Russell Drysdale Street East Gosford

PO Box 4041 East Gosford NSW 2250

Telephone: (02) 4324 4022
Facsimile: (02) 4323 3512
Email: sjcc@dbb.catholic.edu.au
www.sjcc.nsw.edu.au
ABN: 93 041 953 582

8th July 2021

Dear Parents/Carers and Students

I am sure you have been keeping abreast of the recent communication that has come from our
State Government in respect to COVID-19 and the continued lockdown for Greater Sydney, which
includes the Central Coast.

This obviously has impacts on schooling for the beginning of Term 3, with a return to home-based
learning for students. As already communicated by Catholic Schools Broken Bay, St Joseph’s will
remain open for students who need to attend, and no child will be turned away from school.
Home-based learning will be provided from Tuesday to Friday next week, with no formal teaching
taking place on Monday as teachers meet and prepare for home-based learning. Please note that
in order to minimise the risk of spreading COVID-19, no parent is allowed on site, unless it is
essential, for example to collect IT equipment or other materials.

As we did in 2020, we will be making use of Zoom to connect all classes with their teachers and will
be following our normal timetable for Week 1. Our current on-line learning platforms of Google
Classroom, OneNote and Compass will be used to support this style of learning. Students will need to
access Compass each morning to bring up their timetable for the day. They will then need to click on
each lesson when it is due to start to access their class page for that lesson. On their class page will
be a link to their Zoom meeting with their teacher and classmates. By clicking this link, they will be
automatically connected to the Zoom meeting that their teacher has already set up for them.

Teachers will then give direction to the students in relation to the learning that will occur for that
lesson. Sometimes this may continue for the majority of the lesson while other times the Zoom
meeting may only last a short time before students are directed in their learning tasks and given the
opportunity to work independently for the remaining part of the lesson.

Students will be required to link into every one of their lessons each day and remain in that meeting
until their teacher allows for the meeting to be exited. Rolls will be taken each lesson to ensure that
students are maintaining a regular pattern of study. A commitment to learning and a responsible
attitude to this approach by students will be fundamental to the success of this alternate learning
environment. Please note that Zoom meetings will not occur for Senior Study lessons and that
double lessons will only require a sign in to Zoom at the beginning of the first lesson.

We are planning to start each day with Period 1 at 9am, with the exception of Tuesday 13th July,
which will begin at 8:45am with a Homeroom catch-up for all students. We will not be running our
normal Homeroom timeslot at 8:45am for other days of Week 1. All other lessons including our
Pastoral lesson on Day 5 Period 2 and sport lessons for Years 7 – 10 will still occur. Alternate
activities and programs will be sent to students for these timeslots.

On the following page are the expectations and responsibilities for students, teachers and
parents/carers to assist in the implementation and success of our home-based learning program, as
was the case in 2020.
 Russell Drysdale Street East Gosford
PO Box 4041 East Gosford NSW 2250
Telephone: (02) 4324 4022
Facsimile: (02) 4323 3512
Email: sjcc@dbb.catholic.edu.au
www.sjcc.nsw.edu.au
ABN: 93 041 953 582

Student Responsibilities
 Students will need to ensure that they are prepared for each day of learning with exercise books,
writing materials, textbooks, fully charged computer and other required resources.
 Students will be expected to identify and use a safe, comfortable, quiet space in their home
where they can work effectively and successfully. This space definitely does not include beds or
lounges.
 Students will need to be dressed appropriately in casual clothing each day. Pyjamas are not
considered appropriate casual clothing.
 Students need to log on to Compass every morning prior to 9am to access their timetable for the
day.
 Students will access their link to the class Zoom meeting via their Compass class page each
lesson.
 Students will need to ensure that they are logged into their Zoom meeting at the start of their
lesson time.
 Explanation of class tasks, directions for the lesson, interaction with classmates and the class
teacher and support for learning will occur via the Zoom meeting.
 All set work is expected to be completed each lesson. If this work is not completed during the
lesson time it is expected to be completed after the conclusion of lessons for that day.
 All tasks are to be completed with integrity and academic honesty, with students expected to
always do their best work, to follow teacher directions and to behave online in the same way they
would be expected to behave at school.
 Communicate proactively with their teachers if they cannot meet deadlines or require additional
support. Please note that this communication should be restricted to normal school opening hours
of 8am – 4pm, Monday to Friday.
 Collaborate and support classmates in their learning.
 Comply with the school’s Student Internet Access Agreement.

