It was wonderful to have our ELC students back onsite this week, and we were very glad to be able to host the GAT for VCE students at school yesterday. Our school comes alive when our students are here, and we eagerly await the return of students in Prep to Year 7 on Monday along with Year 11s and 12s.
I encourage families to take the opportunity to undergo somewhat of a reset with technology usage in the household as we come out of lockdown. Understandably, attachment to a device has been important to children over the last 13 weeks in order to maintain connection with family and friends in addition to the requirement to participate in the learning program. With the opportunities to connect and play in person increasing, we should not miss this opportunity to reset some boundaries around the use of technology. I would encourage you to think about discussing some time limits as well establishing clearly with your children where in the house you are happy for devices to be used.
As the new operational settings of the School are released and advised by the Health and Education departments, we will continue to modify the onsite learning and co-curricular programs for our students. Our priority will be the health and safety of all in the community whilst maximising the learning experiences for all within the restriction placed upon us. We are very aware that each student will have had very different journey through the last term of remote learning, so our focus will be on finding ways to support the reconnection of students into their friendship groups. Our staff will be providing opportunities to debrief and identify any areas of concern which arise as we get back into the routine of life on campus.
The next two weeks of school are an important time. This is especially true for our Year 12 students as their time at the School draws to a close and they finalise their preparation for the end-of-year examinations. We wish them all well and we have carefully planned the last days with a view to maximising the time with their teachers to provide feedback on practice exams undertaken over the holidays, finalise coursework and acknowledge the end of their schooling journey. This will commence with a final House gathering on Thursday 15 October followed by a Leavers service and Year 12 Awards and Celebration event. Students and staff will be dispersed across a variety of venues at School and the event will be made available to families through a livestream. On Friday 16 October there will be a series of activities for our Year 12 students undertaken at the Bulleen and Kew
I am also pleased to advise that we have this week launched our CareyFit site which offers a sporting program for all Carey students from Prep to Year 12 in Term 4. It is a bespoke online sporting platform, designed especially for Carey students and led by former Carey student and elite netballer Sarah Wall. You can read more about the program in our Head of Sport, Paul Jepson’s article in this newsletter. We hope this will support all students and perhaps some parents to keep active until we can re-establish our extensive sports offering in the months ahead.
Jonathan Walter
Principal
