Loreto Learn@Home

Together we built the plan while we were flying it!

In December 2019, a group of six P-12 Academic Staff attended a two-day introductory course on a program called Microsoft Teams. This group quickly recognised the power of the tool and committed to piloting the product in the faculties of STEM and Humanities for Term 1, 2020 as a tool for teacher collaboration and resource sharing.

Sophie Noonan (Year 11)

Chloe Kfouri (Year 11)

Giulia Massimini (Year 12)

Frankie (Isabella) Abiuso (Year 7)

However, by mid-March and with the ever-increasing developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was becoming more apparent that school closures could be a real possibility. When the School took the prudent decision to cancel Parent Teacher Student Conferences on 16 March, we swiftly utilised the afternoon to train all VCE Academic Staff in the use of Microsoft Teams. With the invaluable support of our wonderful IT team and Digital Learning Leaders, we then undertook the remarkable process of training over 150 Academic Staff in the school to use this new technology in record time. Whilst the learning curve was very steep, and our ICT skills increased exponentially, we did not miss a beat! On the very first day of our sudden closure, all VCE classes were seamlessly engaged in their virtual classes, quickly followed by Years 7-10 and Years 5 and 6 prior to the Term 1 holidays. By the first week of Term 2, our Prep-Year 4 students had also joined us on Teams and were engaging online with their own teachers. Our online SEQTA Learning Management system continued to be our curriculum resource hub, whilst the face-to-face delivery occurred in Teams.

The success of the curriculum transition then allowed us to re-imagine and move online many of our school programs and activities. These included instrumental music lessons, our Mandeville Mentors program, GSV sport training, the Spring Play (Radio Play), Choirs, Astronomy Club and our ensembles to name but a few. No challenge was too big for Loreto Toorak and seeing the smiles on the girls faces during these activities was certainly worth every effort.

We continue to hear that learning remotely is ‘not the same as face-to-face teaching’ and it certainly isn’t. The nuances of non-verbal communication are notably absent as are many of the other cues required for recognising understanding and engagement in a learner. But here’s the thing; this experience has harnessed some other wonderful strengths and qualities in the way that teachers are teaching, and students are learning. Of note has been the enormous sense of teamwork and camaraderie, not only in teachers helping each other to ‘build the plane while flying it’, but also in students helping teachers and in students mentoring each other. Together we have lived out what it means to be adaptable, flexible, collaborative and resilient. These soft skills of contemporary learning have been leveraged like never before and will have prepared the girls well for tertiary studies and life beyond school.

But here’s the thing; this experience has harnessed some other wonderful strengths and qualities in the way that teachers are teaching, and students are learning.

The ability for students to observe their teachers as learners (particularly in the initial stages) was very healthy in the modelling of effective learning dispositions and courageous learning. Furthermore, Academic Staff have observed in many of their students a greater independence in their learning and have reported that for a great number of students, they have found their ‘voice’ through this new medium. For us, these have been collateral benefits of our online experience in addition, of course, to thequality of curriculum that we have continued to deliver.

As educators, we have had the opportunity to carefully scrutinise our teaching practice and to find new ways to convey concepts, engage with students, customise their learning and provide feedback. Necessity has certainly been the mother of invention in this case, but it has really been so much more.

The Loreto Learn@ Home experience has strengthened us as a learning community; it has provided the teachers with a sense of greater selfefficacy and has paved the way for some wonderful blended learning opportunities as we move back into real time classroom learning.

My sincere thanks and congratulations to every student in the school, to our IT team and to the Academic Staff who made it happen so well.

SAMANTHA JENSEN, DEPUTY PRINCIPAL – STUDIES