Teacher Responsibilities
 Teachers will ensure that lesson content, instructions and resources are loaded onto the learning
platform that is used for their class e.g. Google Classroom, OneNote or Compass.
 Teachers will set up a Zoom link for all their classes and display this link on their Compass class
homepage for student access.
 Teachers will ensure that they are ready to begin the learning for each lesson at the start time
for that lesson.
 Teachers will provide instruction, direction and support for students during their Zoom lessons to
enable the students to continue with their learning and be able to complete class tasks.
 Teachers will be available in these Zoom meetings to answer student questions and to provide
feedback to students on their learning.
 Teachers will be required to monitor student attendance in the online environment for each
timetabled lesson. If students are not present/active in the online environment teachers will pass
this information on to their relevant Leader of Learning and parents will be informed.

Parent/Carer Responsibilities
 Support your daughter to establish a suitable study space to conduct online learning lessons each
day.
 Work with your daughter to set good study routines and habits in the home environment.
 Reinforce the college expectations for learning in this home-based learning environment.
 Check in with your daughter each morning and evening to discuss her plan for learning for the
day and to then evaluate what has been achieved throughout that learning process.
 Ensure any support that is needed from the college in terms of technology is communicated to us
in a timely fashion.
 Russell Drysdale Street East Gosford
PO Box 4041 East Gosford NSW 2250
Telephone: (02) 4324 4022
Facsimile: (02) 4323 3512
Email: sjcc@dbb.catholic.edu.au
www.sjcc.nsw.edu.au
ABN: 93 041 953 582
 Encourage your daughter to maintain healthy lifestyle habits e.g. physical activity, healthy
eating, stress management initiatives.
 Monitor the social interaction your daughter has with her peers. It is important for students to
maintain social contact with friends, but some controls will need to be put in place around social
media connections.

Learning Support Assistance

Students who would normally be assisted in classrooms by a Learning Support Teacher or a Learning
Support Assistant will have that same teacher or assistant join their Zoom meeting to offer similar
support. Clear and consistent communication from students and parents to our Learning Support
team will be vital in addressing the needs of our students. Any queries should be directed to our
Leader of Learning Support, Mrs Simpson, in the first instance (tracy.simpson@dbb.catholic.edu.au).

IT Support
We will continue to offer support where possible for IT related issues e.g. connectivity to our
learning platforms. Care and maintenance of laptops will be paramount to ensuring easy access
to our online learning platform. Please ensure that I am contacted at
tony.mccudden@dbb.catholic.edu.au if any issues arise with devices or internet connection that
stop students from accessing our online learning platforms. Any students who need to collect
their laptop device or other resources from school, ready for home-based learning on Tuesday,
are asked to do so during the day on Monday 12th July. Any students entering the school will need
to wear a mask and sign in using the QR codes around the school.

Please note that any students attending school during Week 1 will need to supply their own
headphones for Zoom lessons and will need to provide their own food from home as the college
canteen will not be in operation for that week.

A number of key events scheduled for the beginning of Term 3 will now either be postponed or
remodelled to fit in with our current restrictions. Further communication concerning these events
will be forwarded to parents in the coming days.

We are extremely hopeful that these further restrictions will be eased at the end of Week 1 and
that we will be able to return to face-to-face learning and teaching for the rest of the year. In the
meantime, I would like to thank you all for your continued support of the college and for your
ability to adapt to the changing circumstances in which we find ourselves.

Yours faithfully

Mr Tony McCudden
Principal
 Russell Drysdale Street East Gosford
PO Box 4041 East Gosford NSW 2250
Telephone: (02) 4324 4022
Facsimile: (02) 4323 3512
Email: sjcc@dbb.catholic.edu.au
www.sjcc.nsw.edu.au
ABN: 93 041 953 582