4 minute read
Our Changing Global Landscape
People around the world have had to evoke 21st century competencies like mental agility, adaptability, critical and innovative thinking in order to respond to the rapid and impeding demands of a changing global landscape.
We are acutely aware that our school community; parents, staff and students, are also dealing with, and feeling the impact of, these changes in their daily lives. As a school, our response to the COVID-19 situation meant that we had to change the way in which we deliver learning, as well as additional clubs and programs, to our students. Given the parameters of online learning, the age of our Rathfarnham students and our desire to continue providing our girls with rich and meaningful learning opportunities; we gained much knowledge during this time.
We listened to the feedback from parents and students, recognising that the learning environment is very different at home. Parents and caregivers were not only trying to look after children, but also juggling working from home themselves. Add to this the usual dynamics and machinations of family life, and you had a very complex learning environment.
From the commencement of Term 2, all P-6 classes, like 7-12, were delivering learning through Microsoft Teams. This digital platform allows learning to be delivered in ‘real time’ through live video conferencing, recorded video instruction and written posts. Not only did this change require those within our school community to acquire a new set of digital skills, but it also challenged educators to review, rethink and reconstruct how they deliver curriculum to children who range in age from 5 years old to 12 years old.
Teachers worked collaboratively and drew on the expertise of educators globally, to use platforms and techniques to best meet the needs of learners whilst educating remotely. We all acknowledge the struggles and challenges of societal isolation, but the staff have been both professional and dynamic in the way they responded to these challenges. Working with dedication and commitment, they reframed the delivery of curriculum, whilst continuing to provide pastoral support for the students with whom they work. They reimagined not only how curriculum was delivered, but also how special events and cocurricular programs could continue during this time.
Year 6 remote PE Class utilising Microsoft Teams.
Madeline Winfield (Year 3) participating in a remote PE class.
Our House Cross Country became a virtual competition, where students were invited to participate in a physical activity over the course of one week, and enter this data into an app to receive points for their house. In a similar way, Running Club continued remotely, using the online platform Active4me Run Club. Students earned points for completing a range of physical activities; such as running, bike riding, walking the dog, or jumping on the trampoline. Points were cumulative, with students working towards entering the 100km club by the end of 2020.
Huff & Puff continued during Homeroom on Friday mornings, with the Year 6 Health and Fitness Council planning a fun timetable of exciting ways for girls to get active. Led by their Homeroom Teachers, students were active together in the morning meeting.
With great imagination and tenacity, the students and staff of the Music Department demonstrated that when it came to learning music online, anything is possible! They managed to discover new and innovative ways to keep making music.
Lucy McNee (Year 5) with Sonja Horbelt, Head of Contemporary Music Studies, in her remote learning Percussion lesson.
Helena Mazzone Templer (Year 1) with her teacher Camilla Martin in her remote learning Suzuki violin lesson.
For Preparatory to Year 2 Loreto Sings students, they continued to sing beautiful children’s songs and sol-fa games three times a week, following along specially-created videos. Students in the Year 3 String and Year 5 Brass and Woodwind Programs used Microsoft Teams live video conferencing to have their usual instrumental, classroom and band sessions, gaining new skills from their teachers who became ever-diverse in their abilities to motivate and craft our young musicians from afar.
The use of music software technology made the merging of musicians performing separately, into one virtual performance simpler than ever. Even apart, our individual musical performances were embroidered together to create one unified performance, proving that music really can transcend time and space. A highlight was creating a combined audio recording of our Rathfarnham girls singing Lead Us On Mary Ward, from their own homes.
Rathfarnham Clubs such as Book Club and Hobby Club, offered at lunch time, allowed for a relaxed and casual space for conversation and connection between girls as they ate their lunch. Mandeville Mentors continued to support Years 5 and 6 students with their learning after school. Students were invited to book appointment times to work with our recent Loreto Toorak alumnae using Microsoft Teams.
Whilst this has been a challenging time for all, it has been important to ground the girls in our Loreto values, encouraging them to look beyond themselves for ways that they can help others. During this time, the girls and their teachers focussed on age-appropriate Works of Justice. Each day, as part of their homeroom time, the girls reflected upon and nominated an activity that they could do to support, assist and benefit someone else. These actions ranged from writing cards and letters to Year 12 buddies and Loreto sisters, phone calls to isolated family and friends, completing additional household chores and other creative and artistic gifts, sent to elderly and isolated members of our community. This call to action not only provided an outward facing perspective for our young students, but also provided a sense of purpose and control during a time of extraordinary change and uncertainty.
CATHERINE MAIMONE CROWHURST, DIRECTOR OF RATHFARNHAM & ELC
