February 14, 2021 – College update on COVID-19

February 14, 2021

Dear Parents, Carers and Guardians of St Patrick’s College,

I hope you are well and managing the weekend in lockdown comfortably with your family.

I am writing to provide you with a further update on College plans for Monday to Wednesday.

Over the last two days the College has received further advice and guidance from the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria (CECV) and Catholic Education Ballarat (CEB) in relation to expectations around any possible return to remote and flexible learning this week.

After further consultation with senior colleagues at the College and in other EREA schools, it has been decided to adjust our program for this period to facilitate continuity for the boys’ learning and minimise the impact of the lockdown on this.

Therefore, I am writing to outline the program as follows:

  • Monday, February 15:
    • The College will be open only for students who are considered ‘vulnerable’ or the children of essential workers. Parents needing to send their sons to school for this reason must register at this link
    • Students in all VCE Unit 3/4 subjects to attend and participate in, as much as possible, lessons via Microsoft Teams. Please ensure that your son(s) are online at the beginning of each session for roll marking purposes.
    • All other students will not be required to attend remote and flexible learning on Monday, as our teaching staff will be working from home in preparation for a return to online learning.
  • Tuesday, February 16:
    • Remote and flexible lessons via Microsoft Teams delivered to all classes in Years 8 – 12. Please ensure that students are online as rolls will be marked at the beginning of each session. Teaching sessions will follow the normal timetable.
    • The College will be open only for students who are considered ‘vulnerable’ or the children of essential workers.
    • Year 7 students are not quite Microsoft Teams ready and so, will be set work via email from their teachers. This could include worksheets, reading and completing homework or commencing research tasks.
  • Wednesday, February 17:
    • Program continues as per Tuesday.

Where possible, our teaching staff will work from home during this period to comply with the restrictions outlined by the Government officials and agencies. The College will only have a small number of staff working onsite and the office will be closed across the three days.

I remain hopeful that we will revert to everyone being back on campus on Thursday, February 18 and at this stage, the Ballarat School Principals expect that the Head of the Lake will occur as scheduled next Friday.

I sincerely thank everyone in anticipation for your focus and efforts over this period.

Yours sincerely

Steven O’Connor

Principal