week 3 of Term 2, students were able to attend school again. However, students can only attend a specific amount of days per week, depending on their year group. The students loved their first day back as it allowed them to see their friends whom they have not seen in roughly seven weeks. As the Coronavirus is still present in Australia, the staff and students practice social distancing in order to reduce the exposure of the virus. All staff and students stand 1.5 metres away from each other for the sake of everyone’s safety.
We’re very keen to start attending school again and ease back into our daily routine!
Martin Gillogly
Leader of Learning Year 11