The changes made to the 2020 Victorian school year to support students
Victorian students will spend term two learning from home as part of a revamp of the 2020 school year, with additional changes made so Year 12 students can complete exams.
Education
Don't miss out on the headlines from Education. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Victorian school students will shift to remote and flexible lessons next term after the state government said children must learn from home if they can. The radical and rapid overhaul of the state education system, triggered by the global coronavirus crisis, means schools will only stay open for children who can’t remain at home — for example if parents are at work and children are too young to look after themselves.
Year 12 exams will be pushed back to at least December, while thousands of laptops and internet connections will be shipped to families who don’t have internet access.
Education Minister James Merlino warned the system would not be “perfect” but said the clear message was that “if you can learn from home, you must learn from home”.
“There will be things that will work and things that won’t work. Be patient, that’s a message for parents and students,” he said.
Schools will set lessons and rules for students, with workbooks and material sent online or, if needed, in the post.
Pupils who do have to go to school will be limited from interacting with other children via social distancing, and will get the same lessons as kids at home — via laptops or computers.
Only 10 students will be allowed in each classroom, monitored by supervisors.
President of the Victorian Principals Association Anne-Maree Kliman said it was important to stress all students would be taught the same material regardless of where they were.
“No one is going to be advantaged or disadvantaged by being in either situation,” she said. Describing the work being done by schools to transform the system as “building the plane while flying it”, Ms Kliman said expectations should be based on challenges being faced.
Rowville Secondary College teacher Alex von Scheven said he would be creating and running lessons for Year 12 PE students while his seven-year-old was also learning from home.
He said he was looking to add videos and multimedia components to material posted to online lesson plans, and was trying to deal with angst from students about the changes.
“The get big one is face-to-face. I will try to use (online platforms) to run conferences, with all good intentions,” Mr von Scheven said.
The new distance learning rules are for all state and primary schools next term, which runs until June 26, and Catholic and independent schools are expected to follow suit.
If the virus threat continues, remote teaching could be extended — with Year 12 exams potentially postponed until early next year.
Worried parents have questioned how remote learning would work, but Premier Daniel Andrews said schools would do their best.
“We are not happy to have to go to this system, but if you can learn from home you must learn from home and you will be supported to get the best educational experience possible,” he said.
“We cannot have a million students moving around the Victorian community every day. All that will do is spread the virus and undermine the really significant progress that we have made.”
There will be 4000 SIM cards and 1000 dongles provided by Telstra for students who don’t have internet, while 6000 laptops or tablets will also be delivered based on school advice.
“Every child that needs a laptop or a tablet will receive one,” Mr Merlino said.
Parents Victoria executive officer Gail McHardy said the distribution of devices was critical, as was how schools communicate information to families about their new lesson structures.
Mr Merlino said schools may have short bursts of physical practical lessons, such as science-based subjects, but without large gatherings.
He said the General Achievement Test sat by Year 12 students would be delayed to October or November and could be used to help shape tertiary rankings if necessary.
Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan promised “there will be no Year 13” and said each state was able to set the rules for how ATARs — a ranking system — were calculated. “Every student will get an ATAR certificate for 2020 so they can go to university, so they can go to vocational education and so they can go on to employment next year,” Mr Tehan said.
Mr Andrews said VCE students could sit exams up to Christmas, with the weeks following the normal end of the school year used as “catch up”.
Universities Australia said it was ready to “adapt” its admissions processes for Year 12 students disrupted this year, and that ATAR was only one method used by tertiary institutions.
Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Prof Brett Sutton said “I would hope we can work to schools opening in Term 3 or 4” but that “there is no crystal ball because it all depends on what the community is doing”.
“If we have to keep the schools remote and online then I’m sure we will do so.”
MORE NEWS:
SCHOOL SCANDALS THAT ROCKED MELBOURNE’S NORTHWEST
HEALTH FUNDS TO PAY BACK BILLIONS
LEARNER DRIVER’S FINE WITHDRAWN
SUPPORT TO CONTINUE IN REGIONAL, SPECIAL NEEDS SCHOOLS
The school bus program in regional Victoria will run as usual, as will disability transport.
Mr Merlino said that the individuals circumstances of each school and student would need to be considered when figuring out remote learning options.
“There will be children with a disability where its simply too hard to study in a home-based environment; in that case, they will study from school,” he said.
“These will be decisions that parents will make. It is silly to have hard and fast lists of who’s in and who’s out.
“If you can provide study from home, you must.
Mr Merlino confirmed that when students and staff needed to be at school, there would be strict social distancing measures in play.
“There’s no congregation before and after school ... during school hours, before and after school, people will practice social distancing,” he said.
“Our teachers have been doing an amazing job.
“We’re asking them to do things that they haven’t had to do before, and they’ve really risen to the job.”