5th October 2021
Senior School Update Assalamu Alaykum Dear Parents and Guardians, I would firstly like to extend my thanks to parents for supporting us in this crisis and thank the teaching and office staff for their support of the College during the COVID-19 emergency. As we move into term 4 and start planning our return to campus, I would like to offer the following guidelines and advice on how we intend to manage curriculum and attendance. Attendance All students are expected to attend online everyday and must be present for every lesson. Our established attendance process and procedures will continue with class teachers, mentors and year advisors working together to liaise with parents and their absent child. If parents believe that their child is not well and cannot attend online class, the usual attendance procedures must be followed. In a remote learning scenario this means; • •
A phone call to the school administration office 02 9606 266 to advise your child will be absent for any given lesson or absent for the whole day because they are currently unwell. We encourage all appointments to be made after school, however, if your child is absent due to a medical appointment, a certificate of attendance should be emailed to info@bellfield.nsw.edu.au
Online lessons Students are expected to attend all online classes, be on time and respond to the roll call held during the first two minutes of class. Students late to class will receive a call from their grade mentor. Students late to class will be marked as absent and this will directly impact their attendance history. We expect students to be prepared with CAMERAS ON and a MICROPHONE functional for interactive live lessons. Timetable We will continue with the current timetable and day structure in place since the beginning of online learning. Teachers are online for every period with live classes from period 1 to period 4. After prayer and lunchtime, students are involved in teacher led support sessions, learning support tutorials and other classes scheduled as per their timetable. The student timetable may be accessed via the sentral portalhttps://bellfield.sentral.com.au/ Assessment Your child has been assessed during the learning from home period and will receive additional assessment on their return to school. Yearly examinations for Years 7-10 may not happen in their usual format. Some subjects are running topic tests while other subjects are running online quizzes or assignments through online platforms that will contribute to report outcomes. The aim of these assessments is to support online learning, especially in relation to outcomes for the current learning module. Adjustments have been made to the Term 4 Assessment Calendar in order to respond to the current changes to the learning environment. Please find the updated grade calendars on the school website under STAGE tabs - www.bellfield.nsw.edu.au
Grade 10 Transition to Higher School Certificate The transition to Higher School Certificate (HSC) will commence from week 6 until week 9 of term 4. The transition program aims to prepare students for the HSC. Students will learn about the expectations and demands of the HSC, as well as assessment and reporting procedures. Students will also participate in the ELEVATE study skills seminars and Job Jump activities with a specific focus on careers pathways. Compression 2022 The NSW Education Standards authority will advise schools of the 2022 compression HSC start dates as soon as possible. The 2022 course was due to start in week 6 of term 4, however, the commencement was delayed due to the current Higher School Certificate examinations.
Semester Two Academic Reports - Years 7-10 You will receive your child’s end of Semester 2 report in the last week of term 4. When formulating reports, faculties will be referring to a broad range of informal and formal assessment items from across the semester, including in-class and online learning opportunities. Teacher comments will aim to present positive attributes of student learning and offer a guide to future achievement. Word descriptors based on the five-point A-E course performance descriptors will be used through teacher comments to provide a consistent language for reporting progress and achievement on the learning students have undertaken.
Parent Teacher Interviews There will be further communication about Parent Teachers Interviews, however if there are any concerns parents / carers are encouraged to request online or phone meetings with subject teachers, Head of Departments or the Head of Senior School. Subject teachers will maintain contact with parents / carers throughout the term and in some cases will request an online meeting prior to the Term 4 Parent Teacher Interviews.
Thank you for your patience and generous support throughout these challenging times. Sincere Regards, Ms Mouina Ramadan Head of Senior School