Newsletter Term 4, Week 9 4 Dec 2020

As I write this, the refrain of ‘Are we nearly there?’ with an accompanying sigh of resignation seems to be floating around as staff manage the complexities of this week with a transitioned timetable, #coLAB, a-pART-y, Year 6 Graduation, final VCE exams, the Rose Assembly, filming for Presentation Evening 2020 style, 2021 planning and so it goes. We are nearly there and the end of the School year is now in sight. Barely a day that has passed this year has been normal and while those who work in schools are used to days that rarely go to plan, the end of this year has seemed a long time coming. We are blessed that our girls are so delightful as it makes these last few days manageable after such a year, enjoyable even, despite the change fatigue settling deep into our bones. I also think there is a quiet pride in the air for what has been accomplished. Even to the very end, there has been innovative and creative response to the limitations placed upon us.

In a few days, the School year will be done and we will be ‘there’. Finance, IT, Property, Marketing, Admissions, Reception and a few senior staff members will remain until closer to Christmas in order to close off the year, but the pace will slow down and – hopefully – the decisions become fewer. There are so many people to thank and acknowledge, not least of all, you, as such a supportive parent community. So many of you took time out of your own busy, demanding lives to send emails of thanks and recognition to teachers. The volume and the warmth of these messages has been ‘unprecedented’ and I think helped teachers keep strong in their mission to go the extra mile in educating and caring for your daughters.

To all the staff, I give my heartfelt thanks. All staff actively did their very best to support the School, no matter their personal or professional circumstance. Some cheerfully redeployed to do other jobs in the School as they could not do their own. The Swim School Manager working in Admissions and others entered data. ICT and AV staff helped us make the technology work in different forums with creative solutions to the glitches and setbacks as we made it all work from our homes. The Property Team helped us in adapting to new ways of using space, which was deemed COVID safe and the Finance staff had a very intense year, modelling and remodelling and working with COVID-impacted families for ways forward. In regard to the teaching profession, there is a magically affective space existing between a teacher, student and learning, which, for most of this year moved to a virtual space, yet this relationship not only remained as strong as ever, but in some cases, strengthened. Max van Manen has done much work in this field. To him, the relational space existing between teacher and student forms the essence of his concept of pedagogy. For van Manen, a pedagogical relationship requires a teacher to possess:

…a sense of vocation, moral fibre, a loving and caring disposition, a sense of responsibility, intuition, a passion for knowledge, tactful sensitivity, humour, vitality and hope, maturity, an ability to be self-critical and an interpretative intelligence.

Some scholars refer to the above as pedagogical love of learning. Learning is a slow process at times. It needs relationship, trust and a commitment for it to grow and develop into something meaningful and transformative. It is in such a space that rich, robust and genuine life-long learning emerges, a concept of learning so important to the continued development of civil society. For us at Strathcona the quality of these relationships is of our priorities and one of our points of difference to other schools.

Thank you Strathcona teachers for your dedication so that transformative learning continued to take place for your students, even during a global pandemic.

Let us all now enjoy some well-earned rest. We are ‘nearly there’ now.

Best wishes to all for a happy and restful Christmas season.

Warm regards
Marise

We look forward to our final week of school which sees students attend our Christmas Service, perform apARTy and to end the school year, will have their final year level assemblies on Tuesday.
And on Tuesday afternoon we farewell our Class of 2020 as they celebrate with their Rose Assembly and Year 12 Graduation.

I wish everyone a beautiful summer break filled with fun, laughter, rest, friends and family time.

Ms Tracy Herft, Deputy Principal (Operations)

As part of the introduction, I mentioned that we encouraged wide reading and the positive effect it has on a wide range of academic outcomes across the curriculum. The research on this is interesting and wide-ranging, and the good news is that reading what they enjoy helps young people to develop academically and as readers. At Strathcona we have a strong reading culture, developed in the Junior School, and encouraged through wide reading classes in the Senior School. Many of our students are also enthusiastic readers in their own time and often offer us suggestions for new titles to buy or authors to follow.

Some of the most popular books in the Knowledge Exchange in 2020 were:

• Karen McManus – One of us is lying and the sequel One of us is next. A standalone book, Two can keep a secret, was also popular.
• Ambellin and Ezekiel Kwaymullina - Catching Teller Crow
• Lisa Fuller – Ghost Bird
• Holly Jackson - A good girl’s guide to murder
• Series by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, Lynette Noni and Sarah J. Maas were also popular. 

Ms Penny Roberts, Director of Library and Research

Meeting staff dotted at checkpoints along the journey, most of the groups arrived at Tay Creggan in very high spirits, and whilst it was not a trip along the Yarra River from Warburton, it fulfilled two important functions. Firstly, it allowed all participants to tick off their Duke of Ed Adventurous Journey and secondly, it provided an opportunity for teamwork, resilience and self-reflection.  

Our end of year program has also provided a range of activities for the students to try. The kitchen, under Narelle Cameron's guidance, has been in full swing making Gingerbread houses, Katrina Renard has run sessions on Rapping and Slam Poetry, Katie Harris has combined Maths and Jewellery construction and Eve Close has introduced the girls to silver clay pendant making. 

Another fun aspect of the end of year program has been the 'Just Dance Offs'. Groups of girls have competed for the honour of being the Year Nine Just Dance champions of 2020. It has been a joy to see the cohort's positive energy and unqualified encouragement of each other.  

On Thursday afternoon, Sally Cash ran a 'Financials for Young Women' seminar. The aim of the afternoon was for students to become familiar with the costs of life - (tax, living out of home costs, minimum wages), the different choices on offer, and the financial implications of those choices. The girls appreciated using the online calculators to track their choices, learning that living at home is a financially good decision - for them!

Next Monday all Tay Creggan students will attend Main School for the day and on Tuesday we will finish the year all together at Tay Creggan.

Best wishes,

Karyn

This year has been tough on many, but especially those most vulnerable in our community.

We have chosen to support Share the Dignity and help fellow girls and women in need.

If you would like to contribute please add your gift of personal items, or bag under the Christmas tree in Senior School reception by next Friday 11 December. MyStrathcona has a page detailing items in need.

Miss out on first prize in the Trivia for a Claus competition?  It's not too late to go home with the Surface Go, an innovative lightweight tablet that runs full windows and is perfect for notetaking or as a first home device for primary aged students. Thank you to the Eddy family, who have donated their prize to further help the School of St Jude, we will be running a silent Auction.

Submit your bids using this link: https://forms.microsoft.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=ag8q82v1A0GSBseiGTRj0FNhGtCkF0pHgnvVpP6eG7xUQzlBV0xYNlZaT0tIMU1ISDlTMjhZQlk0Ni4u

Bids close on Monday at 5pm.  Get your bids in now!

Donations

The Second Hand Uniform Shop is in need of donations especially Senior Summer Dresses and Blazers. If you have any items you would like to donate please leave them in the Donations Box at 35 Scott St Canterbury (opposite Featherstone Hall). Please only donate items that are on the current uniform list.

Opening Hours

The Second Hand Uniform Shop will be open on Wednesdays until 9 December 2020 from 2pm to 5pm by appointment only and will re-open on Wednesday 20 January 2021. Customers will need to book an appointment using the below link. Please note that a maximum of one student and one parent/guardian will be allowed in the shop at the allocated appointment time. Appointments will be for 20 minutes.

Card payments only please. No cash payments will be accepted.

If you have any queries please contact Fiona White by email fwhite@strathcona.vic.edu.au.

Please note that there are currently no second hand V-neck Jumpers, Hoodies or White Winter Shirts in stock.