Thank you to the Westminster community for the support that has been shown for our Readiness Trial. I am sure that we have all learnt a lot from the experience! Perhaps some have found a new love for teaching, although some of the feedback we have received is that parents are delighted with the thought of ‘business as usual’ starting again on Monday!

Over the course of next week, we will be analysing the feedback that we receive from all stakeholders in the trial to ascertain what worked well, what didn’t and what we can do to improve. The Federal and State Governments remain adamant that schools will remain open. Having completed our trial, Westminster will continue to follow the guidelines or directives issued to us by the relevant authorities. Due to your support and having learnt from our Readiness Trial, we hope we will be better positioned to provide meaningful, purposeful and authentic learning opportunities for all of our students. Then, in the event of an enforced closure, Westminster students should be able to continue their learning. Just like Cole Stephen who with his Dad managed this Year 8 Science oxidation experiment over the trial.

Apparently, and of great parental interest, the nail in vinegar began to fizz, leading to a Google session for Cole’s Dad!

In these times of uncertainty, we are doing all we can to ensure that our students are continuing to receive the best education that we can give them. We are working on all sorts of messaging for our students to share hygiene practice, best work from home practice and well-being exercises.

As you can imagine for our Year 12 cohort this is a particularly trying time. Again, we are being proactive, and we have already initiated discussions with South Australian Universities to help alleviate some of the concerns about ATAR scores and pathways beyond school.

If you are out shopping over the coming week, don’t be afraid to throw a few more books into the trolley than you might normally. Getting extra reading to improve literacy for all our students is a fantastic idea! Having a supply of books to read means that if we are forced into a shutdown and your son or daughter is well and truly on top of their work, there is always a book to read before a TV is turned on or a computer game is played, during what would normally be school hours.

Thank you once again for your support and I look forward to seeing us return to normal operations on Monday.

Simon Shepherd
Principal

From the Principal - Edition 4 - 2020

From the Principal - Edition 4 - 2020

From the Principal - Edition 4 - 2020