Top Melbourne principal’s cheat sheet for schooling at home
As parents brace for a return to remote learning, one of Melbourne’s top educators is offering her top tips for the city’s students to survive and thrive during lockdown 2.0.
VIC News
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Some parents are getting into a tizz about remote learning 2.0, but one of the state’s leading educators says the best thing they can do is calm down.
McKinnon Secondary College principal Pitsa Binnion says the focus should be on health, wellbeing and harmony in the home.
She said the Year 11 and 12 students, and those in Year 10 doing a VCE or VCAL subject, are back at school and being supported by peers and teachers.
But on the home front, where preps to Year 10 students will be working for five weeks or more, survival is the name of the game.
“My advice would be for parents not to get too concerned if their children are not as engaged in their learning as they would like to see,” she said.
“Focus on their wellbeing and keeping things as calm as possible in the home and not escalating the stress.”
She said while everyone would ideally like to see all kids at school, following a routine and enjoying time with friends, it was not possible.
Parents and caregivers should focus on providing an environment and resources that allowed sleep ins, if necessary, getting kids to help around the house, nutritious meals which could involve preparation as a family, family time, walks, and practical support.
“I think the mental health issue is really difficult for adults as well as children,” she said.
Ms Binnion said she appreciated some parents were trying to work from home while keeping an eye on their children.
“Give them the resources and the opportunity to read, if they can get online with their teachers that is fantastic. We will get them all up to speed as soon as they get back to school.”
“The most important things people can do now is maintain social distance and provide the home as a haven.”
She said families struggling should access the free Smiling Mind meditation program.
“In these times of unprecedented crisis and incredible despair, we need to keep perspective,” she said.
“Everyone is tired and very exhausted.”
Mental health organisation Headspace said the transition to online schooling and working from
home will be exciting for some people, who may thrive in this new style of working and learning, but stressful and overwhelming for others.
It suggests:
CREATE good communication between young people and others at home. Start early so good communication is modelled.
Take a “you and me” v the problem approach rather than a “you v me” approach.
Let everyone have some input. Use “I” statements rather than “we” statements.
“Using ‘I’ statements to express our perspective or needs helps us to own what we are saying rather than giving a sense of blame that can happen with ‘you’ statements,” Headspace said.
It suggests taking some time to talk about what everyone in the house will require to be effective in online learning.
For parents working from home, this might be letting young people know when you can be interrupted and when you can’t be.
Managing shared work spaces also needs to be sorted. Lockdown 2.0 gives you an insight into what did and didn’t work last time.
Headspace suggests fostering independence is important.
“Young people are usually independent during their school day without the support of care givers to guide their work. Wherever possible, try to encourage this to remain the same,” Headspace said.
Encourage them to problem solve or to send a question to a teacher or ask friends. It suggests that students might be able to communicate with other family and friends to assist with various subjects.
CREATE a routine: It can be easy for work time, school time and home time to merge into one which can be overwhelming at times, Headspace said.
Take a walk around the block or exercise when you finish work/school to mimic your
usual travel home time. (obeying the COVID-19 restrictions)
Pack up your work space at the end of your work day, closing computers and putting
books away. You may even want to cover your station with a blanket
Change your clothes to differentiate study and down time.
MANAGE your expectations: Some households, with parents working from home, might not be able to be as hands on with remote learning.
Other households will have more flexibility in moving between supporting online schooling
and working.
DISCUSS expectations around talking to friends during school or work time and encourage peer to peer connection in an appropriate way to maintain social connectedness.
TAKE regular breaks, stepping away from the computer, getting some fresh air and stretching is important for everybody.
MODEL self-compassion: “We are experiencing something very unusual and unprecedented at the moment with the transition to online schooling and working from home,” according to Headspace.
“Remember, nobody is going to get this perfectly right. Lots of people are experiencing increased stress and anxiety at the moment and that is really understandable. It is important to take care of yourself during this time.”
The Department of Education and Training has comprehensive details (link provided below) to assist parents with remote learning.
If families do not have online access schools can assist.
The department also suggests that parents check in each morning with their child, depending on their age.
Questions might be about what they are learning and any resources or support they need.
At the end of the day, parents and carers are urged to check in again.
They might pose questions about what the child learnt, what was challenging and if they needed any assistance for resources for the next day.
The questions might help them to process any instructions from the teachers, help them organise for the next day and set priorities.
Parents are also encouraged to check school communication platforms to see how children are tracking and what they were learning.
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