Online learning has reignited our values of integrity, curiosity, perseverance and empathy.

It is a whole new world, and online learning in English has been embraced by all the English teachers. We have commenced one of the most significant learning journeys in my career as an educator, creating an online digital world for all students while continuing to deliver the core curriculum embedded with our values. To state that this has been an education, is an understatement. We have made a quick transition into remote curriculum delivery and we have had to adapt to this challenge in a very short timeframe.

In the space of only a month, it is interesting to consider what we have already learnt, and even though in the English Faculty the teachers have been focused on the technology, it has also allowed us to think about our pedagogical approach to teaching. Has everything gone perfectly? Of course not. However, through challenge comes opportunities for growth and learning. It has allowed teachers to think more about personalised learning and adapt our approaches to an online platform. It has pushed us all to adjust quickly and it has shown us that teachers and students alike are adaptable, resilient and creative in their thinking and approaches to learning. I wanted to share with you some highlights of the English and EAL online classes.

Year 12 English

The Year 12 team took on the epic task of delivering an English SAC online. This came after weeks of consultation on the logistics, the technology, the authenticity of the task and making sure every student was comfortable with this online approach. Running a Practice SAC first allowed us to review all aspects of this assessment prior to proceeding with the SAC itself. I was proud of the way every student, in every English class managed the SAC in this unfamiliar environment. What was fascinating was being able to view the students on screen; thinking, planning, reading and writing their essays. Some feedback from Year 12 students is below.

“It went better than I thought it would! It was pretty much the same as to how it would run in class.”

“I thought the SAC worked well. I like how in English we can print everything we need before the SAC starts so there’s no printing stress and it doesn’t go into our work time.”

“The SAC went a lot better than I expected. Time reminders worked really well! I think that doing a Practice SAC and encouraging all of us to try a few practises at home really was useful in completing the SAC today.”

VCE EAL

Practice live Listening Tests have been run for both Years 11 and 12. This involved sending the task material to students at the start of the lesson, playing each audio file twice through the teacher’s sound system and then requiring students to upload their answers to a folder on the Portal before the end of the lesson. This has worked extremely well for the EAL students.

Year 9 English

The teachers created an online grammar test which was self-marking for all students.

Using Channels: The ability to use channels on Microsoft Teams has allowed personalised learning for all students. Extending the high ability students, supporting the learning of students who find English challenging and facilitating group discussions. The ability to move between presenting and discussing materials on our desktop with the whole class, and then switching to individual conferencing with students about their work has been highly effective.

We have entered a whole new world of teaching and more broadly, education. While we cannot wait to get back into our classrooms with our students, we know, as educators, that we are writing the blue print for future generations in education. The delivery of our classes has changed, our use of technology, and the way we interact with our students, but what will never change is our School values of Integrity, Curiosity, Perseverance and Empathy.

Through change and challenge, teachers, students and the St Catherine’s community are showing these values in abundance and that is something to be very proud of.